Trip Planning
The TakeYourBackpack guidebooks are your all-in-one travel companion, featuring the best cities, national parks, hikes, beaches, and unique sites, along with essential tips on when to go, how to get around, exchanging money, and even local phrases to get you started — everything you need for a smooth, unforgettable backpacking adventure.
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Planning a backpacking route through Faroe Islands can be tricky — you need to balance must-see places, travel times, budget, and how long to stay in each destination. Our free personalized Faroe Islands itinerary planner creates a route based on your travel style, trip duration, and interests, so you can spend less time researching and more time exploring.
Personal tip: I normally search on good rating for atmosphere (for meeting people) and location (for easy exploring). Cleanliness as a bonus.
Travel Essentials
No vaccinations are required to visit the Faroe Islands, and there are no specific health risks such as malaria or yellow fever. Make sure your routine vaccinations (measles-mumps-rubella, tetanus-diphtheria, seasonal flu and COVID-19) are up to date, as you would for any trip to Northern Europe. Travel insurance matters more than shots here, since remote hikes and helicopter evacuations can be expensive.
vaccination requirementsWhen I first started traveling, I often spent part of my first day in a new country hunting for a local SIM card. While this can still be slightly cheaper, it also takes time and planning.
These days, it's much simpler to install an eSIM before leaving home. Once you arrive in Faroe Islands, you can activate it immediately and have mobile data from the moment you land — which is especially useful for ordering transport or navigating away from busy airports.
There are many providers nowadays, and price differences are usually small. I personally go with
Holafly, as it offers excellent network coverage throughout the country and strong global coverage, so you can manage multiple countries from a single app.
HolaFly eSimCulture & Customs
In the Faroe Islands, almost all outfield land is privately owned farmland, so stick to marked paths, close every gate behind you and pay the hiking fees landowners charge on popular trails such as Trælanípa or Kallur. Never chase or feed sheep, and keep drones away from bird cliffs and nesting puffins. Sundays are quiet in the villages, so avoid noise and loud activities. Take your shoes off when entering someone’s home. Alcohol is sold only in the state-run Rúsdrekkasøla shops with limited hours, and being visibly drunk in public is frowned upon. The pilot whale hunt is a sensitive subject: ask questions respectfully if it comes up, but don’t lecture or film locals during a drive. Women face no particular dress or behavior expectations, and while LGBTQ+ travelers are legally protected, public displays of affection draw more attention in conservative villages than in Tórshavn.
Trying traditional food is always a great way to experience the culture. Here are some must-try dishes for Faroe Islands.
- Skerpikjøt: Mutton hung for months in a slatted drying shed called a hjallur, where salty Atlantic wind cures it into something dark and pungent. It is sliced thin onto rye bread and remains the centerpiece of the Faroese festive table.
- Ræst kjøt: Partially fermented mutton aged for a shorter period, usually boiled or made into soup. Its funky, cheese-like tang is the defining taste of traditional Faroese food, born from preserving meat without salt or wood.
- Ræstur fiskur: Fermented, wind-dried fish (typically cod) boiled and served with potatoes and sheep tallow. It is a weekday classic in many homes and the fish counterpart to ræst kjøt.
- Grind og spik: Pilot whale meat and blubber, dried or boiled and served with potatoes. It is tied to the community whale drive (grindadráp) and is deeply rooted in local identity, though it is controversial abroad and health authorities advise limiting how much you eat because of mercury levels.
- Knettir: Fish balls made from minced fish and sheep tallow, simmered and served with potatoes and melted fat. This is Faroese comfort food at its simplest.
Tap water in the Faroe Islands is safe and excellent, drawn from clean rain-fed sources, and locals drink it without a second thought. It is fully recommended for travelers, so skip bottled water and refill a reusable bottle at your hostel or café. Filtering is only worth considering for streams in sheep-grazing areas.
The main language in Faroe Islands is
Faroese. Backpacking is way more rewarding if you know a bit of the local language, so I'd suggest brushing up on the basics just in case your Faroese skills have become a bit rusty.
Want to understand locals better?The complete Travel Guide for Faroe Islands includes 52 essential words and phrases — greetings, thank-yous, ordering food, transport, numbers, and common local expressions you'll actually hear.
Get your local basic phrases 👉
Get the Travel Guide - is widely spoken in the Faroe Islands, and in Tórshavn, hostels, cafés and tour offices you will rarely have trouble being understood. Younger Faroese speak it fluently, while some older people in small villages are more hesitant but will usually manage the basics. Danish helps most after English, since every Faroese learns it at school. Learning “takk” (thanks) and “góðan dag” (hello) earns smiles, and a translation app with Danish downloaded offline covers menus and signs, because Faroese itself is rarely supported offline.
Money & Payments
The local currency of Faroe Islands is DKK (kr).
Cards are the easiest way to pay in the Faroe Islands, with Visa and Mastercard (including contactless and mobile payments) accepted almost everywhere, from supermarkets and buses to hostels and remote cafés. The currency is the Danish krone, and the Faroese króna notes you will receive are equal in value but not accepted in Denmark, so spend them before you leave. ATMs from local banks are easy to find in Tórshavn, Klaksvík, the airport and most larger villages, but scarce on small islands, and bank-owned machines usually add no local fee beyond what your own bank charges. Don’t bring US dollars, and only bring a small amount of euros as a backup, because few places accept them and change comes back in krone. If you need to exchange cash, use a bank branch in Tórshavn or Klaksvík rather than a hotel desk, and always choose to be charged in DKK when a card terminal offers a currency conversion.
Tipping is not expected in the Faroe Islands, because service is included in prices and staff earn proper wages. Rounding up a restaurant bill or leaving 5 to 10 percent for exceptional service is appreciated but entirely optional. Guides and taxi drivers do not expect tips either.
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Over the years, I've learned the importance of packing minimally. It's so much easier to jump on the back of a truck or squeeze yourself into the last spot of a minibus without that supersized backpack. If you're headed to a warm destination, leave your winter jacket at home; for colder regions, opt for thin thermal underlayers. Instead of packing your entire wardrobe, bring just three sets of clothes, as laundry facilities are available everywhere.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.