2026 – Faroe Islands

30th May 2026

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Day 9 – Gjov

Today we mostly stayed around the small village of Gjov. First we walked a little way up the road out of the village for a view of a small black hut with the Middagsfjall mountain rising behind.

Next we walked down through the village. The River Dalsa runs through the village, and there is an attractive red bridge over the river, adjacent to a red annex building of the Gjaargardur Guesthouse.

As usual, we also took some pictures of the village church. The church dates from 1929, and was notable in that its consecration service was the first to be conducted in Faroese rather than Danish, marking a significant development in the preservation of the local language.

The most interesting natural feature around Gjov is a 200m long gorge, which acts as a natural harbour. In fact the name of the village translates as Gorge, so it was the presence of this natural harbour that gave rise to both the village and its name.

From the headland adjacent to the gorge there is a fine view out to sea towards the long island of Kalsoy, with the headland of Tyril Mountain to the right.

We then went down to the water’s edge for some longer exposure photography to catch the movement in the waves.

There were some seabirds around, so we also tried to get some wildlife shots.

Someone else was also exploring the coastline, which gave a chance for a fairly atmospheric long focal length shot of Kalsoy.

After spending the morning around Gjov, it began to rain, so we took shelter for lunch, then decided to take a drive across the northern end of Eysturoy to the town of Eidi. The route crosses the high mountain pass of Eidisskard just below the mountain of Slaetarratindur, which is the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands at 880m. The route also passes through an open moorland area which gives some opportunity for bird photography right from the car, so we drove along very slowly, and managed to catch some Oystercatchers and Snipe.

From the road above Eidi, there is a view of the Risin og Kellingin Sea Stacks, which we had previously seen from the other side from Tjornuvik. Sadly, today the weather was very dull and overcast, but the cliffs and sea stack still make a fine view.

On the return journey from Eidi, the weather remained very cloudy and overcast, but we stopped at the parking area at the top of the Eidisskard Pass, which is the  start of the hike up Slaetarratindur. From here, there was an impressive view of the cloud covered Grafelli, the second highest mountain in the Faroe Islands.