16 Tips on Driving in the Faroe Islands

I’ll be the first to admit it can be scary driving in a foreign country. Especially one where you will be driving through drastic weather changes.

In this post I’ll be covering everything I learned from 9 days of driving in the Faroe Islands.

16 Tips on Driving in the Faroe Islands

There are only 5 traffic lights in the Faroe Islands, instead they use roundabouts

There are hardly any red lights in the Faroe Islands. I only saw them in Torshavn, the capitol city where we stayed. 

Sometimes I got thrown off on which exit to take when my gpa said to turn left, but it turned out left meant keep going straight. 

Tip – If you are unsure what exit to take at a roundabout I recommend you just keep circling until your GPS makes it clear which exit to take. No need to rush and get off on your first shot. Sometimes the gps takes some time to catch up. 

Animals in the roads

Sheep aren’t the only animal I came across driving around the Faroe Islands.

Whether it’s sheep crossing the street or ducks sheltering from the wind, you will come across animals in the road. Including geese., which for some reason surprised me.

One lane, two way streets

Once you get out of the city you will start to notice the majority of the roads around the islands only have room enough for one car to drive on at a time. BUT, they are all two way streets. 

So what do you do?

You will notice there are stop offs or pull over points all over the roads. 

Local etiquette – If you see a car coming your way typically whoever is closer to a pull over stop will do so and then you can pass or vice versa. 

It’s scary at first but you get used to it pretty quick. Overall there are not a lot of people on these roads so it isn’t too hard to get used to.

Road conditions change drastically and fast

It can go from sunny to a blizzard to hail the size of golf balls in 30 seconds. Be ready.

You see the most random stuff driving around villages

Piles of sheep skin, sheep meat, more sheep skin. In a country that has more sheep than people it isn’t surprising they use the sheep to make a living and for food. It’s just shocking to see for your first time as an outsider. What’s normal there isn’t what’s normal to me, but that’s also why I love traveling! Having the chance to explore new cultures.

The photos below were taken from the village Gjogv. Read more about visiting Gvogv here.

Lights on always

Because of the insane and unpredictable weather in the Faroe Islands car lights are on all the time. Even on sunny days.

Pay to drive through underwater tunnels

The Faroe Islands are comprised of 18 different islands, most of which are connected by underwater tunnels. Each time you drive through one of these tunnels you will have to pay a fee.

Our rental car company added the fees to our bill directly so we did not have to worry about paying at a gas station.

Underwater roundabout

Passing Cars

It is completely normal here for cars to pass you while driving. It happens all the time so don’t get stressed if it keeps happening to you.

I had a number of cars pull over to let me pass them which surprised me since I am not at all a fast driver, especially in bad weather.

There is almost always designated parking for visitors in the villages

i.e you can’t usually park inside the actual village since that is where the residents park.

The roads are insanely gorgeous

There aren’t very many countries I visit where I take hundreds of photos of the roads. Iceland and the Faroe Islands are about it. 

Waterfalls from the side of the road

They are everywhere! And they get bigger with a little rain.

Opt out for the Horns and flash high beams instead

Some countries you travel to all you hear are horns. (Israel was one that really stood out, you hear them constantly here.) It’s completely normal there. Not here. I didn’t hear one horn the entire time I was there and trust me, there were plenty of times where it would’ve been completely justified as I’m blocking the road to take photos.. 

Instead, what they do is flash their high beams at you to get your attention. It was actually kind of nice. 

I even had cars who wanted to pass me on the road flash their high beams happy to warn me they’re coming over you know move over a tad.

Street signs are hard to see in the city

I am embarrassed to say the number of times I missed the turn into my Airbnb.

The sign is literally impossible to see from the road because it is located DOWN THE STREET. 

I stayed in two different hotels/airbnb’s there and one of them the turn off was so small it was like driving down someone’s personal driveway. Also easy to miss. That one did not even have a street sign. 

Just something to be aware of.

Download Google Maps

The internet won’t work in every spot in the Faroe Islands. I highly recommend downloading google maps for the entire country. 

To do this you will open the google maps app on your phone. 

Bikers

For a country that is known for insane winds and unpredictable weather, I was shocked to see so many bikers and runners along the side of the road.