Streymoy

Streymoy is the largest of the Faroe Islands. The 24,700 inhabitants (2019) make up nearly half of the population of the Faroe Islands.

Understand

Settlements

• 1 Haldarsvík
• 1 Hestur - An island off the western coast of Streymoy.
• 2 Kirkjubøur
• 2 Koltur - An island off the western coast of Streymoy.
• 3 Nólsoy - An island off the eastern coast of Streymoy, near Tórshavn.
• 3 Saksun
• 4 Tjørnuvík - The northernmost village of Streymoy.
• 5 Tórshavn - The capital of the Faroe Islands.
• 6 Vestmanna - The largest village in northern Streymoy with some 1,200 inhabitants.

Tórshavn, capital of the islands

Get in

Like the rest of the Faroe Islands Streymoy is served by Vágar Airport FAE ^IATA, located on the island of Vágar which neighbours Streymoy to the west. One can also reach the Faroe Islands via a ferry connecting Tórshavn with Denmark. Buses between Tórshavn and the airport stop at Kollafjørður in central Streymoy. At the airport, or in Tórshavn, you can also hire your own car or get a taxi from AutoTaxi or Taxi Bil.

Buses connect Vestmanna with Torshavn. If going by car it's beyond the road tunnel to the airport.

Streymoy is connected by a tunnel to Vágar in the west and by a road bridge to Eysturoy in the east.

Get around

Some buses are irregular but it's well worth buying a timetable if you are dependent on public transport. Several settlements listed above are separate islands. Nolsoy is reached by ferry from Torshavn and Hestur from Gamlarætt, near Kirkjubøur. Koltur can only be accessed by helicopter.

There are two roads connecting Tórshavn to northern Streymoy, Kaldbaksvegur, which follows the coast to Kaldbak, and the scenic Oyggjarvegur.

See

The village of Haldarsvík offer views of the nearby island Eysturoy and has an unusual octagonal church. In the churchyard, there are interesting marble sculptures of doves over some tombs. It's worth half an hour to stroll about the intriguing village.

The wonderful setting of Saksun, just above the road to its right, including one of the old farm buildings that the farmers have open as a museum, the church down a short lane to the left, perched on a cliff and below, a lagoon created by the sea. The lagoon is only a short passage through steep cliffs from the open Atlantic and yet the place has an air of serenity as well as magnificence.

Magnus Cathedral: largest medieval building in the Faroe Islands

The Kollafjørður fjord with villages Signabøur (right) and Kollafjørður (centre)

From just before Tjørnuvík on the road, there are terrific views of Risin and Killingin, huge sea stacks off the north-west coast of Eysturoy. What look like fences are not land dividers but hay hangers. The village is very picturesque – no straight lines but numerous turf roofs.

• 1 Magnus Cathedral (Kirkjubøur). Never completed, its walls are being dried out for restoration as of February 2020. The cathedral, less roof and tower, was built when Kirkjubøur was the most important place in the islands. It's hardly surprising that it should have been overtaken by Torshavn with its better anchorage but quite astonishing that the cathedral could ever have progressed as far as it did in this tiny community.  

• Nólsoy. Nolsoy is both an island reached by passenger ferry from Torshavn in the Faroe Islands and the name of the village on the island.The island is one of the principal breeding grounds of the storm petrel and there is also a large puffin colony. Whalebone arches are, surprisingly, not common in the islands but there is one forming an entrance to the village from the jetty. There is a cafe near the ferry port, and a The Tourist Information open during summertime. It is located in the harbor, near the ferry port, on top of the boat house of Ove Joensen. Ove Joensen was a famous man from Nólsoy. He managed to row all by himself in an open wooden boat from Nólsoy to Copenhage in Denmark. The boat of Ove Joensen, which is called Diana Victoria, is now a tourist attraction in Nólsoy. You can ask in the Tourist Information, if you can see the boat, which is located in the basement of the Tourist Information. The building is an old storage house with a boat house on the ground floor. The Boat Museum with Diana Victoria is open in during summertime from 10:00-19:00. 

In Við Áir, the former whaling station

• 2 St Olav's church (Kirkjubøur). The last of several churches to occupy this site. Its gates suggest something grander within but it is very plain, though far from unpleasant. Wonderfully carved pew ends from an earlier building can now be seen in Torshavn Museum. 

St Olav's church next to the historic Kirkjubøargarður farmhouse in Kirkjubøur

Hósvík in October

House on the Sundini shoreline in Streymnes

• 3 Roykstovan/Kirkjubøargarður (Kirkjubøur). A museum using part of a farmhouse, with the owners living in the other part. 
• 4 Við Áir. An open-air museum about the former whaling station Við Áir on the east coast of Streymoy 
• 5 Fossá waterfall. Largest waterfall on the Faroe Islands. 

Do

• There are two firms running boat trips from Vestmanna to see birds and caves. These are awe inspiring as the boat weaves around stacks, through arches and into caves; arctic and great skuas and gannets can be seen as well as puffins, common and black guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and arctic terns galore.
• Football: see Tórshavn#Do for the national soccer stadium at Tórsvøllur (aka Gundadalur) and club teams in the city. The playing season is April-Oct.

EB/Streymur play in the Premier League, the islands' top tier, at Við Margáir (capacity 2000) in Streymnes.

Eat

There is a cafe in Tjørnuvík but the opening times announced could seem optimistic! The Vestmanna Tourist Centre has a restaurant. The Centre is open from 09:00 to 17:00 all days during summer (May through September)

• Fjørukrógvin, Fjarðavegur 2 (Vestmanna), ☏ +298 471500. May and Sep: daily 09:00-17:00, Jun-Aug: daily 09:00-18:00. A restaurant operated by Vestmanna tourist centre. (updated Aug 2018)
• 1 Koks, Í Geilini 13, Kirkjubøur (at the south-western coast of Streymoy), ☏ +298 333999. Tu-Sa. New (very) nordic gourmet food. 1100 kr menu, 1000 kr wine pairing. (updated Nov 2016)
• Matstovan í Hoyvík, Brekkutún 9 (Hoyvík), ☏ +298 314149. M-Th 09:00-17:00, F 09:00-18:00, Sa 09:00-13:30. A cafeteria. (updated Aug 2018)

Drink

• Bryggjan, Bakkavegur 90 (Vestmanna), ☏ +298 424210. Th 18:00-23:00, F Sa 17:00-04:00, Su 18:00-23:00. A café & pub. (updated Aug 2018)

Sleep

• Borgustova, Niðari vegur 15 (Vestmanna), ☏ +298 471500, puffin@olivant.fo. Self-catering 700 kr per night, plus a fixed charge of 350 kr for a 2-4 person room. (updated Aug 2018)
• Krákureiðrið, Niðari vegur 34 (Vestmanna), ☏ +298 424747, info@krakureidrid.com. B&B (updated Aug 2018)

• Vestmanna Camping, Fjarðavegur 1 (Vestmanna), ☏ +298 212245, vestmanna.camping@gmail.com. A camping site (updated Aug 2018)

Go next

• Eysturoy is the second island of Faroe Islands, both by size and population.
• Nólsoy is an island off the coast of Streymoy.
• Tórshavn is the capital of the Faroe Islands and the largest city on Streymoy.