The Faroe Islands, located in the middle of the North Atlantic, are not known for their good weather - it is humid, windy, changeable, and even in summer, temperatures barely rise above 13 degrees. Trees do not exist by nature, it is a land of lichens, mosses and mushrooms.

And yet: The Danish archipelago of 18 islands and hundreds of archipelago with a good 50,000 inhabitants and 80,000 sheep experienced a visitor boom last year. In 2018, with an estimated 110,000, about ten percent more tourists came to the islands. The rugged cliffs, the fjords, hills and the capital Tórshavn are also popular stopovers on the ferry to Iceland. And the G! ​​Festival in July is a very special music festival.

photo gallery


8 pictures

Faroe Islands: Closed for maintenance

Despite increased popularity, nature has remained intact, the tourism authority assured Visit Faroe Islands in a statement. "However, the fragile nature around some popular tourist places has increased the number of visitors." So far, there are no signposted trails in the Faroe Islands, but more and more trails pass through nature. Reason enough to draw attention with an action to the original landscapes and how to deal with them.

"Closed for maintenance", so it says from Friday, 26. April to Sunday, 28. April. For tourists, the islands are not accessible this weekend. Alone a hundred volunteers should help the "Faroese Maintenance Crew" in these days, among other things, create new trails and viewing platforms and set up signposts.

The islanders hope to be a role model for other holiday destinations with their closed-door weekend. And to make their visitors aware of the uniqueness of the remote archipelago: "We are delighted that more and more people are discovering how special the Faroe Islands are, our landscape, our unique way of life, our food and our people," says Guðrið Højgaard, director of Visit Faroe Islands.

The Färingern are also responsible for "our community on the islands and our beautiful environment, our goal is to preserve and protect nature and ensure sustainable and responsible tourism growth," says Højgaard.