Runavik, Faroe Islands

 In Sept 2026 my cruise ship stopped at Runavik in the Faroe Islands. On previous cruises I had been to Torshavn and Klaksvik, so it was nice to stop at a place new to me. 

The Faroe Islands are a series of volcanic islands between Norway, Scotland and Iceland in the North Atlantic. They are self-governing but part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Runavik is on the southern end of the island Eysturoy, which is the second largest of the Faroe islands. It is close to the sea end of Skalafjordur fjord. The western side of the fjord at 7.15 am and a church on the eastern side -

The white "hoops" visible above the water line mark the entrance to one of the many road tunnels -

Another road tunnel entrance -

There was no local bus that coincided with our visit on a Sunday, so I decided to explore the place on foot. At various points around the town, young locals were available to help with any questions -

I walked through the town, there are various displays of old boats and info about the fishing industry 

I set off for Toftavatn, the 4th largest natural lake in the Faroes. A Muscovy duck -

Note all the white in the grass, this is cotton grass, Eriophorum, from the sedge family -

A small part of the lake. The path only goes around this section and crosses the lake by a causeway as can be seen in the above map. I did a clockwise route.

Peat -

View from across the causeway -

I decided to walk up the hill towards Toftir as there were some interesting rocks up on a small cliff -

Walking through the village I was surprised to see some houses had turf roofs -

It was a very pleasant walk. I had started out wearing several layers, with hat, scarf and gloves, but by the time I reached the top of the hill I had removed several items. The sun was lovely and the weather just perfect.

A view of Toftir and the hill I had walked over, taken from the ship as we were sailing out -

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See my 2022 blog on turf houses .