A village became the capital

In some countries Torshavn would be considered more like a village than a city – but on the Faroe Island this small city isn’t a village – it is the capital of the islands. And on these islands it is a metropolis. Torshavn is the only place on these islands where there is a major entertainment scene going on at a regular basis.

The life in the city is centered on the harbor – most of the important buildings are down there including the government district and at the edge of the harbor is the old fortress which used to protect the entrance to the harbor for centuries.

Around the harbor there are a lot of small old traditional houses with grass roof. This is actually one of the best places on the Faroe Islands to wonder around some small cobbled street and see the grass roof houses.

The harbor is the center of the town with some old traditional boats you can go down and see. It is also the main ferry port of the islands with connections to several other small islands around the archipelago and a bigger ferry going once a week to Denmark and Iceland.

You find most of the best restaurants on the islands (except Koks restaurant) in Torshavn they are located in a cluster at Gongin Street where there are a collection of old houses where you can go and eat at places like Ræst and Aarstova. Even if you don’t want to eat at one of the upmarket restaurants this are still some of the nicest traditional houses in the city so you really should go and have a look at the small area down at the harbor.

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If you have a car Torshavn is probably the best place to stay and use it as a base since you can reach all of the main islands on a daytrip from Torshavn.