Kallur Lighthouse

Probably the most famous hike on the Faroe Islands is to Kallur Lighthouse on the island of Kalsoy. Here you get to stand at the iconic viewpoint seen in so many social media posts of the remote Kallur Lighthouse against the backdrop of the jagged mountain. To get to Kalsoy, we had to drive from our AirBnb in Tórshavn on the island of Vágar to Klaksvik on the island of Bordoy.

At Klaksvik you catch a scheduled ferry to Kalsoy. You can find ferry times here. The ferry is small and gets filled up fast with cars and foot passengers. Arrive early in the morning if you want to spend a full day on Kalsoy at a relaxed pace. The ferry crossing takes around 15 – 20 minutes to get to Syðradalur on Kalsoy. From here, it's a 20 minute drive through some lovely scenery and more tunnels before arriving at the village of Trøllanes, the starting point of the Kalsoy Lighthouse hike.

Trøllanes is the northernmost village on Kalsoy, with less than 20 people living there (at the time of 2019). It sits in a deep valley, with the ocean in front and surrounding mountains at the back. Once we parked the car we walked to a small red gate that you go through and up a steep hill to begin our hike

As we reached the first ridge, I looked back to see the dramatic scenery of the islands of Kunoy and Viðoy reaching out over the ocean. They looked otherworldly and something out of a science fiction movie. We carried on following the path around the mountainside at a steep gradient up. The path eventually lead us all the way to the lighthouse.

The Faroes Islands are a self–governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark (just like Greenland). They are not part of the European Union.

The lighthouse itself, is small and not impressive in any way. At the lighthouse summit, you continue around and follow a path that dips down to the famous viewpoint. Turn around to see the iconic shot of the lighthouse and mountain.  

This pathway has sheer drop offs on each side. It can be very risky for people who have vertigo or not comfortable being so open and exposed to cliff edges. Your reward for taking the risk is the magnificent 360° views of the epic surrounding scenery.

There are another two other viewpoints that you can walk to. Again they have very narrow paths and steep cliff edges with no rails or anything to hold or protect from falling off the edge.

Thankfully the weather was good so it was easy for us to walk the paths and soak in the breathtaking views. We took our time to photograph the spectacular landscape and ocean. You get an even better view of the islands of Kunoy and Viðoy in the distance.

After spending some time at the viewpoints we slowly made our way back down to the car park. Make a note how long you stay up here. You will need to make sure you have enough time to get back to the car park and drive to catch the last ferry.

The hike is easy, but I can imagine it being quite annoying if it had rained the day before or was raining as you are hiking all the way and around the viewpoints. You are walking in open air so if you are unlucky to be caught in bad weather it will make the hike even more tough going and in some cases, impossible or dangerous, to walk out to the viewpoints. Also you are not always guaranteed to see so far out into the ocean if you have bad weather.

In a way we were blessed to have perfect weather when we came. Wear layered clothes that you can strip on or off on the hike. A good pair of walking boots is highly recommended and for some people hiking poles would be useful. For photographers, a wide–angle lens is a must. A telephoto lens would also be useful if you want to get some close up shots of the islands in the distance. This was an awesome hike to do and the amazing landscape scenery at the end was the perfect reward. Photos with me provided by: Chris Eyre Walker | Ashley Joanna