A far-flung getaway to the Faroe Islands

Before its elevation to the undeniably slim Green List, the isolated windswept, wave-lashed archipelago of volcanic rock in the North Atlantic Ocean known as the Faroe Islands was not on many people’s radars. With direct flights from the UK recommencing on July 1, no doubt its popularity will surge in the coming months. Even before Covid, tourism had doubled within five years and it was increasingly being dubbed ‘the new Iceland’.

Centred between Scotland, Norway and Iceland, this dramatic and windswept territory is not to all tastes. It rains here for 300 days a year and winds are so fierce and common that virtually no trees grow.

Yet if you like stunning scenery made up of dramatic cliffs, gloriously wild mountains and deep, lush green valleys, the 18 islands, with a combined population of just 52,000 – and 70,000 sheep – will tick all the boxes. Its landscapes are so spectacular that the Faroes feature in the upcoming new James Bond film, No Time to Die.