Northern Lights in Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are a group of 18 islands in the North Atlantic, roughly halfway between Iceland and Norway. At about 62°N they are far enough north for the northern lights, norðlýsi in Faroese, to appear through the dark half of the year. The catch is the weather. Clear nights are scarce here, so seeing the aurora in the Faroes usually comes down to flexibility and some luck.
When to See the Northern Lights in the Faroe Islands
The sky is dark enough for the aurora from about late August to early April. In summer the nights stay light at this latitude, so there is little point looking between May and early August. The longest nights are from November to February, and in December Tórshavn gets only a little over five hours of daylight. September, October and March still give you several dark hours every evening, with more daylight for everything else.
Weather and Cloud Cover in the Faroes
Cloud is a bigger obstacle here than latitude. The islands are usually overcast, foggy or windy, with rain or snow on around 210 days a year. Winters are mild, with average temperatures a few degrees above freezing, which mostly means rain rather than snow. A calm, clear evening can be followed by a North Atlantic storm that lasts for days.
The upside is that the weather is very local. When wind pushes moist air over the mountains, the downwind side is often drier and sometimes clear. Most of the main islands are linked by road through subsea tunnels, causeways and a bridge, so from Tórshavn you can reach Vágar, northern Eysturoy or Klaksvík in about an hour or less. On a cloudy night it is worth checking a cloud map before giving up. The road authority Landsverk publishes weather cameras and driving conditions online, which help when deciding whether a mountain road is worth trying.
If the aurora is the main reason for your trip, a place with a drier and more settled winter, like Finnish Lapland, gives better odds night after night. The Faroes suit travellers who come for the cliffs, villages and sea views and treat a clear night with aurora as a bonus.
Where to See the Northern Lights in the Faroe Islands
Outside Tórshavn there is little light pollution, so the bigger question is usually which part of the islands has a gap in the clouds. The aurora tends to show up in the northern sky first, so a spot with an open view north is useful.
- Tórshavn: The capital and the only sizeable town, with most of the hotels. Darker spots such as the Oyggjarvegur mountain road and the village of Velbastaður are a short drive away.
- Klaksvík: The main town of the northern islands. From here it is a short drive to Viðareiði, the northernmost village in the Faroes, with nothing but ocean to the north.
- Gjógv: A tiny village at the northern tip of Eysturoy, where a narrow sea gorge runs north from the houses to the open sea.
- Gásadalur: On Vágar, about 20 minutes from the airport, where the Múlafossur waterfall drops off the cliff into the sea. It is a common aurora photo spot when the west of the islands is clear.
Getting to the Faroe Islands
Vágar Airport, about 46 km west of Tórshavn, is the only airport. Atlantic Airways flies there year-round from Copenhagen, and other routes vary by season. Smyril Line’s Norröna ferry sails to Tórshavn all year from Hirtshals in northern Denmark, which is handy if you want to bring your own car. Either way, a car makes aurora chasing much easier here. The subsea tunnels are toll roads.