Northern Lights Forecast for Gjógv

Northern Lights in Gjógv

Gjógv is the northernmost village on Eysturoy, 63 km by road from Tórshavn. Only around 20 people live there year-round, many of its houses stand empty for much of the year, and there is no town anywhere near it, so on a clear night the only lights are the village’s own. It is named after its gorge.

The gorge that faces the open sea

The gorge is about 200 m long and runs north from the houses straight out to sea, the direction in which the aurora usually shows first in the Faroes. It is also the village harbor: boats are hauled up a ramp out of reach of the surf. Along the coast are the Ambadalur valley, north-west of the village, and Búgvin, a 188 m sea stack where seabirds breed. The village church, built in 1929, was placed to look its best from the sea.

Over Gjáarskarð from Funningur

In the dark months the way in is from the south, along Funningsfjørður to Funningur and then up over Gjáarskarð, a pass of just over 300 m between Slættaratindur and Middagsfjall. The road is narrow and exposed, and on some winter days snow closes the pass. In heavy snow Gjógv has been cut off by road altogether, so check Landsverk’s road conditions before driving up for an evening. At the top of the pass, a paved car park serves Hvíthamar, a short walk to a view over Funningur and the fjord.

Funningur itself, a few houses at the mouth of the Stórá stream, has a black wooden church with a turf roof, built in 1847 at the water’s edge.

Slættaratindur and the unplowed Eiði road

The other road to Gjógv climbs from Eiði over Eiðisskarð, at about 450 m, and passes the trailhead for Slættaratindur, at 880 m the highest mountain in the Faroes. That road is not salted or cleared of snow, and Landsverk has in the past closed it to through traffic from October to May because rescue crews struggle to reach accidents on it. In the aurora season, then, do not count on reaching the mountain by car. From Funningur, at its foot, the summit cannot be seen at all.