Sea Stacks Hike - Faroe Islands

The question we considered the most before we went to the Faroe Islands was do we need a guide to do the hike to the Drangarnir sea stacks?  

Recently it seems as though the Faroe Islands have been going through a bit of an identity crisis when it comes to tourists - what to do with them, how to get the most $$ from them, etc... I'll write up a full post on my thoughts on this or make a video at some point.  And the main outcome of this crisis is that there are more charges than ever before to see the sights 

One of the most iconic sights in the Faroe Islands are the Drangarnir sea stacks and the fee to visit them was the highest we paid during our trip - working out at just under £100pp.  

Now, upon reflection - do you need to pay the fee to hike to the Drangarnir sea stacks? Can you hike to the Drangarnir sea stacks yourself? 

Having done this hike and paid the money, with the benefit of hindsight, I would say you do need to pay the hiking fee - although I don't think it is value for money.  

My main reason for urging you to follow the rules and purchase the hike is safety.  It is definitely not an easy hike - it is medium/hard, fairly long (a whole day) and despite the tourist cash that has come in, the paths are not well maintained.  

When researching the option of doing the hike ourselves various blogs and guides recommended sticking to the coast the whole hike - however, this is not correct.  Please do not do this, this option is dangerous (people literally have died) and longer.  Instead you need to cut in over land at some point - and you need this local knowledge to tell you when to do this.  

Coming home safely is, at the end of the day, priceless and that's why I would recommend paying for the guided hike. 

However, to warn you, the "guided hike" is not as professional as you would hope for the money - there was no real introduction, safety briefing or knowledge sharing about the area.  I would also have safety concerns in the case of injury of the group as I doubt they were qualified mountain guides. 

Additionally, the paths you are walking on are sheep trails which have not been invested in, maintained or upkept to a sufficient standard that would likely pass HSE / public liability standards in the UK!  They would be really slippy and tricky in the rain, so please be careful on the hike and take it at your own pace. 

In terms of nitty gritty - it will be about 2+ hours before you see the stacks but once you do it's amazing!  Even seeing them from afar gave me a sense of massive scale and the ruggedness of the landscape.  

We stopped for a few photos at the top, before continuing to the edge where the cliffs fall into the sea and you can get the best views of the stacks (about another hour or so).  When we got there, the stacks seemed even bigger and more impressive! 

We really enjoyed getting walking around the cliffs and taking photos from the different angles.  We also sat for a while, enjoyed the nature all around us and ate our lunch. 

 

Once we had arrived at the stacks the guide gave us a choice - half an hour of photos and then take the three hour hike back, or two and half hours of photos and a boat back to our start point for an extra 50DKK.  

We chose the boat option to give us more time for photos and I would really recommend it - the boat went all the way around the cliffs and even through the archway.  It was great!  

Overall, I'm really glad we dedicated a day to seeing the Drangarnir sea stacks - the hike was challenging but doable.  The stacks were amazing to see in real life and the boat trip was definitely fun to do.  I'm also glad we paid for the guided hike- not only is it the law but from a safety point of view I don't know how we would have done it!