Tórshavn
Tórshavn is the capital and only city of the Faroe Islands, sitting on the south-east coast of Streymoy island and home to around 22,000 people, making it one of the smallest capital cities in the world. The name translates as Thor's Harbour, a reference to the Norse god, and the city has been a settlement and trading post since the Viking age. Its old town, centred on the Tinganes peninsula where the Norse parliament first met around 850 AD, is a cluster of black-tarred wooden houses with turf roofs and white-framed windows that remains one of the most photographed streetscapes in the North Atlantic. Tórshavn serves as the natural base for exploring the Faroe Islands, with underwater tunnels connecting the surrounding islands to the capital.
One of the World's Smallest Capitals, with a Viking Parliament, Turf Rooftops, and a Colourful Working Harbour
Tórshavn has been continuously settled since the Viking age and the Tinganes peninsula at the heart of the old town is where the Løgting, the Faroese parliament, first convened around 850 AD, predating Iceland's Alþingi. The maroon-painted government buildings that still occupy Tinganes today are among the oldest functioning government premises in the world, and the cluster of black-tarred wooden houses with grass roofs surrounding them gives the old town a texture that feels genuinely medieval. The name Tórshavn means Thor's Harbour, and the natural shelter of the harbour, protected by the long profile of Nólsoy island lying just offshore, made this one of the most practical anchorages in the archipelago. The harbour remains working and colourful, with fishing vessels alongside recreational boats and the ferries that connect the outer islands.
Despite its small size, Tórshavn punches well above its weight in terms of what it offers visitors. The city has a national gallery, a national museum, a theatre, independent design shops, and a food scene that has attracted international attention for its approach to traditional Faroese ingredients. The hilltop Skansin fortress, built in the 16th century to defend the harbour, gives wide views over the water and the surrounding islands. The free public bus system makes moving around straightforward, and the city is compact enough to walk across in under 20 minutes. A network of sub-sea tunnels radiating out from Streymoy connects Tórshavn to most of the other inhabited islands in the archipelago without the need for ferries, making it a genuinely functional base for a Faroe Islands tour.
Tórshavn is reached via Vágar Airport on the neighbouring island of Vágar, about 40 minutes from the capital by road and tunnel. Direct flights operate from several European cities including Copenhagen, Edinburgh, and London. The city has a range of hotels and guesthouses, and accommodation books up quickly in the peak summer months of June to August. The Faroe Islands sit roughly halfway between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic, at around 62 degrees north latitude, giving them long summer days and short winter ones, with dramatic weather changes possible at any time of year.
