ACCESS & connection

Gjógv, Eysturoy

Until fairly recently, the smaller villages on the peripheries of the large islands and on the smaller islands at the northeastern end of the island group were extremely hard to access. Small natural harbors provided access by boat to some, while overland routes to many were limited to foot trails over steep terrain. Most of these trails can still be walked today and are often marked by stone cairns that signify a safe route across an unforgiving landscape, where high winds, storms, and deep fog can roll in at any moment, leaving you disoriented and exposed to the elements.

Beginning in the early 1960s, the government began blasting tunnels though the mountains and under the sea, connecting the islands with one another and providing paved road access to the more remote villages on the far sides of the mountains. Passenger and car ferries now service the smaller islands that are still not directly connected by undersea tunnels or bridges, although they will run less frequently (or not at all) in the winter, when the seas are too violent to allow travel by boat. For residents of the outer islands, limited air access is now provided by a helicopter service, heavily subsidized by the government.