Farmers and other landowners in the remote Faroe Islands are finding a new source of revenue as increasing numbers of visitors head for dramatic sights made famous by online influencers; many of the sights are on private land.
Landowners say the fees are needed to compensate them for disturbance to farming and wildlife. Access to roads and village paths is free, but Faroese land law allows owners to charge for access on their land.
The remote islands, about equally far from Norway, Iceland and Scotland, are a self-governing territory of Denmark. It has limited air service from all of those, and a 15-hour ferry service from Iceland. Despite that, it has seen tourism numbers double in the past eight years.
Charges of about €23 have been introduced at several tourist hotspots famous “floating lake” at Trælanipa, the lagoon at Saksun, and the sea stacks at Dunnesdrangar. Next summer walkers will have to pay to hike the Faroes’ highest peak, Slættaratindur. And, the westernmost of the Faroes, Mykines, has set a £60 tourist fee and restricted access to its puffin nesting areas.
