Tórshavn – Kirkjubøur
The walk begins where the roads Landavegur and Velbastaðvegur intersect. From there, a road goes down to Sandá and passes the farm where the path to Kirkjubøur starts.
First you walk up a hill. When you arrive at the top, if you turn round, you will have a good view over Tórshavn and all of Nólsoy. When you start to walk again, you go round Reynsmúli and then you arrive at Reynsmúlalág. Two small lakes are in front
of you. You may see many Kittiwakes there in the summer.
Follow the cairns and you will see a speaker’s chair built of rocks. For the past 120 years, open air public gatherings have been held in this place with waving flags, national speeches and patriotic songs composed for the occasion. One can imagine how crowds of people have sat on the hill before the speaker’s chair and listened to, amongst others, Jóannes Patursson, a pioneer in the Faroese national movement.
The path continues southwards. On the route, you have a great view of Sandoy, Hestur, Koltur and Vágar. There is a story about Magnus, a young man from Koltur, who was courting a girl from Hestur. The girl’s father was not to know about this, so they met in secret. Magnus swam from Koltur, when the tidal current flowed southwards, was together with the girl and when the tide turned, he swam back to Koltur. The father discovered this.
One day, as Magnus came ashore, the father stood before him with an axe and threatened to kill him. The wooer was forced to go back, and he was never heard of again. Undoubtedly, an eddy took him and carried him out to sea. The story relates that after this, the eddy, which is called Grísarnir, arrived inside Koltursund. This must have been an act of revenge.
As you approach Kirkjubøur, you will see a small islet, Kirkjubøhólmur, which used to be part of the mainland and part of the village. Out on the islet, you can still see old ruins of houses. The path now goes gradually down to the village and ends at a cattle grid some 50 m from the nearest houses.
Bus route 101 runs from Kirkjubøur to Tórshavn.
Source: “Walking in the Faroe Islands” published by the Faroese Tourist Board in 2003
