Now, Faroe Islands Launches Self-guided Car Adventure For Tourists To Explore Hidden Gems

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

The distant North Atlantic archipelago of nan Faroe Islands has updated its advertizing pinch nan thief of sheep — tons and tons of sheep. As world tourism recovers, nan islands, pinch their steep landscapes, craggy cliffs and hermetic villages, person introduced a caller self-guided car rental offering, designed to easiness nan strain of overtourism and item lesser known parts of nan islands. Under nan project, known arsenic Auto Odyssey: Self-Navigating Car Adventures, visitors will prosecute cars fitted pinch state-of-the-art navigation systems and travel 1 of 30 recommended drives astatine their leisure.

The inaugural is portion of nan Faroe Islands’ stepping-up run tackling nan escalating problem of overtourism, which sees a ample percent of visitors descending connected a fistful of celebrated tourer destinations. It’s very apt: A study from McKinsey & Co. from 2024 recovered that 80% of world visitors spell to conscionable 10% of nan world’s sights, which tin overwhelm immoderate destinations and wounded some nan env’t and section residents. In consequence nan Visit Faroe Islands tourism committee is now trying to show travellers to quieter, little visited areas, which often play 2nd fiddle to must spot hotspots.

A New Style of Tourism: Discovering nan Unseen

The motorboat of Auto Odyssey besides represents a caller measurement to acquisition nan Faroe Islands arsenic a tourist. The caller conception will connection a self-cruising car, taking visitors done nan islands and giving directions to hidden gems not usually included successful accepted tourer itineraries. The tours lead visitors to mini villages, beautiful fjords, and concealed viewpoints arsenic good arsenic section eateries on nan roadworthy and humanities places often forgotten. The conception is to return visitors to places mostly unhindered by masses of different travelers successful bid to create a much friendly and backstage position of nan islands’ exotic allure.

According to Guri Hjgaard, CEO of Visit Faroe Islands, nan islands person been facing increasing unit successful immoderate celebrated locations arsenic nan emergence of societal media and nan alleged “Instagrammable destinations” takes hold. Hjgaard says visitors extremity up astatine iconic places “because of algorithms and societal media wherever we advertise tourer spots and MANY group scheme to sojourn these places, because we spot pictures posted. The result: overtourism — and predictable experiences. The imaginable for unit connected localised sites successful Faroe Waters is expanding and now we are looking to move nan tide — rather literally.” By providing visitors nan opportunity to acquisition much obscure areas of nan archipelago, nan programme is designed to bring attraction from nan acquainted to nan unfamiliar, inspiring to uncover nan archipelago’s lesser-visited treasures.

The Auto Odyssey Experience: What Happens Here’s a look astatine really it works:

Tourists who rent nan Auto Odyssey rental car work together to recreation according to a pre-planned route. The journeys, thoughtfully crafted from a local’s constituent of view, walk done a number of lesser-known nooks of nan island, each ranging from 3 to 6 hours. The adjacent destination connected nan way is not unveiled until completed, epitomising nan consciousness of excitement and exploration which makes nan full acquisition truthful appealing. Tourists initially person to scan a QR codification that enables their self-guided journey, which tin person a circuit of 4 to six stops.

The programme has 30 different tracks pinch activities of each kinds. For example, 1 portion would spot them sojourn quaint roadside food and spot stores, while different could return visitors to humanities sites located connected nan highest oversea cliffs successful Europe. One of nan astir celebrated stops on these routes is nan Funningur Church, 1 of nan oldest grass-roof churches successful nan Faroe Islands that provides a model successful nan rich | taste and humanities practice of nan islands.

In addition, visitors tin trek crossed immoderate of nan Faroe Islands’ astir gorgeous fjords aliases plaything by Funningsvatn, 1 of nan island’s astir awesome lakes. These lesser-visited places springiness you nan chance to return successful nan area’s earthy beauty without nan larger crowds you’ll find astatine nan accustomed tourer sights.

Sustainable Tourism and Faroe Islands’ Conservation

The astir basal logic for promoting nan self-served car rental strategy was to make tourism friends to nan environment. Like truthful galore tourer destinations astir nan world, arsenic nan Faroe Islands fig retired really to equilibrium nan benefits of tourism against biology considerations and nan demolition of section cultures. Campaigners opportunity it is portion of a scheme to promote much group to research nan quieter nooks and crannies of nan islands, alternatively than ore connected hotspots that are being placed nether strain by a watercourse of visitors.

The people besides reflects nan Faroe Islands’ sustainable ethos, arsenic nan destination has taken leaps successful encouraging sustainable tourism. From bolstering section business to preserving its vulnerable earthy landscapes, nan Faroe Islands is positioning itself arsenic a destination for mindful travel. Granting visitors entree to secluded nooks, nan task proposes a bespoke mode of recreation that places adjacent worth connected nan wellness of nan big and nan happiness of nan guest.

Inspired by @visitfaroeislands, it promotes responsible recreation that benefits nan destination. Getting progressive successful these self-guided tours allows visitors to find places mostly ignored by nan regular recreation itineraries, making it a much inspiring and sustainable recreation experience. Ensuring that celebrated sites don’t go complete crowded, nan Auto Odyssey programme is besides environmentally friends and helps guarantee that nan taste and earthy treasures of nan islands are protected for early generations.

A Personal Quest Through Breathtaking Landscapes

Dramatic landscapes — from towering cliffs and heavy fjords, to distant valleys that are a residence to each kinds of wildlife — are a calling paper of nan Faroe Islands. The archipelago has go a celebrated destination for quality lovers and adventurers who bask activities for illustration hiking, vertebrate watching, and wildlife viewing (puffins are 1 of nan island’s astir notable residents).

An breathtaking caller magnitude to nan islands’ entreaty is provided by nan Auto Odyssey project. Instead of conscionable seeing nan accustomed item stops, travelers get to research nan existent tone of nan islands, quaint villages, calm lakes, and roads little traveled. The purely personal, self-guided quality of nan acquisition allows group to consciousness that they forge a enslaved pinch nan onshore successful a measurement that they ne'er were able, and besides supply these sometimes trampled connected tourism areas pinch a awesome economical stimulus…with respect, not to mention nan situation and section culture.

Beyond this Season: A Blueprint for Sustainable Tourism

And if nan Auto Odyssey: Self-Navigating Car Adventures’s occurrence is thing to spell by, it could besides go a exemplary for different destinations astir nan world struggling pinch overtourism. With much and much travelers craving authentic, off-the-beaten-path encounters, places for illustration nan Faroe Islands are starring nan charge, demonstrating what it looks for illustration to steward recreation thoughtfully, each while captivating travelers. By offering visitors nan chance to acquisition nan Faroe Islands successful a measurement that is conscious of nan islands’ pristine quality and unsocial culture, nan tourism committee has laid retired a roadmap for sustainable recreation that tin beryllium implemented elsewhere.

With nan programme generating world tourer interest, location is dream that nan Faroe Islands will progressively entreaty to environmentally conscious travelers. Along nan way, Auto Odyssey and co. are positioned to rewrite nan measurement we deliberation astir recreation present successful nan 21st period — getting america to measurement extracurricular our comfortableness zones, deliberation extracurricular nan box, and research nan hidden treasures that genuinely make nan world spell ’round.

References:
Visit Faroe Islands, Faroe Islands Government Tourism Board, McKinsey & Company Report connected Tourism.