hiking – Page 2 – besthike.com

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

Almost every tourist to the Faroe Islands goes to see the lake hanging over the ocean. Unique and spectacular.

Sørvágsvatn is the largest lake in the Faroe Islands.

… surface is about 40 m (130 ft) above the level of the sea.

It is surrounded by a higher cliff which prevents it from emptying fully into the ocean, the waterfall Bøsdalafossur being the outlet.

The greater height of the cliffs on either side of Bøsdalafossur can give the illusion from certain perspectives that the lake is higher above sea level than it is.

The waterfall vista is great. But personally I liked even better walking the Trælanípan cliff — aka the ‘Slave Cliff’. Supposedly where slaves were pushed to their deaths.

There are many, many birds nesting on those vertical sides.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

In 2024 the hiking fee was 450 kr (USD $42) / adult (ages 15+) for a guided walk. 200 kr (USD $20) / adult (ages 15+) to hike on your own, as I did.

Price is $teep. And has been going up in recent years. Know that there are other great cliff walks free in the Faroe Islands. 😀

official website – tralanipan.fo

Moon and Honey – entrance

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

When the construction of Kárahnjúkar Hydro Dam was finished 2009, Stuðlagil (Studlagil) Canyon became fully visible.

The water level in the river Jökla, that runs through the canyon, dropped and amazing basalt columns have since become one of the most popular tourist attractions in eastern Iceland.

Click PLAY or get a glimpse on YouTube.

The landowners were still building tourist infrastructure in 2024.

I stayed at the simple campground on the northern side of the river.

A German couple — world travellers — in a camper van, offered me lamb dinner with locally picked mushrooms. And wine! It was my best meal in Iceland. 😀

Once the tourists were gone in the evening, I climbed down a long set of stairs to have the northern viewing platform all to myself.

Next morning, I cycled over to the southern side of the river. It’s the better experience. Go to both sides, if you can.

Stuðlagil (Studlagil) is a canyon in the Eastern Region of Iceland.

It is known for its unusual amount of large columnar basalt rock formations and the turquoise coloured river that runs through it.

The canyon also has an interesting story as it became an unexpected tourist sensation in 2016 after Einar Páll Svavarsson published an article in August of that year on hiticeland.com with spectacular photos.

A year later Einar also wrote an article about Stuðlagil in WOW air magazine in June 2017 and after that the canyon became a popular tourist destination.

It’s an easy detour off the Highway 1 Ring Road. About a 19km/11.8mi sidetrip along road 923. Mostly paved in 2024.