Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.10.2018, Page 54

Travel
The best of Icelandic produce
with a nod to Japan and South
America. Modern Icelandic
flavours, share plates and award
winning cocktails.
Sushi Social
Þingholtsstræti 5 • 101 Reykjavík
Tel. 568 6600 • sushisocial.is
Our kitchen is open
17.00–23.00 sun.–thu.
17.00–24.00 fri.–sat.
SOCIALIZE
WITH THE
LOCALS
ICELANDIC
SEAFOOD
makes world’s best sushi
If the far-flung capital of the
Faroe Islands, Tórshavn, is too
much of a metropolis for your
taste, you could consider hopping
on a ferry to the southern island
of Suðuroy. The Smyril line goes
twice daily from Tórshavn,
landing in the tiny port town of
Tvøroyri, where you’ll find a quiet
community going about its
day-to-day life all-but undis-
turbed. Tourists are few, and so
the facilities are relatively
undeveloped, but if you want to
really get away from it all, you
can’t do much better.
Drive:
Suðuroy
It’s around 44km from Suðuroy’s
northern town of Sandvík to it’s
southern village of Sumba, and
there are eight villages along the
way. Each has something worth
seeing. Sandvík has an intriguing
seaside sculpture to look at, and a
view of the uninhabited island
Lítla Dímun. Fámjin has a church
containing the first ever Faroese
flag. In Hov, you’ll find the
burial mound of a Viking king;
in Vágur, there’s a museum
dedicated to paintings of local
artist Ruth Smith. But the star
of the show is the Beinisvørð
bird cliffs, which stand at a
dizzying 470m. For context,
Hallgrímskirkja is 75m. Find
them at the highest point on the
mountain road between Lopra
and Sumba.
Stay:
Hotel Tvøroyri
There are a couple of hotels and
guesthouses to choose from, but
the main one in town is Hotel
Tvøroyri. It’s a neat, tidy and
unpretentious place with basic
rooms and a restaurant that
wasn’t open for the duration of
our stay, but must sometimes be.
The bedrooms have views in all
directions; to the east, you can
see the mountains and the town
church, and to the south, the har-
bour area. It’s a perfect base for a
Suðuroy trip.
Eat: Café MorMor
This cosy café has reassuringly
regular opening hours (11:00-
18:00 weekdays, 11:00-18:00
Saturday, closed Sunday) for
Tvøroyri. It feels like walking
into a home from the past; you
can see the couple who run the
place working in the kitchen
when you walk in, and there are
several rooms to relax in with
vintage decor like photos and
paintings from the area, cosy
armchairs and sofas, and a record
player and vinyl collection. You
can try fish soup, paninis, cakes
and coffee, all reasonably priced.
Drink: Pubbin
Down by the harbour is Pub-
bin—a seaside bar that’s almost
whimsically perfect in it’s own
unique, shabby, homely style.
There are three Faroese beers
to choose from on the taps, and
modest meals are prepared in
the small kitchen. We asked
what kind of fish was being
served, and were told by the
friendly bargirl: “I don’t know,
but it’s good.” She was right.
If Wes Anderson ever needs
an authentically remote fish-
erman’s bar to film a pivotal
scene in, this could be the place.
Visit:
Tvøroyri Museum
The town museum is in the
grass-roofed old doctor’s office,
so you’ll find antique medi-
cal instruments and prosthetic
limbs mixed in with historical
ephemera such as gramophones,
furniture, clothing, and a map
of the many Faroese shipwrecks
that have occurred around the
coast of Iceland.
Town Guide:
Tvøroyri
Seaside charm and wild nature in the Faroe Islands
Words: John Rogers Photos: Timothée Lambrecq
Distance from Reykjavík: 806km
How to get there: Fly to Tórshavn and take the Smyril Line
ferry to Suðuroy
Car provided by: visitfaroeislands.com
Acommodation provided by: atlantic.fo