In the north of Eysturoy Island you will find a small and picturesque village called Gjogv. Gjogv means gorge in Faroese and it sounds exactly the opposite of how we kept trying to say it. The village has less that 50 people living there and it’s famous for the 200 meter long gorge that runs north from the sea to the village. We went there to see it and it was more than worth it.
The village is small but it has been there for a long time. It was first mentioned all the way back in 1584 and it seems to have existed long before it. Gjogv is easy to find on the map and it’s located a little more than 60 kilometers from the faroese capital, Tórshavn. We drove it there without any problem and we had to stop the car a few times to take pictures of how gorgeous everything was around us.
But Gjogv is not just a place surrounded by nature. Of course that, like everywhere we have been in Faroe Islands, Gjogv is beautiful and use walking there makes you question why are we not moving to Faroe Islands. But there is more than nature there.
There is the village church that dates back from 1929 and it was the first to be consecrated in Gjogv and the first to have services in Faroese language. Across the street from it, there is a memorial to all the fishermen lost at sea with the names and ages of men.
All houses in Gjogv have this colorful style of building that we saw everywhere in Faroe Islands and they look beautiful. We took too many pictures of it while we went for a walk to the gorge that gives name to the village.
The gorge that gives name to the village is one of the best natural harbors in the Faroe Islands. But things are not that simple. Boats need to be pulled up on a ramp to keep them safe from the water. During the night, there are colorful lights all around and they make the gorge even more beautiful. An amazing opportunity to take even more pictures. And we hope you will be followed by a black and white dog with a fixation on rocks like we did. He followed us around the village and his presence made our time there even better.
When you see the gorge, you can take two paths to go all the way to the sea and take pictures of it from a different angle. If you take the path on the right side of the gorge, you will walk straight to where Mary’s Bench is located. The bench is named after Danish Crown Princess Mary who visited the village with crown prince Frederik in June 2006. The village decided to give something to them as a way of remembering their presence and they come up with this bench that has a magnificent view from the gorge as it reaches the sea.
Now that we have enough pictures and places for you to see in Gjogv, we have to tell you where you need to stay while there. There is only one option and what an amazing option that is. Gjáargarður is the name of the most attractive and charming guesthouse in Faroe Islands and we spend the night there when we visited Gjogv during Easter 2016.
We had an amazing experience there with great food and a beautiful view of the village from one of the hills surrounding it. The staff was great and friendly and even helped us to find more places to stop to take pictures on our way to Tórshavn on the next day. Our room was big and comfortable with a great shower that made us relax even more after a long day on the road. You need to spend at least a day at Gjáargarður to enjoy Gjogv and the surrounding area.
Gjogv: the village with the gorge in Faroe Islands
62°19′30″N 6°56′28″W
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