Exploring The Islands Of Mykines In The Faroe Islands

The small island of Mykines in the Faroe Islands is known as "bird island" for good reason. This picturesque little island is home to hundreds of sea birds during the summer months.

Getting to Mykines is easy - but you do need to book in advance. There are only 2 ways to get there; by boat or by helicopter. And during the high tourism season from June to August, these can get fully booked pretty fast.

When we visited in July, the main ferry boats were all fully booked (we tried booking a week in advance), but we managed to get tickets for a boat tour that combined the Vestmanna bird cliffs and the island of Mykines. 

We arrived on Mykines just around lunchtime and planned to hike out on the trail through the main puffin colonies and out to the lighthouse. To hike this trail, you need to pay a 100DKK fee per person at the visitor centre (or pay it in advance online), but it's well worth paying for.

The trail out to the lighthouse isn't too difficult, but there are a couple of reasonably steep (but short) up and down sections. All along the trail you'll come across a number of different species of sea birds. But of course, the one everyone wants to see are the puffins, which in July, were absolutely everywhere!

Hiking on Mykines is a lot like everywhere on the Faroe Islands. The thick sea mist can roll in quite quickly, and when it does, the views disappear in to the fog, but thankfully the trails are clear enough to find your way back.