Northern Lights Forecast for Klaksvík

Northern Lights in Klaksvík

Klaksvík is a fishing town of about 5,100 people on Borðoy, the second-largest town in the Faroe Islands and the main town of the Norðoyar, the six northern islands. It is built on a low isthmus with high mountains on both sides, around the only natural harbor in the northern islands. The mountains cut off much of the sky from the streets and the town’s lights do the rest, so for most displays people drive north to Viðareiði.

Through the tunnels to Viðareiði

From Klaksvík the road runs through two tunnels to Norðdepil, crosses the causeway to Hvannasund on Viðoy and follows the island’s west coast north, the last stretch through a tunnel of about 1.9 km. Viðareiði, at the end of it, is the northernmost village in the Faroes, home to about 330 people on an isthmus in the north of Viðoy, with Villingardalsfjall, about 840 m, rising to the north and Malinsfjall to the south. There is very little light around it. Cape Enniberg, the 750 m sea cliff at the island’s northern tip, can only be hiked with a guide.

The Norðoyatunnilin under Leirvíksfjørður

Klaksvík has been linked to the rest of the islands by road since 2006, when the Norðoyatunnilin opened under Leirvíksfjørður to Leirvík on Eysturoy. The toll tunnel is about 6.2 km long and drops to 150 m below sea level. It puts the north of Eysturoy, including Gjógv, on the same road network, which helps on nights when cloud sits over one island and not the next.

Kalsoy, the Syðradalur ferry and Kallur

The car ferry from Klaksvík crosses to Syðradalur on Kalsoy, a long, thin island whose four small villages sit on its east side. From Syðradalur a road runs north through unlit tunnels to Trøllanes, where a walk across private land, with a mandatory fee, leads to the Kallur lighthouse at the island’s northern tip. With a ferry to catch each way and only a few hours of daylight in midwinter, it is a daytime outing.

Christianskirkjan and Klakkur

Christianskirkjan, Klaksvík’s church from 1963, was the first church in modern Scandinavia built in the old Norse style. An eight-man rowing boat from Viðareiði, once used to carry the priest between villages, hangs from its ceiling. Klakkur, the 413 m hill above town, is reached by a gravel track to the saddle at Hálsur and looks down on the harbor and across to Kunoy and Kalsoy.