We drove the Faroe Islands over eight days in early May — all 18 inhabited islands, every tunnel, every mountain pass that was open. Before we left Rovaniemi we had read a dozen blog posts about driving there. Not one of them mentioned the thing that actually caught us off guard: the Faroe Islands driving tunnels are some of the strangest roads we have ever been on. Single-lane, carved through raw basalt, lit by orange sodium lamps that turn everything the colour of a storm at sea. The first time we entered Vágatunnilin we genuinely thought the road was closed — it looked more like a mine shaft than a public highway.

This guide is what we wish we had read beforehand. It covers road types, the tunnel network, fees, roundabouts inside mountains, and the handful of passes where we gripped the wheel a little harder than usual. Nothing here is meant to scare you — these are normal roads for anyone who lives here. They just feel very different the first time.

What Faroe Islands roads are actually like

From Finland we are used to long straight roads through pine forest. The Faroes are the opposite in almost every way. Roads here follow coastlines, climb steeply up grassy hillsides, and disappear into the rock. The total road network is about 500 km — small by any standard — but the variation within those 500 km is enormous.

Road widths and passing culture

Most inter-island connections are either bridges or tunnels; on the islands themselves roads range from comfortable two-lane asphalt to genuine single-lane tracks barely wider than a large SUV. On the single-lane sections, passing bays appear every 200–400 metres and drivers follow an unspoken rule: whoever is closer to the next bay pulls in. Locals do this instinctively and at speed. Our first day we pulled in far too early, far too often, and the locals behind us were entirely patient about it.

Speed limits are typically 50 km/h in villages and 80 km/h on open road — but on many mountain sections the realistic safe speed is 40–50 regardless of what the sign says.

Mountain passes and gravel sections

Several of the older road links over mountain saddles are still gravel or chip-seal. The road from Eiði toward Gjógv, for example, climbs steeply and narrows to one lane with a loose surface near the top. A small rental car handles it easily; a low-clearance vehicle will scrape on the deep ruts left by tractor traffic. We drove our mid-size SUV and had no issues, but we met a couple in a compact city car who had turned around at the top rather than attempt the descent.

• Most paved main roads: fully asphalt, two-lane, easy driving.
• Secondary mountain roads: single-lane asphalt or chip-seal, passing bays, occasional loose surface.
• Old passes (e.g. Eiðisskarð, Funningsfjørður approach): narrow, gravel patches, steep — fine with a normal car, confidence required.
• F-roads (highland tracks): these exist on some maps but are generally not accessible to rental cars — check your rental agreement explicitly.

The tunnel network explained

The biggest engineering story in the Faroes over the last thirty years is the tunnels. Before them, many islands were only accessible by ferry. Now you can drive from Tórshavn to Klaksvík to Viðareiði to the Vágar airport without touching the sea. The tunnel network is what makes a road trip genuinely practical.

Sub-sea tunnels and their oddities

Several tunnels dive below the sea floor to connect islands. This means they go down steeply, reach a low point under the ocean, then climb back up. Inside they can feel disorienting — long, orange-lit, and very loud. Two of them — Norðoyatunnilin (connecting the North Islands to Eysturoy) and Eysturoyartunnilin (connecting Eysturoy to Streymoy) — include a roundabout inside the tunnel, carved into a widened chamber in the rock. You select your exit at 80 metres below the Atlantic. We had read about this and still found it surreal.

Steps for navigating a tunnel roundabout

1. Watch for the blue roundabout sign inside the tunnel — it appears with distance markers, like on a normal road.
2. Slow to about 30 km/h as you approach the widened chamber — the acoustics change noticeably and it can feel like the road is ending.
3. Follow the painted lane markings on the roundabout itself — they are clear, even if the orange light makes everything look amber.
4. Take your exit following signage to your destination island or town — signs are in Faroese but place names are recognisable with a map open on your phone beforehand.

Both tunnels also have pull-off bays for emergencies. Mobile signal is zero inside, so have your next destination decided before you enter.

Faroe driving tunnels: fees, payment & quick-reference

Not all tunnels charge a fee — the free ones were built with state funding and have no toll booth. The paid ones are operated by the Landsverk authority and cover their construction cost through tolls. Here is every tunnel you are likely to use, with the fee situation as of 2026:

Tips before you drive — what we wish we had known

• Download the Landsverk app before you land. The Eysturoyartunnilin and Sandoyartunnilin have no physical toll booth — you pay within 24 hours online or via the app. Miss that window and a fine follows you home.
• Have a contactless card or Visa/Mastercard ready. Tunnel booths do not accept cash — this is the Faroes, not 1995. Our Finnish bank card worked at every booth we tried.
• One-way tunnels run on timed schedules. Vágatunnilin is single-lane with a 15-minute alternating traffic window at peak times. If the light is red at the entrance, wait — a wave of oncoming traffic is inside. Do not follow the car in front in assuming the light just changed; a local may be running late.
• Mountain road closures happen fast. A clear morning can see a pass close by 11 am due to wind or ice on the high sections even in summer. Check vegur.fo (the Faroese road conditions site) every morning before leaving.
• Headlights are mandatory at all times, regardless of conditions. This is Faroese law — not just a suggestion for foggy days.
• Petrol stations are not everywhere. Tórshavn, Klaksvík, Sørvágur, and the main towns have stations. The northern islands have very few. Fill up in the capital before heading north.

Free vs paid tunnels — is the fee system fair?

The question we heard most from other travellers was whether the tunnel fees felt worth it. Our honest answer: yes, with a caveat.

• The infrastructure is genuinely impressive. Carving a two-lane tunnel 11 km under the Atlantic and putting a roundabout at the bottom is not cheap. The fees reflect real construction cost, not a tourist tax.
• Locals pay the same fees. There is no resident discount on most tunnels (though this has been politically debated). The system is universal.
• The electronic-only tunnels (Eysturoyartunnilin, Sandoyartunnilin) catch visitors off-guard. No booth means no prompt to pay — it is entirely self-service, and the fine for non-payment is steep (roughly 600 DKK). Pay immediately after exiting via landsverk.fo.
• Budget for about 600–800 DKK in tunnel fees for a full island loop including all three sub-sea paid tunnels, driven twice (there and back). That is roughly €80–110 — not trivial, but the only alternative is a slower, more expensive ferry.
• The free tunnels are well-maintained. Free does not mean neglected — Kollfjarðartunnilin, for example, is brightly lit and two-lane throughout.

Mistakes we made — so you do not have to

• Forgetting to pay the Eysturoyartunnilin online. We came out of the tunnel at Runavík, drove straight to a viewpoint, and only remembered the unpaid toll two days later when we saw the landsverk.fo reminder we had bookmarked. Pay within 24 hours — put a phone alarm on the moment you exit.
• Driving the Eiðisskarð pass at dusk. The descent on the Gjógv side is steep and the loose surface is harder to read in fading light. We managed it fine, but we would do it in full daylight next time.
• Assuming a green road on Maps meant a normal road. Google Maps and Apple Maps show some tracks as navigable that are tractor paths in reality. Cross-reference with the Faroese tourist board map (visitfaroeislands.com) which colour-codes road quality honestly.
• Entering Vágatunnilin on a red light. We saw a car ahead turn in and followed instinctively. That car knew the light had just changed to green; we did not — we were lucky not to meet oncoming traffic in the first 200 metres. Wait for the green, full stop.
• Not checking road closures until after breakfast. One morning a mountain road we planned to drive closed at 8 am due to wind. We lost two hours rerouting. Check vegur.fo the night before.
• Underestimating the acoustic stress of long tunnels. Six kilometres of orange-lit single-lane basalt at 40 km/h is surprisingly fatiguing. Pull into a passing bay, turn the engine off briefly, and reset if you feel rattled. Locals think nothing of it; first-timers often find it more intense than expected.

Frequently asked questions

A final word from Rovaniemi

We have driven in a lot of places — Norwegian mountain passes, Finnish reindeer highways, Icelandic F-roads, Amsterdam ring roads in the rain. The Faroe Islands driving experience sits in a category of its own. It is not difficult. It is not dangerous. But it is unlike anywhere else we have driven, and the tunnel network — orange-lit, single-lane, with a roundabout at the bottom of the Atlantic — is something that genuinely surprised us even after years of Nordic road trips.

The fees are fair, the roads are well-maintained, and once you have been through Eysturoyartunnilin once you will want to go again just to say you drove under the ocean to a mountain roundabout. Download the app, check vegur.fo every morning, and carry a contactless card. The Faroes will do the rest.