We planned our Smyril Line crossing for weeks, reading every forum post we could find. And we still got one thing wrong: we underestimated how variable the schedule is. The duration changes depending on the week, the season, and which direction you’re travelling. Once you understand the logic, it’s actually quite simple — but the official timetable pages don’t explain it well.

This guide is what we wished existed before we booked. Real durations, real layover times, and what “Faroe Islands stop” actually means in practice.

Hirtshals to the Faroe Islands — how long is the crossing?

The Norröna departs Hirtshals, Denmark on a weekly schedule. The crossing to Tórshavn, Faroe Islands takes approximately 34–36 hours at sea. You leave late on a Saturday night (typically around 20:00) and arrive in Tórshavn on Monday morning. That’s not a typo — the calendar jumps because you cross Sunday at sea.

What conditions affect the exact duration

• Sea state: the North Atlantic between Denmark and the Faroes is reliably rough, especially in autumn and winter. Strong headwinds can add 2–3 hours to the crossing.
• Season: summer crossings (late May through August) tend to be more punctual. October through March, budget an extra few hours of buffer.
• Harbour operations in Tórshavn: the Norröna is a large ship. Berthing and vehicle disembarkation can add 30–60 minutes to the time you actually step ashore.
• Your cabin type: foot passengers and vehicle passengers board/disembark at different times, which affects how you experience the schedule.

The short version: plan for 35 hours of travel from when you board in Hirtshals to when you’re standing on the Faroe Islands quayside. That’s the number that held true for us.

The Faroe Islands layover — what actually happens

This is the part that confuses most first-time passengers. The ship doesn’t just stop to let people off and on — the Norröna has a genuine layover in Tórshavn before continuing to Iceland. The length of this layover depends on the week and the season.

Two types of Faroe Islands stop

The practical advice: when you look at the Smyril Line timetable, check the Tórshavn arrival and Tórshavn departure times separately. The difference is your layover window. Don’t assume it will be short just because you’re “just passing through.”

Faroe Islands to Iceland — the final leg

After Tórshavn, the Norröna heads northwest into the open North Atlantic toward Seyðisfjörður, a small fjord town on Iceland’s east coast. This leg takes approximately 12–16 hours depending on weather and season.

What to expect on the Iceland leg

• Sea conditions: this stretch of the North Atlantic can be very rough. We’d rate the Hirtshals–Faroe leg as “moderately choppy” and the Faroe–Iceland leg as “properly Atlantic.” Have seasickness tablets within reach.
• Arrival time: the ship typically arrives in Seyðisfjörður in the late morning or early afternoon of the day after leaving Tórshavn. Check your specific week’s timetable — arrivals can range from 08:00 to 14:00 local Icelandic time.
• Disembarkation order: vehicles disembark before foot passengers. If you have a car or campervan, you’ll be on the road faster than you expect.
• Time zone shift: Iceland runs on UTC year-round (no daylight saving). The Faroes run on UTC/UTC+1. Denmark is UTC+1/UTC+2. Your phone will update automatically, but your body clock is your own problem.

Full schedule at a glance (2026)

The Smyril Line timetable for 2026 follows the same weekly loop the company has run for years, with some seasonal adjustments. Here is the westbound schedule in simplified form:

Eastbound return: Iceland to Denmark

The return journey (Seyðisfjörður → Tórshavn → Hirtshals) follows a roughly mirrored schedule, but the timings are different in ways that matter if you’re planning an Iceland road trip around the ferry.

• Departure from Seyðisfjörður is typically on a Wednesday or Thursday morning.
• The ship arrives in Tórshavn for another stop — again, ranging from a few hours to an overnight depending on the week.
• Arrival back in Hirtshals is typically on a Friday or Saturday morning.
• The full Iceland-to-Denmark return takes the same 48–60-hour range as the outward journey.

Planning an Iceland road trip around the ferry

• The standard loop: arrive Tuesday/Wednesday in Seyðisfjörður, drive the Ring Road anticlockwise (east → south → west → north → east), return to Seyðisfjörður the following Wednesday/Thursday. That’s a clean 7–8 day window for the Ring Road.
• If you want more than a week, some passengers combine two crossings — spending a week in the Faroes, a week in Iceland, and returning the week after.
• Seyðisfjörður itself is a stunning arrival town — don’t just drive straight off. The colourful houses, the rainbow street, and the fjord are worth half a day even if you’re in a hurry.

What we wish we’d known before we boarded

• The North Atlantic is not the Baltic. We had done overnight Baltic ferries and thought we knew ferry travel. The Norröna in autumn is a different experience. Get the cabin, take seasickness tablets as a precaution, and don’t book a porthole cabin if you’re prone to motion sickness — watching the ocean heave is not calming.
• The Faroe layover timing isn’t always clear at booking. We didn’t realise our stop was a long one until we checked the timetable PDF carefully. Log in to your booking and find the Tórshavn departure time — it’s worth knowing in advance.
• You can leave the ship in the Faroes even on a short stop. As long as you’re back 30–45 minutes before departure, you can go ashore. Ask the crew for the exact time.
• Seyðisfjörður is at the end of a dramatic mountain pass. If you arrive in winter or bad weather, the road over the pass (Route 93) may be closed. Have a contingency plan and monitor icelandic road conditions (road.is).
• Food on board is fine but expensive. Pack snacks, especially for the long overnight leg from Hirtshals. The restaurant is good, the café is decent, but the prices reflect the captive-audience reality.
• Book your vehicle well in advance. For summer crossings, vehicle space sells out three to four months ahead. Don’t assume you can book six weeks before departure.

Frequently asked questions

A final word from Rovaniemi

We left Hirtshals on a cool Saturday evening, drove onto the Norröna as the last summer light was turning the harbour gold, and arrived in Seyðisfjörður two mornings later feeling like we’d already travelled through a different world — because we had. The Faroe Islands from the deck of a ferry, the open Atlantic swells overnight, the dramatic fjord arrival in Iceland: the crossing is part of the experience, not just the journey to the experience.

The schedule feels complicated the first time you read it. Once you understand the weekly loop — Denmark Saturday, Faroes Monday, Iceland Tuesday or Wednesday — it clicks into place. Know your layover time, book your cabin, take the tablets, and lean into the fact that 48 hours on a ferry is genuinely a slower and better way to arrive than any flight.

If you’re planning the full Smyril Line loop, check our guides on taking the ferry to Iceland and our complete Faroe Islands travel guide — they cover the practical details this post skips in favour of timing and duration.