The Faroes are a group of 18 hauntingly beautiful islands, situated between Iceland and Norway. The archipelago covers a total area of 1,399 sq km and has a gentle warmed by the Gulf Stream. The scenery is amazing, rugged mountains up to 880 m high are thickly carpeted with impossibly green grass, incised everywhere by waterfalls, rivers and fjords. Extraordinary skies constantly transform the landscape. Photo by: hlemmur

The islands are Danish territory and the islanders take pride in their independence of spirit and inimitable forms of Viking language, singing and dance. Photo by: Eileen Sandá

The Faroes are still mercifully tourist-free. Many of the inhabitants still live by sheep farming  and fishing, in isolated crofts and old fishing villages of brightly painted houses with turf roofs. The enchanting port of Torshavn, Europe’s smallest capital, is on Streymoy, the largest island. A bridge and tunnel connect Streymoy to nearby Eysturoy and regular ferries ply between all the islands. The westernmost island of Vagar has the best tourist facilities and Sudoroy, two hours to the far south, is perhaps the best beautiful of all. Photo by: Eileen Sandá

It is impossible not to succumb to the eerie enchantment of those captivating islands, where the only sounds are of birds calling, water tricking over rocks, wind lashing across the headlands, and the breakers dashing the cliffs at the outer edges of the world. Photo by: Niquinho

When to go: May to September, unless you’re an exceptionally hardly type. Population: 48,317. How to get there: Regular year-round car ferries from Denmark, Norway, Scotland and the Shetlands. Or fly to Vagar, the only island flat-enough for an airport. Photo by: Niquinho