Thousands heading to the Faroe Islands to view eclipse

The rocky north Atlantic archipelago is one of only two places in the world where the 20 March total solar eclipse can be observed from land

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Mar 11, 2015

Thousands of tourists will flock to the Faroe Islands to view the solar eclipse on 20 March. At precisely 9:41am, for approximately two and a half minutes, people from all over the world will gather with Faroese locals to view the splendour (unless it's cloudy, in which case it will just get dark).

Thousands of people from Denmark and countries as far-flung as Australia, Japan and the United States are coming to the windswept islands by air and sea – if they can get a ticket – to experience the phenomenon.

Ferries getting full
In Denmark alone, 885 people have booked tickets for a trip with the DFDS Seaways ferry Princess Seaways, which sails from the Netherlands to Newcastle on the northeastern English coast and from there to the Faroe Islands.

“People are going wild for this experience,” Erik Fey, the owner of Hjørring Travel Centre, which chartered the ship together with a Faroese partner, told TV2 News. “Those that have experienced it before are willing to pay a lot to see it again.”

Fey was excited about the weather forecast as well – the long-term prognosis for the always tricky Faroese weather predicts sunshine.

View from above the capital
Many visitors plan to watch the eclipse at Hotel Föroyar in the capital city of Tórshavn. They will be joined by thousands of others from around the world and camera crews from CNN, the BBC and the Danish media.

Denmark will experience only a partial eclipse, but 80 percent of the sun will still be covered by the moon.

Factfile: How to get to the Faroe Islands

Short answer. It's tough and expensive right now.

From Denmark, both DFDS Seaways and Smyril Line sail from Denmark to the Faroe Islands, but both are close to sold out for trips in time for the eclipse.

Twice-weekly flights are available from Edinburgh to the Faroes, but most UK tour operators advise travellers to fly to Copenhagen and get a flight on the Faroese airline Atlantic, but flights around the eclipse date are filling up fast and costing nearly 5,000 kroner for a return trip.

And once you get, you'll be lucky to find accommodation. The best the Copenhagen Post could find was a regular room a 35-minute drive away from the capital Tórshavn for 8,000 kroner a night.

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