Our Chairman and Team Manager share their impressions

Faroes Pre-Visit

At the start of July our Team Manager - Bucky, and our Chairman - Chris, travelled to the Faroe Islands. It's a tradition to hold the IIGA's AGM in the host island the year before the games. It gives the other islands the chance to get a feel for the venues, transport and accommodation and the island itself.

Here Bucky and Chris share some of their thoughts about their trip:

BUCKY: We left Guernsey on a sunny morning and finally, our third flight of the day had us landing in the Faroe Islands on a misty evening. One minute we were in the fog, the next we were landing between steep mountain terrain on a short runway positioned between high cliffs and the ocean!

Once we'd left the airport, it was immediately plain to see that the Faroe Islands scenery was not going to disappoint!

Consisting of 18 Islands in total, the main 7 are connected by fantastic road links, with bridges and subsea tunnels creating a continuous road network.

Six of those Islands will host the 14 Sports on offer at next year's Games.

Our week started with a day to allow us to roam and get our bearings around Tórshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands and where one third of the population live.

The town centre and surroundings are beautiful, with colourful wooden houses, turf roofs, narrow alleys, small cafes and a harbour that is the beating heart of the city. I'd never seen fishing boats as big as those moored there. We also visited the local supermarket to get a feel for everyday food prices. It’s a great way to understand how life works here, imported goods come at a premium, but local produce, fish, and dairy are surprisingly reasonable.

In the days that followed we had meetings with travel and accommodation providers and visited the many sports venues that our team will be playing at next year. And I have to say, they were impressive, many Islands were envious. They have so many large sports halls, mainly used for handball, that are perfect to provide the space to host the many sports included in next year's Games.

Of particular note was the new state of the art multi-sport and concert facility, which is home to their National handball team and will be used to host the Basketball competition.

They also have a new 10 lane, 50m swimming pool, also in Torshavn that will not only host the swimming competition, but the Triathlon too.

Many sports have recently upgraded their facilities and will be importing new equipment for the Games - a wonderful legacy of hosting the Island Games that the Faroese people will be able to enjoy for many years to come.

The hospitality provided by the municipalities (local government area) was outstanding, and we were privileged to enjoy authentic Faroese cuisine and culture throughout our visit.

Overall, I came away incredibly impressed. The warmth, friendliness, and enthusiasm of the Faroese people give me every confidence that they will host an exceptional Island Games next year.

Team Guernsey, you are in for a treat !

CHRIS: I couldn’t attend the Island Games when they were last held in the Faroe Islands, so I’ve had to wait a long time to see them; but I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

The landscape is stunning, steep hills and mountains rising as high as 880m and waterfalls and streams cascading down the hillsides at every opportunity. Fjords and inlets leading to fishing villages and the salmon farms. The land is lush and green with thousands of cows and sheep roaming freely. They have right of way on the roads! Tunnels, (they love their tunnels) connect the towns and municipalities under the sea and through hillsides, the undersea roundabout is a “must do” experience!

The weather can be so changeable, bright sunshine one hour and fog and drizzle the next, and a variable wind is always present. In July there’s hardly any darkness, it only goes to a dusky half-light from about 11.30pm until 3.00 am.

The Faroese love their sports and support their rising stars, of which there seems to be many for a population of 55,000. The facilities are superb and in many cases are of international standard, they are the envy of many!

So in a sentence, the Faroe Islands may not have been on my bucket list of places to visit. But now I’ve been, I can’t wait to go back there next year and I’m sure all the Guernsey competitors who are able to attend will come back with great memories of 2027.

31 Jul 2026