Sørvágur is a quiet village of around 1,000 people on the western coast of Vágar, but its surroundings are among the most dramatic in the entire Faroe Islands. The Faroes' only airport sits on the edge of town. The harbour is the departure point for ferries to Mykines, the wildest of the island chain. And within a short walk lies the entrance to the trail that leads to Sørvágsvatn — the lake that appears, impossibly, to float above the sea.
The town itself is modest: a cluster of houses, a small church, the harbour, and the airport hotel. The appeal is entirely what surrounds it. West of Sørvágur, the road leads to Bøur and Gásadalur, two villages so scenically extravagant they have become the signature images of the Faroes — grass-roofed houses, sea stacks, waterfalls falling off the edge of the world. To the south, the lake Sørvágsvatn (also called Leitisvatn) sits above sea cliffs at an angle that plays tricks with the eye; the photograph of it has circled the internet so many times it is now one of the most recognised landscape images of northern Europe.
Most visitors pass through Sørvágur on their way somewhere else, and that is understandable. But the town makes a practical base — cheaper and quieter than Tórshavn, with easy access to Vágar's best scenery in every direction.