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Faroe Islands Faroe IslandsIsland

Vágar

176 km² rising to 722 m out of the Norwegian Sea.

When to go

Vágar seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
SørvágurMiðvágurSandavágur
N 2 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

176km²

Area

97km

Coastline

722m

Highest point

Árnafjall

3,426

People

10°C

Warmest sea

August

625km

To the mainland

When to go to Vágar

Good all year round.

The sea is warmest in August (10 °C) and coolest in February (7 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

Island in the Faroe Islands

Vágar is an island in Faroe Islands. It covers 176 km², with 97 km of coastline. Its highest point, Árnafjall, rises to 722 m. About 3,426 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 625 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on Vágar.

  • 11beachesTrøllakampasandur and 10 more
  • 15viewpointsVørðuklettar, Klippe hinter dem See Fjallavatn, Á Skarði and 12 more
  • 2lighthousesMulin
  • 1ferry terminalsSørvágur
  • 1marinas
  • 42named peaksÁrnafjall, Eysturtindur, Malinstindur and 39 more
  • 8waterfallsBøsdalafossur, Múlafossur, Skarðsáfossur and 5 more
  • 2ruins and archaeological sitesGróthústangi
  • 1campsitesÁ Giljanesi
  • 14hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 13restaurants, cafés and bars

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Vágar in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Vágar, each with its own numbers.

  • 1beachCoastya
  • 5mountainsPeakyas
  • 2waterfallsCascadyas
  • Highest point

    715m

    Eysturtindur

    according to Peakyas

  • Tallest waterfall

    30m

    Bøsdalafossur

    according to Cascadyas

  • Beach with the warmest sea

    10.2°C

    Selvik

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

1 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Selvikcove10.2°C

Open Coastya ↗

5 mountains

on Peakyas, the mountain atlas

  1. Eysturtindur715m
  2. Giliðtrítitindur643m
  3. Klubbin352m
  4. Vørðufelli284m
  5. Trælanípa148m

Open Peakyas ↗

2 waterfalls

on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas

  1. Bøsdalafossur30m
  2. Múlafossur30m

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 242 m above the sea. 42 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 9 %0–50 m
  • 33 %50–200 m
  • 53 %200–500 m
  • 4 %500–1,000 m

Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

Vágar176 km²
Malta247 km²
Madeira Island742 km²

20 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

  • Sørvágur1,148 people
  • Miðvágur1,040 people
  • Sandavágur779 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)6667810121211987
Night low (°C)44456810109865
Sea (°C)7777891010101098
Rain (mm)12999988075708496114123121136
Wet days232021181613171819212123
Sun h/day0.00.82.54.45.85.84.94.42.91.20.10.0
Wind (km/h)373633302622222329323436

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020±0.0−0.1−0.1+0.2−0.1+0.2±0.0−0.2±0.0+0.1+0.8+0.6
2021+0.1±0.0+0.8+0.2−0.3±0.0+0.2+0.4+0.3+0.3+0.4+0.2
2022−0.1−0.4+0.1+0.2+0.3+0.2−0.1−0.1+0.5+0.6+0.8+0.5
2023−0.1+0.1±0.0+0.4+0.1+0.6+0.4+0.4+0.7+0.4+0.3+0.1
2024+0.1+0.3+0.4+0.3+0.8±0.0+0.2+0.3+0.5+0.2+0.5+0.2
2025+0.1+0.8+0.8+1.0+1.4+0.5+1.2+1.1+1.4+1.4+1.2+0.7

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Midvagur on Vagar Faroe Islands 2011
EileenSanda · CC BY-SA 3.0
Vagar airport building
Ymblanter · CC BY-SA 4.0
Guide to Faroe Islands office at Vagar Airport
GTFI 2018 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Faroe Islands, Vágar, Vatnsoyrar (1)
Vincent van Zeijst · CC BY-SA 4.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q207675) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya, Peakyas, Cascadyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit