Sumba Old Road: a beautiful drive if you don't get seasick

The old road to Sumba is an amazing journey over the mountains on the island of Suðuroy in the Faroe Islands. Don't forget your camera with lots of film/memory and fully charged batteries! The road is very curvy, but a beautiful drive if you don't get seasick.

Sumba Old Road

The old road to Sumba, the southernmost village of the Faroe Islands, is asphalted and goes up to the mountains. Starting from Lopra, the road is 9.5 km long. It has only one lane, but there are meeting places and not much traffic. The road passes by the Beinisvørð, a 470 meter high sea cliff, one of the highest of Europe, around 50 meters from the edge. The cliff goes vertically down to the sea, right next to Beinisvørð

The road climbs up several mountains. Do not travel this pass in severe weather conditions. Avalanches, heavy snowfalls and landslides can occur anytime, being extremely dangerous due to frequent patches of ice. It used to be difficult to reach the town in wintertime when the storms raged. Nowadays this old road is not used much. It was bypassed by a tunnel called Sumbatunnellen/Sumbiartunnilin. It opened officially in 1997. It is 3,240 meter long (10,630 ft). The public bus drives through the tunnel.

 

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