Drangarnir

Off the western tip of Vágar stand two sea stacks, Stóri Drangur and Lítli Drangur, known together as Drangarnir, and the larger one is pierced by a natural arch that the sea has driven clean through the rock. Behind them rises Tindhólmur, a small uninhabited island with five jagged peaks along its spine, and when the stacks, the arch and the island line up, the composition is one of the most photographed in the North Atlantic. Reaching it takes commitment: either a boat trip out from Sørvágur that noses towards the arch, or a demanding coastal hike of several hours that crosses private farmland and, by local rule, must be done with a licensed guide. The reward is a view that feels like the edge of the map.

What you actually see

• The sea arch - the hole driven through Stóri Drangur by the Atlantic.
• Tindhólmur - the five-peaked uninhabited island framed behind the stacks.
• The coastal hike - the guided walk out along the Vágar shore.
• Gásadalur - the cliff-edge waterfall village on the same peninsula.

When to go

May to September for the boat trips and the hike; both stop or become dangerous in the winter and in rough weather. Boats are cancelled in swell, and the hike needs a dry, clear day.

Honest expectations

There is no easy way to see it: the hike is long, steep, exposed and requires a paid licensed guide because it crosses private land, and the boat trips are weather-dependent and often cancelled. Neither is cheap. The famous head-on view with the arch and Tindhólmur aligned really only comes together from the water or from specific points on the hike, not from any roadside.

Nearby

Gásadalur and Múlafossur are on the same peninsula; Sørvágsvatn's clifftop lake is nearby.