Mykines islet temporarily closed for tourists

Mykines locals have decided to close down the popular lighthouse path in the westernmost island of the Faroes.

This has been done due to a muddy path and also to protect the puffin colony while they are feeding their young.

Too much traffic disturbs the puffins and prevents them from entering the puffin caves to feed their young, which may lead to starvation, according to a statement from the locals.

Path may reopen next week

Locals decided on Wednesday to close off the paths to the ‘í Lamba’ puffin nesting site and to the islet where the lighthouse is located.

Farmer Eddie Lauritsen says a combination of moist soil and unusually high tourist numbers have placed great pressure on the paths.

It is possible that the path may reopen next week, but in may be necessary to keep it closed a bit longer.

“At the end of the month, we will take a closer look at the terrain, and then we will decide whether we will reopen the paths,” says Lauritsen.

Visitor numbers have sky-rocketed

The paths to the islet would could endure the traffic that we had a few years ago,” he adds, “but we have seen rapid growth in visitor numbers in recent years. So now we need to close the paths during wet periods.

Tourists are charged a DKK 100 fee for walking beyond the beaten path on the island. This income is spent on repair and maintenance work on the pathways.

However, the farmer says it is difficult for the locals to keep up with the current pressure, and that proper repairs will have to wait until the tourist season is over.

Tourists are happy to pay

”We have had no problems with charging tourists, and most of them say that 100 krónur is a fair price to pay,” he says.

With the closure of the path, tourists need to think of other places to visit on the island. 

”We have informed our visitors well regarding the path closure, but apparently our island is so popular that we haven’t seen any decline in visitor numbers.”

Old stone walls to be reconstructed

Tourists paid some DKK 600,000 in toll fees in Mykines last year. 

All of this income will be spent on various repair and maintenance work on the island.

It will also be spent on reconstructing the old stone walls surrounding the village, a project which the locals say will take several years to complete.

Translated by prosa.fo