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Travel + Leisure
7 days ago
- Travel + Leisure
This Island Now Has Self-guided Cars to Take You to Lesser-known Spots Instead of Tourist Traps
If you ever find yourself craving more from a trip—something real, something local, something beyond the guidebooks—don't build your itinerary around the usual 'must-see' spots. In fact, according to a 2024 McKinsey & Company report, around 80 percent of travelers visit just 10 percent of global attractions—leaving much of the world untouched and unexplored. It's no different in the Faroe Islands, a Danish archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and Norway. But in the Faroe Islands, they're doing something interesting about it. With the help of Google Maps, Visit Faroe Islands (the official tourism board) recently launched a fleet of rental cars with a built-in tour guide. When you rent one of these vehicles, you agree to follow an itinerary that leads to some of the islands' quieter, lesser-known corners—from roadside eateries to tiny villages tucked in spectacular fjords. The idea is to avoid the crowds going to the next 'must-see' site and instead encourage visitors to experience the islands' lesser-touristed spots. When you rent the car, you agree to follow the car's step-by-step directions, with no idea what the day's destinations will be. A car on a scenic road trip through the Faroe Islands. 'Across the globe, tourists gather around the same iconic 'hot spots', driven by algorithms and social media that create a closed ecosystem where images from popular places attract even more people to those very locations. The result is overtourism—and predictable experiences," Guðrið Højgaard, chief executive officer for Visit Faroe Islands, said in a press release obtained by Travel + Leisure . 'Faroe Islands have experienced increasing pressure on selected sites themselves, and now we are trying to reverse the flow—quite literally.' After booking with 62N car rental, a partner of Visit Faroe Islands, travelers scan a QR code to activate turn-by-turn directions that lead to the day's sites. Along the way, local stories are shared. In addition to taking travelers to locally loved places, the itinerary helps disperse tourists, who traditionally all head to a destination's 'top three sites.' It is a first-of-its-kind approach to curbing overtourism, while giving travelers experiences they crave—those that are locally driven, authentic, and void of crowds. 'We set out to explore how technology and creativity could offer a new way for travelers to discover the Faroes—one that leads them into places they might never find on their own,' said Højgaard. 'This is a more thoughtful kind of journey, designed to both protect what's most beloved and reveal spots often overlooked. With this initiative, we hope to lead by example, demonstrating how destinations can embrace innovation to spread tourism more responsibly and meaningfully.' The 30 itineraries, which were curated from a locals' perspectives, include activities like visiting a roadside fish-and-chip stand, a hike in the fjords, and a visit to historic sites set along Europe's tallest sea cliffs. The Faroe Islands' self-navigating cars can be booked on the Faroe Islands' tourism site starting July 8. Rates start at around $103 a day and are no more expensive than a traditional rental car—even though they include the cost of the itinerary and audio guide.
CNBC
10-07-2025
- CNBC
These European islands launched 30 road trips — but the destinations are kept secret
The Faroe Islands are rolling out road trips for travelers looking to explore beyond the usual hot spots. The catch? Visitors don't know where the trips will take them. The Danish archipelago's tourism board, Visit Faroe Islands, on Tuesday launched 30 itineraries that take travelers on self-guided driving tours. The tours are accessible via phone, but each stop is kept secret throughout the journey. "You never know where you're going to end up, and none of the routes are published," said Marta Karadottir, the organization's content and communications manager. "We're trying to keep that kind of curiosity alive with travelers … [and] make traveling a little bit more unpredictable." Travelers follow a designated route that ensures no other travelers show up at the same destination at the same time, according to a press release. "We really want people to get that sense of … other-worldly places where you're alone and with nature," Karadottir said. Journeys take visitors to small villages, lesser-known restaurants and lookout points, where travelers can stop, hike and spend time, according to a press release. Some of the itineraries take travelers from one island to another via ferry too, Karadottir said. Each trip takes between three and six hours, depending on how long travelers want to spend at each stop, she said. Trips, however, come with one caveat. Travelers must commit to completing the entire route, without deviating to popular tourist spots, she said. "Instead of queuing up to take that one iconic picture, why not go to a place that's right next to it that you wouldn't know of … that is just as equally stunning," she said. "When you let go, you get surprised by something more beautiful, or something more real." The guided trips, dubbed "Auto Odyssey," can be taken in travelers' own cars or via rented vehicles, starting at around $100 per day. Bookings can be made through Visit Faroe Islands. Cradled between Iceland and Scotland, the Faroe Islands are known for their dramatic landscapes and off-grid appeal. The archipelago's population of 55,000 live on most of its 18 major islands, with 40% living in the capital city of Tórshavn, according to a governmental website. Visitors can get to the Faroe Islands by taking a ferry from Iceland or Denmark, or by flying from mainland Europe, according to Visit Faroe Islands.
Fast Company
09-07-2025
- Fast Company
This small island community is combating overtourism with self-navigating cars
In the North Atlantic Ocean, halfway between Iceland and Norway, a small island community is testing an imaginative solution to overtourism: self-navigating cars. The Faroe Islands, an archipelago with a 2-to-1 ratio of sheep to humans, are known for their iconic views. There's the cascading Múlafossur waterfall; the westernmost island of Mykines, home to thousands of puffins; and the Sørvágsvatn, also known as 'the lake above the ocean.' But while these three sites are the islands' main tourist attractions, a new campaign from the tourism agency Visit Faroe Islands claims that they're also the source of some significant problems. 'Tourists gather around the same iconic 'hot spots,' driven by algorithms and social media trends that create a closed ecosystem where images from popular places attract even more people to those very locations,' the agency's website reads. 'The result is overtourism and predictable experiences.' Overtourism in the post-pandemic years, as an overwhelming influx of visitors to Instagrammable hot spots puts pressure on local infrastructure and communities. The trend has sparked protests in Venice, Italy; Barcelona; the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa; and Kyoto, Japan, among others. Cities in Italy, Spain, and Greece have taken to implementing 'tourist taxes' in an effort to curb the problem, and must-see destinations like the Louvre have even decided to redesign to accommodate greater foot traffic. This month, Visit Faroe Islands is piloting a less-aggressive approach to overtourism. Through a collaboration with 62N car rental, the agency is offering an experience called the 'Auto Odyssey,' a series of self-navigating itineraries that guide tourists to lesser-known locations across the islands in an effort to reduce the strain on local hot spots. An itinerary designed for spontaneity—and tourist flow In a new campaign video, Visit Faroe Islands lays out its pitch for Auto Odyssey: 'Even in one of the most secluded places on Earth, the Faroe Islands, the tourists flock to the same places to take a picture,' the video starts. The solution? Self-navigating car rental. 'If you want this car, you have to accept that the car decides where you go, no matter what,' the video continues. 'In return for embracing this unpredictability, this car will take you to places few have been before you.' When visitors choose to rent a car from 62N, they can opt into the Auto Odyssey program for free. Once inside the vehicle, travelers scan a QR code that activates turn-by-turn navigation on their phone, with a curated set of four to six stops over the course of three to six hours. The whole experience is designed for maximum spontaneity, as travelers' destinations become clear only once they've arrived, and the navigation illuminates just one section of the journey at a time. Along the way, the system provides local stories tied to each place. 'The Visit Faroe Islands team pulled from personal knowledge and sat down together to curate the routes and feature places that we like to visit ourselves,' says Súsanna E. Sørensen, marketing manager of leisure and PR at the tourist board. 'We selected places we know are scenic or interesting, yet don't get a lot of attention. It is not about identifying a new scenic hot spot but more so to show visitors unexpected places. We want to encourage them to take in the beauty and the silence of the place.' Possible destinations include a roadside stand serving fish and chips; one of the oldest turf-roofed wooden churches on the islands; a hiking trail through dramatic fjords; and a lake tucked between steep cliffs. The system comes preprogrammed with 30 different itineraries, and is designed to ensure that all the rental cars on the road are headed on separate paths, keeping overcrowding to a minimum. In a press release, Guðrið Højgaard, CEO of Visit Faroe Islands, explained that Auto Odyssey is the agency's way of exploring how technology and creativity 'could offer a new way for travelers to discover the Faroes.' The concept is certainly a long way off from solving Europe's larger overtourism problem, given that it's designed for a comparatively small location that relies on travel by car. Further, the Auto Odyssey program runs on the honor system—it has no way of actually stopping a traveler from charting their own course. Still, it offers a fascinating case study into how the design of a travel itinerary might help cities guide and redirect the flow of daily visitors. 'This is a more thoughtful kind of journey, designed to both protect what's most beloved and reveal spots often overlooked,' Højgaard said. 'With this initiative, we hope to lead by example, demonstrating how destinations can embrace innovation to spread tourism more responsibly and meaningfully.' The super-early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is Friday, July 25, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
