Mulafossur waterfall in Gasadalur guide

Gasadalur is one of the villages that everyone heard of but perhaps not too many people know where it is. At the same time, it is one of the jewels that are just necessary to visit when you are going to the Faroe Islands – this should be really on your bucket list, I mean it! Mulafossur is a waterfall in Gasadalur that you have definitely seen in pictures of many nature magazines. And here is how to visit it.

How to visit Mulafossur waterfall in Gasadalur

It might sound very easy on how to visit this place. But the truth is that it is a little bit more complicated. Even though it is easy to get around the Faroe Islands and you can even find here a lot of bus connections, Gasadalur is a little bit further away from civilization. And how to get there very much depends on how much money are you willing to spend.

Getting to Mullafossur by car

A car is always an answer in the Faroe Islands. Without a doubt, it is the most comfortable way of getting around. Driving around the Faroe Islands is relatively easy. The only thing you need to be careful about is basically the wind because that can get pretty wild.

So the easiest way of going around is definitely renting a car. There is a lot of rental companies. If you are planning to visit the Faroe Islands in the main season you don’t need any 4×4 vehicle, just a normal city car is enough. But even then, make sure you book the car in time. Otherwise, you might have an issue to get one.

The road to Gasadalur is very picturesque so drive carefully, you will be going around a lot of amazing viewpoints. There is one tunnel, so don’t panic. The Faroe Islands are known for their tunnels. This one is quite a short one.

Get a taxi

Another option – even more expensive is to get a taxi. It is quite an expensive option but of course – depends where exactly you are in the Faroe Islands. Taxis are quite common in the Faroe Islands but very pricy. But is it still a valid option for anyone who doesn’t have a car or doesn’t want to drive.

Especially if you want just a couple of pictures, you may say to your driver if he can wait just for a couple of minutes. That way you can get pictures and get back to civilization without any problem.

A taxi will probably cost you anything between 600 and 100 dkk (depending on if you are going from Torshavn or some other place on the island of Vagár).

Hiking the old postal road

Another option to get to Mulafossur in Gasadalur would be to hike the old postal road. Here is the story – if you come here by car, you will need to go through a tunnel. This road dates back to the time when there wasn’t any tunnel yet so the postman had to hike to the village.

The bus will get you to the closest town – Sorvagur in Vagar and you can walk from there. But it is 10 km. Don’t get me wrong, it is a very nice road but it is quite a long walk. I did it. Not bad but you will get tired.

Most of the road is paved so there isn’t any problem. The adventure starts around the mountain that divides Gasadalur from other villages. You will see there is a tunnel. If you don’t have a car, you cannot go to the tunnel – it is very dangerous and you can get a fee. So you will have to hike the mountain. It takes about an hour. Make sure you don’t go there when the weather is too bad – such as if it is windy or the mist is too dense.

The hike is pretty nice but it is not marked, so you will have to find it on google or on maps.me where they have these roads marked in detail.

Hitchhike

I was not used to hitchhiking before I went to the Faroe Islands. Hitchhiking there is quite normal and I managed to hitchhike there even after a corona. Mulafossur in Gasadalur is a well-visited place, especially by tourists. So I’m sure you will manage to find someone who will get you there or at least to the closest village which is Boer. From there it is only 4 km to Gasadalur.

This option is especially good if you are low on budget. The Faroe Islands are quite expensive places to travel but most of the people are open to hitchhiking. You can also combine it with public transport. The buses come every hour and will get you as far as to the village Sorvagur. But from there you must hitchhike. It is very easy to get there in frequented hours and around weekends when even locals are coming to this village.

Get on a tour

Like any other country, you can find tour companies even in the Faroe Islands. There are more private tours rather than big commercial tours with a lot of people. Even though there are some of those, generally they are not so common.

That also means that you would have to pay for the private tour and that is generally more expensive than just a normal tour. On the other hand, most of the tours on Vagar have more to offer than just the Mulafossur waterfall in Gasadalur. If you go on any tour with an agency, you will certainly see much more in one day. The option might be pretty good if you want to know a lot about the villages some history and need a guide. But the same could be done if you have a car. So make sure you compare all the pros and cons before you choose the tour.

What about public transport?

As I mentioned before, the Faroe Islands have pretty good public transport. But it is for you only if you have enough time. You can get almost everywhere but it will take some time. And at the same time, there are some villages that you cannot reach this way. And Gasadalur is one of them. It is simply too small for this.

But you still can get to a village that is close to Gasadalur. And that would be Sorvagur. If you are coming from Torshavn, there is one bus almost every hour that would get you here. But from here you will have to use one of the mentioned ways of getting to Gasadalur. Here is the bus schedule to Sorvagur.

About Mulafossur waterfall and Gasadalur – practical info

About the village and location

Gasadalur would translate from Faeroe language to “Goose valley”. There is a funny story that says that the village is named after a woman called Gaesa, who came originally from another village close to Torshavn. She ate meat during a feast and because of that, she lost all her property so she came to live in this small village that was eventually named after her.

Another story says that the name means Goose valley because wild geese come here from ancient times. It is probably more likely but less interesting.

The location of the village is on the edge of Mykines fjord and since village is surrounded by cliffs, fishing here is not possible. But most of people would have here a farm.

Sad story about this village is that because until 2004 when the tunnel was build was the village hard to reach, the population decreased. A lot of people move out. So a lot of houses there are empty. All in all there are only 16 people living there today.

Hiking around Mulafossur waterfall and Gasadalur

There is a designated hike from the village of Gasadalur to the Mulafossur waterfall. I know that I have already mentioned the old postal path, but this one is different. The path is made mainly for tourists to see the beauty around the village.

All you need to do is to walk between the houses in the village. One of the bigger roads will lead you from the village to the pastures. There you will see little yellow sticks coming from the ground. You need to walk around these. It is not allowed to go behind them. Sometimes because you would be stepping into private property and sometimes because you would be simply too close to the cliff and might fall down.

If you take the road from the village – which I recommend – you will first see another viewpoint. They call it Arthurs seat. Even though no legendary knight hasn’t sat there. Probably. But you can see from here another end of Vagar, the island of Mykines, and some other rocks rising from the water.

Then the path leads down close to the cliff. Later on you will get across a little river. The path will lead slightly differently but if you will follow the river – which you can here. You will see that that is finally the Mulafossur waterfall. There is a lot of place to view it. The hike will lead you to the best view point where you can take the best pictures. But you can also see it from very close distance on that little edge. Make sure you don’t fall down.

Facilities in the village

There are only a couple of houses in the village and some of them are empty. But that doesn’t mean that they are not ready for tourists. There is one very famous coffee house called Fjorooy. You cannot miss it, it is one of the houses very close to the main road. Don’t expect Starbucks. But if you come here on a rainy day, the local drinks and food will still warm you up. They will do that anyway. They have some homemade cakes and sometimes soup.

Other facilities are here mainly for hikers. A place where you can park your car – always handy. Or a toilet right before the hike. Very useful and doesn’t have to pay for it.

Lastly, there is also a little clothing store. When I was visiting the village, it wasn’t open. However, I could see that people are mostly selling there the famous Faroe sweater and some other warm clothes. Which is actually very useful here. And handy if you have forgotten gloves or something like that.

Where to stay?

Generally, it is probably fine to make a day trip to Mulafossur waterfall from Torshavn. It will take you about an hour to get there but it is not impossible to do.

However, if you have a low budget and have to use public transport or hitchhiking I would suggest staying on Vagar. It would make everything much easier and also cheaper at least for this part of the island.

There are two possibilities for getting accommodation right in Gasadalur. They are a little bit more expensive than other places perhaps because of the location.

The best location that you can choose to stay in Vagar is probably one of the bigger villages such as Sorvagur or Sandavagur. That way it is close to a lot of hikes and still on the public transport reach.

I stayed at Giljanes hostel both times I visited Vagar island. The accommodation is very close to the public stop and it is also very affordable. The staff there is very friendly and helpful. They also have a multiple choice of accommodation type so you can stay there both in a dormitory in a single room or on their campsite.

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