Faroe Islands

Eighteen mountainous islands, about 55,000 people and a name that means Sheep Islands: the Faroes suit walkers who would rather meet a ram on the path than a crowd. Villages are small, traffic is light, and the weather turns so often that a slow afternoon by a window with a book feels like part of the plan rather than a day lost. Tórshavn, the capital, has enough cafés for rainy spells without ever feeling like a city trip, and most of the other islands are linked by roads, bridges and subsea tunnels, with small ferries for the rest, so a week can be spent in one village with day walks from the door. May, June and September are calmer than July and August.