A rocky outcrop in the middle of the north Atlantic, there are seemingly more superlatives to describe the sheer beauty of the collection of Faroe Islands than the 50,000 people living on them.

Perhaps the number of descriptive words even exceeds the number of sheep: 72,000.

While many have heard of the 18 islands, few know where they are. Of these, only a tiny number have actually visited. Why it has remained one of the planet’s little secrets is difficult to know.

Literally translating as the “isles of sheep”, this is real island living: sustainable, communal, creative, confined. Its location north of the British Isles, two and a half hours by plane from London and on the shipping route between Norway and Iceland, gives it a distinct feeling: more British than Bergen, yet more Scandinavian than the Shetlands – the result is distinctly Faroese.

Ask any native if they would like to do something, anything, and the response is the same: “Maybe”. For this is a place where the weather is king. Locals, who are largely a practical type of laidback, ask what’s the point in committing to plans if the wind and/or rain will force you to cancel them? To visitors, it makes the destination more attractive and doubly more exciting. It’s one of the only places in the world where you have to live in, around and with nature.

Nowhere is that more clear than the grassy roofs on the majority of homes on the islands. Waving in the fresh wind, it’s one of the first things you notice when you drop down off the hills to visit the capital, Tórshavn. One of the most memorable is the Hotel Føroyar, home to the most luxurious and spacious accommodation on the islands.

Standing on the hillside above the capital and harbour, its views alone are well worth the cost of the room. Its restaurant, Koks, is also one of the finest and mesmerising in the Nordic countries.

Despite it being under the sovereignty and in the subsidy of Denmark, the main town is the surest sign the Faroe Islands stand alone.

Looking down from the hotel, to the fore is the country’s national football stadium, which has played host to Italy, Scotland and Portugal in recent years. Those who grace its artificial pitch are some of the nation’s biggest foreign ambassadors. Flanking it is luscious and wild grassland supporting the herds of wild sheep. Within the centre of the urban area there are the national museums and smart upmarket restaurants, such as sushi-fusion Etika. Nearer the harbour is Tinganes, a cute collection of red wooden buildings near the site of one of the world’s oldest Parliaments. To the rear is the sea, the country’s lifeblood, which feeds the population and its economy as, thanks to not joining the European Union and its restrictive quotas, fishing equates to more than 95% of the country’s goods export.

There are still links to foreign overlords. A short way out of Tórshavn there is Sornfelli, a mountain with incredible views of the surrounding fjords and inlets but also home to a Nato radar station, installed at the insistence of the Danish government. The country’s airport on the westerly isle of Vágar is the result of the British “friendly invasion” during the Second World War. A museum celebrating Operation Valentine is nearby at Miðvágur. Excellently curated by its founder Karl Jóhan Nielsen, it is a real work of love and community, with items from across the islands donated by dozens of households.

But on the whole, the Faroese are quite happy to go it alone. As a nation, there is a charming sense of self-assurance. Despite its size, it has its own flag and language. Question any of the customs, whether it’s whaling (which still occasionally takes place) or the national dish of wind-cured lamb, and they will be fiercely defended. More attractive to most visitors is the knitwear – from designers, such as Katrina í Geil, who operates out of her house on the small island of Nólsoy, to the understated but world-renowned Guðrun & Guðrun shop in the centre of Tórshavn, which sells jumpers across the world thanks to popular Danish crime drama, The Killing.

Yet it is once you drift away from the urban area that you get a real sense of what makes the Faroes – fresh wind, salty air, stunning, sometimes poetic, views and an undulating landscape. Using the country’s extensive network of tunnels and the only bridge over the Atlantic Ocean, it’s easy to navigate around the main archipelago. Where the road network fails, the collection of ferries and cheap helicopters fill the void. The most southerly island of Suðuroy is well worth a visit for those who can handle vertigo-inspiring cliffs, sandy beaches with near freezing water and views so breathtaking they are hard to describe. Stunning doesn’t quite sum it up.

In fact, everywhere you turn, within a few footsteps on to soft peaty earth you are alone with nature. The sound of birdsong and the crashing of waves against the rugged landscape dominate. In every direction there is the picture-perfect sight of pastel colours, where blue sky meets green grass meets grey sea. With barely a house, never mind a person, in sight this is what it means to escape it all.

Put like that, suddenly the Faroe Islands become the land of definitely maybe.

  • Tim Ridgway was a guest of Atlantic Airways, Visit Faroe Islands and the Føroyar Hotel (www.hotelforoyar.com)
  • Atlantic Airways operates a twice-weekly summer service to Vágar airport from Gatwick. Flights run Monday and Thursday until September 17. Fares from £263 return. Visit www.atlantic.fo
  • For destination information, visit www.visitfaroeislands.com
  • Sunvil Discovery offers three- and four-day packages, and longer breaks in the Faroe Islands. Visit www.sunvil.co.uk