Visby

With my visit to Visby over the past weekend, I finally ‘finished’ Sweden. I did so on a nightly public transport expedition of over 1,600 km: bike from my house to the local train station (5 min) – train to the airport (45 min) - fly Amsterdam to Stockholm (1.5 hr) – pricey Arlanda Express train to Stockholm central station (20 min) – Batbussen to Nynäshammn (45 min) – ferry to Visby (3h15 min), arriving at 5.45 in the morning. If you ever end up on the streets of Visby via the same early ferry, I’ve got two practical tips for you: (1) Marthas café opens early for breakfast, at 6 am on weekdays and 8 am on Saturday, and (2) there are hammocks for public use along the beach road next to the botanical garden to catch up on your sleep.

After breakfast and having tried to get some rest on a park bench (I only discovered the hammocks later in the day), I started my visit properly with a walk along the exterior of the city walls. They do not look that impressive coming from the harbour, but that's because it is the only part of the structure where the full circle is interrupted. The other 3.44 km of the total 3.6 km is intact.

The wall, which is up to 10 meters high, is reinforced every few meters by a tower. 36 of those are still standing and that adds to the wall’s majestic look. …

I visited this WHS in June 2018 as a day trip from Stockholm. There are frequent flights daily from around 07:30 till 19:00 from Bromma Airport with SAS and the cheaper Braathens Regional Airlines (BRA). My visit happened to be just a few days before the Almedal Week, known as the biggest 'political' festival in Sweden so booking well in advance was an asset to secure the cheapest options available. If you travel from Stockholm on a sunny day, try to secure a window seat on the left hand side of the plane (first come, first served basis on BRA) as the panoramic view of the walled town with the Baltic Sea in the background is worth viewing before landing.

During the summer months, the Flygbussarna Airport Coaches offer a shuttle service to the city centre which is timed around 15 mins after each arrival. Tickets can be bought on the bus with credit card only and free city maps, leaflets and wifi are available on the bus itself. It's not a very long walk if you want to save money and are not pressed for time. The bus stops 3 times at different points around the city walls and after less than 10 mins I decided to stop at the first stop, Norgatt (photo - morning light is great here for photography), to enjoy a lovely walk around the 3.4km ringmuren or town wall built in the 13th and 14th centuries with 27 preserved ground towers and 9 …

Thanks to one low cost airline last-minute promotion that made me decided to visit Gotland where one of the World Heritage Sites - the Hanseatic Town of Visby, the island's capital, located. Since the visit was really unplanned, I did my best to see the city for one and a half days without knowledge or expectation, but turn out to be one of the best World Heritage Sites of Sweden I visited in this trip. Even with the promotion, our plane still had only 6 passengers! And when we landed on Visby Airport, there was no taxi at all, we tried to ask airport staffs, but no one knew how to call taxi! Luckily that one passenger called a taxi for us from a small phone box at the airport entrance. Finally our taxi arrived and took us to the town center. When our taxi reached the town, the view was quite stunning with high medieval town wall, towers and defensive gates.

After we got a place to sleep, the first place we went was Almedalen, which was a beautiful seaside park. I really liked this place and the view of the town was just amazing, from here I could see many church spires, town wall, and many styles of building architecture. The next place was the Gunpowder Tower which was a tower part of the town wall next to the sea. Then we went to see the Botanical Garden, the garden was lovely with many spring flowers, also many …

I reached Visby in 3 hours by ferry from Oskarshamn, a short train + bus journey from Kalmar.

After entering the town through the Osterport, I spent a morning walking the streets of the old town visiting the various ruined 12th century churches, as well as the more interesting and undamaged Domkyrkan.

I found it a shame that Visby's waterfront was obscured by huge storage tanks.

A few years ago I did a short cruise of the Baltic Sea, and I chose a particular cruise because it included Visby. I did spend a few hours walking through the historic streets, but unfortunately it was raining so heavily and the wind was blowing so strongly that it really was no fun at all. I did see the museum, which was definitely very interesting, but the rest I could hardly see (and it was the beginning of July!). Fortunately, on my second visit (by ferry from Nynäshamn), the weather was much better (also in July). So I could finally explore all the parts of Visby I had missed the first time around, in particular the very impressive city walls. If you are lucky with the weather, Visby is one of the finest historic cities in Northern Europe.

Having visited a dozen Hansa towns around the Baltic Sea you certainly get a fair share of de-ja-vu when strolling on the narrow streets of Visby. In this Hansaetic town on the island of Gotland located in the middle of the Baltic Sea, you can’t avoid feeling the presence of Lübeck, Riga, Danzig, Tallinn, Stralsund and Wismar and even Novgorod the Great in Russia. And it wasn’t actually until 1645 at the Treaty of Brömsebro, that the island became truly Swedish. Vikings, the Hansa and Denmark did their best to run the town and the island through the previous centuries.

The most notable objects in Visby is the 3,6 km long stone wall – Ringmuren – said to be the best preserved in its kind in Northern Europe. The wall with its many towers encircles the old town and protect the many cathedral ruins and the small merchant houses. Visby is also one of the most popular destinations for tourism in Sweden making it completely swamped with people between mid-June until mid-August. It is therefore my advice to try and avoid those months unless you are heavily into partying with the Swedes, something that also could be quite a fun experience…!

If you are hooked on Vikings, the island of Gotland is virtually littered with remains but an absolute must is to visit the small museum in Visby – Fornsalen – where you find an absolute brilliant collection of runic stone, truly the best of the best you can find; …

No doubts - this city deserves to be on the UNESCO list. It is very picturesque, and quite well preserved. In a way the city with its limestone cliffs, ruins of ancient churches and sea at the horizon resembles something from Southern Europe - but still very different.

I was impressed by the fortification wall.

If it happens for you to visit Sweden - do not forget Gotland and Visby - it is wirth a visit!