Discover the beauty of Gotland
Gotland is the largest island off the coast of Sweden. It has a perfect blend of history and modern living. The entire island which can be covered in a few days has a mix of everything. The beaches, the countryside, and the city. You name it and it’s there in Gotland.
How to get there?
A 3-hour ferry ride from Stockholm gets one to the main port of Visby in Gotland. An early morning ride from Stockholm to Visby makes up for some pretty spectacular views of the sea and the sunrise.
An early morning ride in the ferry
What to visit?
Visby
Visby which is sometimes called the city of ruins still retains the old city feel inside its city walls. The medieval defensive wall which runs about 3.5 km surrounds the main city of Visby. A major part of this structure still stands today as it is said to be the best-preserved medieval wall in the whole of Scandinavia.
A view of Visby from its city walls
Visby City Wall

The gunpowder tower

Visby city wall
Hogklint Nature Reserve

View from the hogklint nature reserve during sunset

Along the way to the hogklint nature reserve
Church Ruins
Another reminder of Visby’s medieval times is its church ruins. However, despite the place is in ruins, a lot of conferences, concerts, and other such events during the medieval week occur at these ruins. St. Nikolai ruins is one of the major sights inside the city walls. Many concerts are held at this place during the Gotland chamber music festival thus earning this the name of the “cultural hall”. Katarina’s ruins is another beautiful place to visit. The high arches with the sky above probably make it one of the most beautiful ruins of Visby.
Katarina Ruins
Lummelunda Caves
Lummelunda Caves with its beautiful stone formations is next on the list of must visit places when at Gotland. It is said that this cave was discovered by three boys in the late 1940s. The boys explored the cave on their own for quite a few years before informing anyone about it. The entrance to the cave does not seem to hold any excitement as it looks like a dead-end from where one stands. However, when the cave was thrown open to the public the entrance to the cave was kept as-is and another entrance so that the tourists didn’t have to crawl through was made. The narrow openings and crawl-through spaces in the caves do have interesting stories to be told. What was even more exciting was to check if a person of one’s size could crawl through the caves. A small cave arrangement at the exhibition room that is just as wide as the cave, at its narrowest solves this problem easily and makes the visit quite enjoyable as well.Blue Lagoon
Gotland has a lot of limestone quarries which are now water-filled. Blue Lagoon is one of the most famous ones. This place is quite popular as a bathing place in the summer. The white sand and the clear blue water make for an entertaining outing with friends.
Blue Lagoon
Fårö
Fårö is an island to the north of Gotland. This journey to Fårö is made in minutes via a ferry across the Fårö strait. This island is famous for rauk fields. Rauks are column-like natural sea stacks. The ones found here are from limestone. The coffee-pot and dog sea stack are one of the most popular ones at this place. The journey to it makes for some interesting views with the sky, sun and the sea all coming together to create a really nice picture.
The coffee pot and dog sea stack at sunset
What to eat?
Gotland has a distinct cuisine of its own. Merchants from the Baltic region imported saffron and rice to Gotland from very early on. These were incorporated in the cuisine to create the now famous saffron pancakes. This dish was initially made during Christmas and then later on incorporated at weddings, birthdays and anniversaries. However, nowadays you can eat it all year round as it has become the trademark of Gotland and its tourism industry.
Saffron Pancakes
How to get around?
Getting around Gotland can prove to be a little difficult if one is dependent on public transport. However, it’s a breeze if one chooses to cycle or drive through. Summer would probably be the best season to visit this place as the longer daylight hours allow for a lot of sight-seeing. As this is a place that most people come to relax a lot of camping places are available. It does amount to a budget-friendly and travels considering that one camp out during the vacation and cycles around to visit the sights.
May the journey continue…..
Neeti Shetty
As someone who loves to read, write and travel (not necessarily in that order though), I love to combine all three as I share my experience with others. As a travel addict, it also helps me re-live my adventures again. Apart from travel, I also have an interest in science and technology, yoga and volunteering.