Looking for Visby Visitors

[roothy123]

OK, now that I was able to get my question regarding Ronne answered, I'm looking for cruisers who have been to Visby, Sweden. If so, were the seas a bit rough? I believe it's a tender port, so were you able to walk to the historic area from where the tender drop-off point?

 

Thanks for any input you can give me. I'll also post in the "Ports" section.

[Goldmann]

Everything very walkable from tender docks. The waters were pond like when we visited.

[roothy123]

Great! Thank you. It sounds like a wonderful place, but then I read that some ships aren't able to dock/anchor there due to rough seas, so I just had to look for reassurance that we'll be able to make it! I know, however, that not being able to dock or tender is always a possibility - but so far with Oceania we've only missed one port (Grand Turk) in 6 cruises, so the odds are definitely in our favor!

[cbb]

roothy,

From one amateur photographer to another....you will love Visby. The roses on the rock walls are beautiful, there are enough church ruins to please anyone, and the narrow streets are lovely. We were there in Sept and the flowers were still blooming.

 

The walled gardens at the end of the island are "don't miss." Yes, we tendered in, but you come into a "sheltered" area so that the tendering at Visby is gentle. Our tendering from the ship was fine, too. You will love Visby! c

[roothy123]

Thanks. I'm driving myself a little crazy trying to figure out how where we might be tendered to, and then how to get into the middle of Visby. However, I have a feeling it will be pretty easy once I'm there, and I think the one remaining, unruined church should help guide me in the right direction. I did look up to see where the gardens were (Google Earth is a wonderful tool!), so that looks easy to walk to, as long as I keep the water in sight! I keep finding more and more church ruins the more I look - should be fun! By the way, I don't mind tendering at all - I just hated to think that I might not make it to Visby if the sea was rough.

 

Did you also go to Ronne? The more I look, the more it interests me, although most of the stuff I want to see seems to be out on the island, not right in Ronne. How about Gdansk? I'm waffling on what to do there. We're on Baltic Treasures in August, on Marina. With 9 ports (10, if you count Stockholm, but unfortunately, we'll only see the outlying port and the airport!), I am going to go through a LOT of photo cards!

[cbb]

our tour did not do Ronne or Gdansk. Do you do the Kiel Canal and Brugges? Copenhagen is totally DIY and so is Stockholm. We used the mass transit, left ship early and went to the Vasa Museum on our own and it was great. We were there when the Museum opened so there were few people there and when the buses arrived we left! Have a great trip! c

[Goldmann]

We all respond to differently to these experiences and enviroments. We thought Gdansk an absolute treasure. As you reach one end of the main walking street, you cannot miss the arch before the clock tower. Inside the arch you also can't miss the pictures of the city in the 40's after the devistation. We then looked back up the street, remembered the history and marveled at the majesty of the restored city. We loved Gdansk. Interacting with the people, who were rightfully proud of their city and their accomplishments, and taking in the restored Gdansk was one of he highlights of our Baltic cruise.

[cbb]

If you are responding to me, I meant to say that the O cruise we were on did not go to Ronne or Gdansk. Our cruise went through the Kiel Canal, on to Brugges and ended in Dover; I'm glad you enjoyed Gdansk.

[Goldmann]

No, just offering re roothy123's musings.

[orchestrapal]

Thanks. Did you also go to Ronne? The more I look, the more it interests me, although most of the stuff I want to see seems to be out on the island, not right in Ronne. How about Gdansk? I'm waffling on what to do there. !

 

There is not much to do there except trip over other tourists and see a completely "rebuilt" town and buy amber much of it fake. It won't take you long to see Gdansk.

There is a little visited Concentration Camp, Stuthof which we went to after a long flat boring ride. Our main reason for visiting was because it is "so little" visited. Interesting to see how a Polish government handles a camp.......The explanations were not in English but reading the German was eye opening.

I believe the ship had a tour of both the town and the camp.

[GJH123]

We used Andrew Falkowski as our private guide for Stuthof, Gdansk, and Sopot. While I was initially concerned about his correspondence, he did an excellent job. Stuthof was an emotional and sobering experience. Gdansk is beautifully restored and a pleasant surprise. Sopot is a resort town with lovely examples of art deco architecture. This was a memorable day for us, hope it will be for you also.

[roothy123]

Well, I originally mentioned I was "waffling" about Gdansk, just because I was mulling a couple things over, and I was also having a little trouble finding out how to get around once there. (We typically DIY in a port, even if it means trains, buses, trams, etc.) I did not mean to imply that Gdansk was not worth visiting - I could have fun in Secaucus, NJ if I had to - I think! Anyway, apparently there is a 3-week long fair in Gdansk when we're there, so I think that might be fun. My husband prefers that kind of thing to sightseeing the "required sites," so it might appeal to him. We did that in a small German city a year or two ago and had fun - although of course, a lot of it was booths with stuff for sale, which is not really MY thing. I'm just trying to figure out how much walking is involved, as I have to watch out for my husband, who might suffer the next couple days if he walks too much. This particular trip (Baltic Treasures) has no "at sea" days and we visit 10 ports, so we may have to take it a little easy in some ports!