Visby, Sweden

[kmezz]

Has anyone used a private tour guide in Visby?  Also - what are the best places to see there?

[Desdichado62]

Worth to see in Visby is what's inside the city walls. Church ruins, narrow streets with tiny old houses, Fiskargränd is famoused for it's roses.

 

https://gotland.com/besoka-uppleva/kultur-noje/en-dag-i-visby/

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fiskargränd/@57.6428045,18.2927991,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipMsY5BvU3tciJqRJIQE6ilLCtM0Gllc08awaon9!2e10!3e12!6s

 

https:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMsY5BvU3tciJqRJIQE6ilLCtM0Gllc08awaon9%3Dw86-h114-k-no!7i2448!8i3264!4m5!3m4!1s0x46f7aed4187820d7:0xf16284d28857aa39!8m2!3d57.6428045!4d18.2927991

Edited March 3, 2022 by Desdichado62

[Desdichado62]

My previous post is hidden for some reason so I will try again.

You can find info at tourist info website, gotland dot com

 

What to see is
Fiskargränd
Old preserved city ring wall
Narrow streets with small houses in the older parts of the town.
Gotland's museum and particular "Fornsalen".
 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by Desdichado62

[MDTrip]

Also there are some old windmills - can't go in them, but they are interesting. If you go outside of Visby with a car the only thing we visited were some old churches and just countryside. (We were in Gotland for a wedding.) 

[Desdichado62]

Outside Visby there is the limestone caves at Lummelunda. There are also the rock formations at Hoburge (southern most point of Gotland).
Fårö is also said to be nice but I don't know if foreigner are allowed due to military restrictions.

 

However for a cruise ship visit you should stay at Visby,

[Happycrafter123]

Visby is a "last minute" addition to my cruise itinerary to replace St. Petersburg, but no tour options available through cruise line.  An internet search has yielded very little in the way of tours, bumping this to see if anyone has tried any excursions here that they would recommend.

[kjunea]

1 hour ago, Happycrafter123 said:

Visby is a "last minute" addition to my cruise itinerary to replace St. Petersburg, but no tour options available through cruise line.  An internet search has yielded very little in the way of tours, bumping this to see if anyone has tried any excursions here that they would recommend.

Having the same problem.  I have found this, which is helping a bit.  We will probably just see on our own.  

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Visby

 

[Apel]

It's a beautiful old medieval town centre that is easy to explore on foot on your own. 

 

And as I wrote in another thread:

 

A visit to the local museum (Gotlands Fornsal) is a good idea as well as an ice cream at Glassmagasinet that offers 346 different flavours of ice cream.

[Desdichado62]

22 hours ago, Happycrafter123 said:

Visby is a "last minute" addition to my cruise itinerary to replace St. Petersburg, but no tour options available through cruise line.  An internet search has yielded very little in the way of tours, bumping this to see if anyone has tried any excursions here that they would recommend.

 No need for a tour. It's more then small enough to do on your own.

[LondonTowner]

We visited Visby on a Cunard cruise a few years ago. It’s very pretty, but very small. We just walked around and went into the botanical gardens. Not really a substitute for SPB, but it’s nice.

[kochleffel]

One easy option is a free (i.e., pay what you want at the end) walking tour: https://www.facebook.com/freetoursvisby/. The guide is a Scot who lives on Gotland.

 

BTW, Gotland is said to be the sunniest place in Sweden, but I got drenched there.

[Sweetsue5680]

On 4/11/2022 at 2:05 PM, kochleffel said:

One easy option is a free (i.e., pay what you want at the end) walking tour: https://www.facebook.com/freetoursvisby/. The guide is a Scot who lives on Gotland.

 

BTW, Gotland is said to be the sunniest place in Sweden, but I got drenched there.

I have actually reserved a walk with them on June 11th. Great reviews so looking forward to it,

[SeeSun&Sea]

On 4/11/2022 at 10:22 AM, LondonTowner said:

We visited Visby on a Cunard cruise a few years ago. It’s very pretty, but very small. We just walked around and went into the botanical gardens. Not really a substitute for SPB, but it’s nice.

Please - How easy is it to get to the Botanical Garden from the larger, more distant cruise dock?

[Desdichado62]

24 minutes ago, SeeSun&Sea said:

Please - How easy is it to get to the Botanical Garden from the larger, more distant cruise dock?

 

It is a 2 km walk.

 

https://www.google.se/maps/dir/''/''/@57.6375488,18.2890643,1753m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x46f7af2fe04fd6c3:0x4b4956f3edeb71c9!2m2!1d18.2746758!2d57.6294917!1m5!1m1!1s0x46f7af2a093898bb:0xdc54cda6947a468e!2m2!1d18.2939266!2d57.6437903!3e2

 

Just follow the shore until you get to the first tower at the city wall. From there follow the signs.

https://www.google.se/maps/@57.6421773,18.2917721,3a,28.6y,307.65h,90.49t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sA5g3TQfuHCLzuhlvnvPjzg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Edited April 15, 2022 by Desdichado62

[edinburgher]

An internet search has yielded very little in the way of tours, bumping this to see if anyone has tried any excursions here that they would recommend.

 

Visby is a charming small town and we enjoyed a relaxing but interesting day by just staying in town.  It was actually a relief to be somewhere as pretty, small and interesting, as we were on a Baltic Capital Cities itinerary and had had busy and somewhat tiring days leading up until that day, with more to come.

 

Instead of touring outside of Visby, maybe you could find enough to keep you busy for a few hours by looking at sites and features on Visby itself (including Tripadvisor)

[bbtablet]

On 4/11/2022 at 7:05 PM, kochleffel said:

BTW, Gotland is said to be the sunniest place in Sweden, but I got drenched there.

Know how you feel!

We went to Bergen in Norway once and it wasn't raining - complained bitterly to P&O tour organiser but they refused a refund!

[garden girl]

I definitely agree with the museum visit. It has been over 10 years since we were there but it fascinated us. If I remember correctly, it was planned somewhere around 1400 and wasn't touched?  Anyway, whatever they had placed in there a few hundred years ago is in perfect condition. Again, as I remember it wasn't very large and I think we had to go down some very old steps at that time to the area I am thinking about. More than once we have told others about Visby and how we will return if given the opportunity. I also agree that it was just nice strolling around both inside and outside the city walls.

[love2crews.]

I see it's been a while since the last post on this thread.

 

Hoping some of you are back from your sailings and have some pointers for Visby.  

 

Tour recs, do and donts, etc... any advice is welcome!

[shiner6]

How about some reviews from those of you have done this city recently?  PLEASE!!!!

[bearette]

We went in the summer. We had two kids and did a free walking tour we found online, no people just a map with descriptions. There was a free walking tour I saw advertised at the visitor information in town. Two or three times as I recall. It is about a mile walk from port to town, all flat or you can use the nice pedestrian path on the hill. 

 

There were bikes to rent, which also would have been a good way to see the area, but one of my kids is just an ok bike rider.

 

We walked the city, saw the many church Ruins and he a drinking share of literally inside some ruins. We saw the advertised botanica! Garden, free entry, but it wasn't that impressive except, we were hot and the sprinklers were on in some areas,so we just had to walk through them to cool off.

 

A beautiful park in the middle of town, near the water if you have kids. The university library is right there so we got a coffee, too! A Fika is necessary in Sweden.(It basically means a drink and something to eat with friends as I understand the translation). 

 

Easy to walk around and see everything, if mobility is an issue I would get a cab to town because once inside the medieval section no tour can help as you have to walk to get around on the cobblestone streets.

[love2crews.]

2 minutes ago, bearette said:

We went in the summer.

 

We walked the city, saw the many church Ruins and he a drinking share of literally inside some ruins. We saw the advertised botanica! Garden, free entry, but it wasn't that impressive except, we were hot and the sprinklers were on in some areas, so we just had to walk through them to cool off.

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing! 

 

What month were you there?  We will be there in June, so trying to get an idea if it might be hot.

[Desdichado62]

4 hours ago, love2crews. said:

 

Thank you for sharing! 

 

What month were you there?  We will be there in June, so trying to get an idea if it might be hot.

 

Probably not. However this is Scandinavia so it can be anything from +12 C and rain to +25-30 C and sun. Impossible to say until at the best a few weeks before.

 

[bearette]

I'm in the US so I think in fahrenheit. It was in the 80s, but all my research averaged mid- 70s. Last minute we threw in a pair of shorts and we ended up pretty much washing and wearing those everyday because it was warmer than I planned. That is the exception not the rule. Bring a jacket, but a winter coat I didn't find necessary, just a sweat shirt or sweater.I look At the weather about 2 weeks before but when I looked at it the day before we left- I saw that it was supposed to be warmer and threw in the shorts last minute. So really look in the last week to see what the weather prediction is or you will end up like me, unprepared.l

it was end of June and July. We arrived on midsummer left midJuly.

 

Visby isn't very large so there isn't much to do. See the old town, cliff walk or go see the caves is my recommendation.

 

[love2crews.]

1 hour ago, bearette said:

I'm in the US so I think in fahrenheit. It was in the 80s, but all my research averaged mid- 70s. Last minute we threw in a pair of shorts and we ended up pretty much washing and wearing those everyday because it was warmer than I planned. That is the exception not the rule. Bring a jacket, but a winter coat I didn't find necessary, just a sweat shirt or sweater.I look At the weather about 2 weeks before but when I looked at it the day before we left- I saw that it was supposed to be warmer and threw in the shorts last minute. So really look in the last week to see what the weather prediction is or you will end up like me, unprepared.l

it was end of June and July. We arrived on midsummer left midJuly.

 

Visby isn't very large so there isn't much to do. See the old town, cliff walk or go see the caves is my recommendation.

 

Excellent advice, thank you!

[jennykelly]

We were there last August and really enjoyed it. We did the free walking tour (if you hunt around in the boards you can find it -- tour was an hour and a half and you tip whatever you feel the tour was worth). I highly recommend the tour as we learned so much about Visby. Wander around town and if you go out one of the gates there is a shopping area with a McDonald's, Flying Tiger (great for inexpensive gifts) and a bunch of other stores.