Has anyone been to this cruise port? What did you think of it? What did you do while you were there? Ship tour, independent tour, or totally on your own? Is this an expensive city?
What are the highlights here? What are the main tourist attractions and how far are they located from the pier?
Alisa: we visited Visby last year on our Baltic cruise and thought it was a neat place! It is a very old city with a lot of history and medieval structures: fortress, wall, an old cathedral that is still in use and ruins of an ancient church. We took a walking tour of the old city and enjoyed it very much. Once again, this is another place for great photos-lots of interesting subjects.
IIRC, the port is not within walking distance of the old city. We did not get a chance to do any shopping there, so I cannot help you with that aspect. Hope this helps you some!
Bill, thanks as always for the advice. I love that you are helping me pinpoint all the great photo ops!
Quick question, if the port is not within walking distance to the city, if I don't do a shore excursion, does the ship provide a shuttle to town, or will I have to catch a cab of some sort?
JstDucky-
I would recommend you take a tour of the town and surrounding areas!
Here is the entry of what we did that day.
Friday, July 29th-Visby, Gotland, Sweden
Under threatening skies this morning we sailed into the quaint city of Visby, the largest city on the Island of Gotland, Sweden. Gotland is the largest island in Sweden. Although Visby has a small normal population, the Island blossoms with 750 thousand tourists visiting during the summer months. The Island supports many small factories making products such as chesses and rum. We elected to take the overview of the Island and it took us out into the strikingly beautiful farmlands and forests. The ‘symbol’ of the island is a long-horn sheep, they even have statues of them about Visby’s old city.
12% of the population farm here with wheat fields dotting the countryside. It’s a very tidy Island, it is quite evident that the people take great pride in their homes, gardens and in the lands of the island themselves. The Swedish government actually will subsidize farms who allow there farmlands to fallow and produce a plethora of wildflowers, including red Flanders poppies and blue bachelor buttons. The Island is purported to have 20,000 kinds of wild orchids which grow here. The traditional local traditional feast is grilled lambs head (yes the entire thing!). This is definitely an acquired taste I think.
We have also been there. There is a wall surrounding the old town. We didn't take a ship's tour -- just walked around on our own to see the old church, narrow streets, old buildings and middleaged fortifications. When you leave by the rear portcullis you enter the modern city. There are several blocks of shops, food stores, department stores.
Word of caution -- I needed a battery for my watch. All I had with me was my American Express card. The man in the jewelry shop wanted Visa with passport. Would n ot even take American money. After a few minutes we finally convinced that AMEX Plat is a better card and I got my $5 battery.
KK is right! The town of Visby is known as the City of Roses, because of the climate. You could easily spend a day walking through the old city itself. It was precious. I will attach a couple of pictures, one of the beautiful park that is right outside the walled portion of the City.
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Centrum Deck
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Sweden
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visby, Gotland, Sweden
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