Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ARRIVAL
GOTLAND
By plane Flights to Gotland are good value if booked early.
Skyways ( W skyways.se) operate from Arlanda airport in
Stockholm; Gotlandsflyg ( W gotlandslyg.se) have services
from Arlanda and Bromma and several provincial airports.
Cheapest single tickets are 328kr.
By ferry Ferries to Gotland are numerous and, in summer,
packed, so try to plan well ahead. Two mainland ports serve
the island: Nynäshamn (mid-June to mid-Aug 5 daily; mid-
Aug to mid-June 2 daily) and Oskarshamn (mid-June to
mid-Aug 2 daily; mid-Aug to mid-June 1 daily), and
crossings take about 3hr. Prices depend on season; a one-
way ticket costs from 258kr. Buy tickets online at
W destinationgotland.se.
6
GETTING AROUND
By bus It's common for there to be several hours between
services so always check timetables before setting out;
W gotland.se/kollektivtraiken.
By bike For getting around the island, it's hard to resist the
temptation to rent a bike, given the flat terrain and empty
roads. See p.235 for rental outlets in Visby. Bikes can also
easily be rented at various towns to the south of the capital,
less so further north. Gotland's buses take limited numbers
of bikes; the driver will hang your cycle on the back of the
bus outside.
Visby
VISBY is a city made for wandering and lingering over coffees and slices of cake.
Whether climbing the ramparts of the surrounding walls, or meandering up and down
the warren of cobbled, sloping streets, there's plenty to tease the eye. Pretty
Packhusplan , the oldest square in the city, is bisected by curving Strandgatan, which
runs southwards to the fragmentary ruins of Visborgs Slott , overlooking the harbour.
Built in the fifteenth century by Erik of Pomerania, the castle was blown up by the
Danes in the seventeenth century. In the opposite direction, Strandgatan runs
northwest towards the sea and the Jungfrutornet (Maiden's Tower), where a local
goldsmith's daughter was walled up alive - reputedly for betraying the city to the
Danes.
Brief history
Visby is much older than its medieval trappings suggest: its name comes from vi , “the
sacred place”, and by , “the settlement”, a derivation that reflects its status as a Stone
Age sacrificial site. After the Gotlanders had founded their trading houses in the
eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Hansa or Hanseatic League was created, comprising
a group of towns that formed a federation to assert their interests and protect their
seaborne commerce. Following the foundation of Lübeck in the 1150s, German
merchants began to expand into the eastern Baltic area in order to gain access to the
coveted Russian market. A trading agreement between Gotlanders and the League in
1161 gave the islanders the right to trade freely throughout the whole Saxon area, while
Germans were able to settle in Visby, which became the League's principal centre and
the place where all lines of Baltic trade met. As Visby metamorphosed from Gotlandic
village to international city, it was the Germans who led the way in form and
architecture, building warehouses up to six storeys high with hoists facing the street,
still apparent today.
In 1350, the Black Death swept through Gotland, creating ghost towns of whole
parishes and leaving more than eight thousand people dead. Eleven years later, during
the power struggle between Denmark and Sweden, the Danish king Valdemar III took
Gotland by force and advanced on Visby. The burghers and traders of the city, well
aware of the wealth here, shut the gates and sat through the slaughter which was taking
place outside, only surrendering when it was over. Hostilities and piracy were the
hallmarks of the following two centuries. In 1525, an army from Lübeck stormed the
much-weakened Visby, torching the northern parts of the town. With the arrival of the
Reformation and the weakness of the local economy, the churches could no longer be
maintained, and Visby's era of greatness clanged to a close.
 
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