Visby, Gotland Visit - Worth While??

In general: Yes, Visby is always worth a visit.

Hi Badger,

Thanks. Is Visby the best town to stay , or would you recommend another town?

Thanks,

Nate

Yes. Visby is by far the biggest town on the island and while the others have their charm, none of them come close to Visby.

Visby is great, but it looks to me as if you don't have a lot of time, given how many places you want to see.

That's a very good point from acraven. You have posted a lot of different questions, but as far as I can see you haven't posted your itinerary anywhere. And you are trying to cover a lot of things in three weeks.

Good morning,

My tentative plan is:

Stockholm: 2 Days

Helsinki and Porvoo: 2 Days

Overnight Train to Santa Clause Village (1 day for the kids) and return that night to Helsinki (we are not big on out doors/nature activities when in northern Europe as we live in rural Canada).

Tallinn: 2 Days

Riga: 2 Days

Vilnius - Trakai Castle: 2 Days

Gdansk and area: 4 days

Visby, Gotland: 3 Days

We also plan on stopping into places such as Kaunas and Parnu.

And looking for a night stop between Vilnius and Gdansk.

With the family we have booked a hybrid rental. and using overnight ferries and train (Santa Clause Village) to maximize our days adventures.

Thanks and have a great day,

Nate

I am not sure your placement of Visby makes sense. How are you planning to get from Gdansk to Visby?

Hi Laura,

Ferry: Gdynia to Karlstrona

Drive 2 hrs

Ferry: Oskarshamn to Visby

And if time pop into see Kalmar Castle between ferries.

After Gotland, head back to Stockholm by ferry. Visby to Nynashamn.

Have a great day,

Nate

I think those 2-day stops are really 2 nights, so a good bit less than 2 full days, right? That is a painfully short amount of time for Stockholm in particular. It's such a beautiful city, and it sprawls across a bunch of islands; public transportation is very good, but it still takes time to move from one sight to the next.

I am a notably slow traveler who spends a lot of time admiring art and architecture and visiting sites related to 20th-century history, especially the Cold War. It's difficult for me to guess how much time more typical traveler would want to spend in places like Tallinn and Riga, but I spent over a week in each of the Baltic capitals as well as in Helsinki. Those four cities are quite different from each other.

Kaunas was to me a lot more interesting than Parnu.

Yes. You simply must add Visby, the capital of the otherworldly and magical island province of Gotland.

Is this a summer trip? What are the ages and interests of the family members?

Hi acraven,

Thanks for the advice. I’ll look at adding more time in Stockholm.

We did Tallinn and Riga in the spring over 10 years while living in Russia. And are looking forward to seeing the cities in the summer.

Hi Cherryplanter,

We love the smaller towns and cities taking in the views, castles, historic centres and museums, cafes, and adding a spa/therme day or two.

Our children are 11 and 10 years.

Thanks

Nate

Then you will love Visby. Consider these cafés while you are there; Café Gula Huset, Leva Kungslador, Själsö Bageri. Swedish bakeries are the best in the world and one of the few things that are a cultural constant, and the pastries and bread you order today would easily have been recognized by people, in one region or other, who lived 100 years ago. Yes. Add more stockholm days.

SPECIAL RECOMMENDATION: The singular Skansen heritage (1870) bakery! All you want is all they've got!!!