Visby

29 May 2025 – 1 June 2025

My first outing of the year proved rather less productive than hoped. A long-weekend in Scotland led to a pleasant trip to Arrochar, but not not the winter conditions I had hoped for. I got some much needed rope handling practice in, but otherwise little was accomplished. Fortunately, spring has a high-density of public holidays, providing a good opportunity to get out without spending paid holiday allotment. My mum was interested in getting out for a break, and I was invited to join!

Given the spring season and short duration of a long weekend, destinations were limited to city breaks – something that isn’t really a priority for either of us at the moment, but that there are several places I’d like to see. And sometimes you just need to roll the dice on mixing up the travel-norms. We bounced between a few ideas, but Visby and Lithuania were the clear frontrunners. Ultimately, we decided to do both!

Visby has been a destination of interest for some time now, being quite a photogenic little town with a rich Viking and Hanseatic history. Initially I had considered bundling it with a return to Stockholm and maybe a stop in Åland. A long weekend seemed perfect opportunity for Visby though.

Things got off to a poor start at Schiphol leading to a tight turnaround in Arlanda. Fortunately, my departure gate was literally next to my arrival gate and I was headed down the next jetway for the short hop into the Baltic within minutes of arrival. Sweden respected Schengen and did not force border checks – an increasing rarity. It was a scenic descent, with Gotland showing that not all flat land has to be boring. Exiting the terminal, I realised that I hadn’t actually checked the airport bus schedule. With only two services a day, I was going to be walking into town. Fortunately, I had left the rain behind. My mum arrived later, on the evening flight.

Visby is a popular domestic summer holiday for Swedes (and other Scandies) and it is easy to see why! A beutiful old town filled with all the typical trappings except mass tourism, cool sea breeze, and even the suburbs are drenched with flowering greenery.

I spent most of my time roaming the old wall, but walked out of town to see the nearby seacliffs. It would have been nice to get up to Fårö for the Rauk fields. Without public transit options, it would just not been viable though.

Visby was exactly what I was expecting: a very pleasant place to hang out for a few days. It would not have been worth sacrificing ‘real’ holiday time that could have been spent in the hills, but I’m very glad I was able to go. Something of a summer counterpart to Røros at Christmas.

And being able to leave life in the Netherlands behind was extremely welcome. Even if it was only for a long weekend. I really need to move.