About Visby

A small but perfectly formed Hanseatic town, no wonder Visby is described as the ‘Pearl of the Baltic’ or, even more evocatively, as the ‘town of roses and ruins’. This popular Swedish cruise port on the west coast of the Baltics largest island, Gotland, was once a Viking trading post but it later developed into the Baltics main Hanseatic centre between the 12th and 14th centuries.

More than 200 warehouses and wealthy merchants stone dwellings from that time remain within its two-mile long medieval walls, making it the best-preserved fortified commercial settlement in northern Europe and earning it World Heritage site status. From these, it is only a stroll through rose-scented alleyways to the lovely Botanical Gardens.

Visby, though, is a mixture of ancient and modern, with plenty of lively cafés and interesting shops to go with the living history and fascinating selection of museums.