Meet the Locals - on Foot

on foot

This experience takes you on a guided walk in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Visby whilst also giving you the chance to sample a traditional ‘Swedish Fika with a Gotland touch’ in a private garden.

Your walking experience begins when you meet your local guide at the pier and start your walk to Visby’s Old Town.

Your guide leads you through one of the gates in the medieval walls and explains about life in Visby in the past and today. On your way, you will pass the 13th century church ruins and impressive stone buildings from Hanseatic times.

Your walk continues through narrow streets and alleys, until eventually you enter your guide’s own private garden!

As in the rest of Sweden, you will find ‘Fika’ is a popular pastime. This is a coffee or tea served with delicious homemade goods, particularly a traditional Gotland saffron pancake. Listen to your guide as they share stories of the surrounding neighbourhood, about the fishermen, hatters and cobblers whilst you enjoy your ‘Fika’.

The saffron pancake, despite the name, is not a real pancake, but a delicious dessert made of rice-pudding, cream and saffron, baked in the oven and eaten with whipped cream and ‘salmbärs-jam’. The berries, a kind of wild blackberry called ‘salmbär’ in the local dialect, are also a Gotland speciality.

After your Fika, you will start walking back towards the port, passing Almedalen, the former medieval harbour. This is the site of the famous Political Week that takes place here one week in July every year and gathers together the entire elite of Swedish politicians.

At the end of your local experience, you can choose to return to the pier with your guide or remain in town and make your own way back to the ship.