Many people visiting Gotland visit Visby, which is a lovely city, but there’s way more to see on the Baltic Sea’s largest island. To be honest, I had a difficult time finding about things to do and see because Visby was always listed as “the” Gotland attraction. Many lists will have maybe 5 things to do on the island and it took a bit of research to finally get a decent list of things to see. And then… the list just kept growing and growing!

Here’s a list of some things I got to see on the island – and some things I didn’t get to see – so you can make your most of this trip to an amazing and ancient place.

Archaeological Sites

Since the island has been inhabited for thousands of years BCE and is still relatively sparsely populated, there are lots of unique archaeological sites to see in Gotland.

Gnisvard Stone Ship Graves

Not far from Visby are the Gnisvard Stone Ship Graves. The first one is right next to the road and it’s incredible. It’s about 147 feet long and at 5’1″, the tallest parts of the “ship” are almost as tall as me. The photos above are of the first stone ship only. There’s a second one that is a little bit back along the path, but only the front and back of the ship are recognisable. It’s actually pretty hard to tell if you’re walking on the path or on the grave at this point.

Gnisvard actually has a third stone ship grave, but as I was trying to walk there, the path got so obscured by overgrown foliage and my clothes were getting wet from the dew on the leaves, so I decided to leave it. But if you want to visit, it’s apparently small but it’s there. And quite literally “off the beaten path.”

These stone ship graves date to the Bronze Age, which in this area would be around 2000 BCE to 500 BCE. Even though remains were usually cremated, they would be buried and a stone ship would mark the burial. Apparently these types of burials were for one person (but obviously of a high standing, otherwise there’s be an insane amount of ship graves!).

Gotland’s Megalithic Tomb

Across the street you might notice something else that’s stone. This is Gotland’s only megalithic grave (supposedly) and while it’s a bit less impressive, it’s actually about 4-5000 years old! There’s actually an excellent paper on it available here if you’d like to read more about it. Apparently lots of bones and other artefacts were found in this area.

Gannarve Stone Ship Grave

With the same cut of history as Gnisvard Stone Ship Grave, there’s another called Gannarve Stone Ship Grave. This one is right off the road, as well, but it’s in a field rather than a forest. You can see it so clearly and every stone looks like it could’ve been placed there the day before. It’s so pristine. It’s about 95 feet long but since it’s out in the open, it actually felt a lot bigger than Gnisvard.

Uggarde Rojr

A gigantic pile of rocks. You can see the cows and the placard in the photos for scale, but they really don’t do justice to how amazing it is to see this in person. This pile of rocks dates all the way back to the Bronze Age, so it too is thousands of years old. Though cairns can be used to mark burials, this site has smaller cairns that are used for this purpose. A cairn this big would probably have been a navigational marker, especially since it was along the coast at the time it was built.

Roma Cloister Ruins

The ruins you see today were of a Cistercian monastery founded in the 12th century and it was apparently quite an important place not only in Gotland but the Baltic Sea region. Though it’s obviously a ruin today, you can still see much of the architecture and the arches. Today the area is used for local events and also has a few little shops and places to eat around the cloister, so it’s just a nice area.

Churches

Gotland is nicknamed the “island of 100 churches” and it has 92 churches that were built during the middle ages. If you’re into medieval history, like me, that’s definitely something to put on the list!

Note: I learned that a lot of churches will look closed – gates shut, doors shut – but they are actually open for visits. The gates and the doors will be unlocked but you should close them behind you. During the summer the churches are usually open during normal business hours.

Lye Church

Lye Church is not to be missed! The inside has a 15th century altarpiece with medieval stained glass windows, which distinguish Lye. But what I found exciting was all the beautiful wall frescoes. Some date all the way back to 1350 and others were completed later, in the 16th century. It’s really amazing to see medieval art that dates back so many centuries in its original setting.

The frescoes in Lye Church are attributed to “The Passion Master” (an interesting name, in my opinion). He and his workshop are anonymous so this work is just an attribution. You’ll see several of the churches in Gotland have very similar styles of frescoes.

Bro Church

Bro Church is a place I absolutely needed to see. Apparently the picture stone by the front portal when you enter the space dates back about 1600 years! The medieval church itself is fantastic with lots of medieval paintings on the walls (though many of them are obviously newer). At the back of the church you can see a 13th century baptismal font. The carving dates back centuries but it was repainted in lovely bright colors in the 18th century.

Of the churches in Gotland, Bro Church was my favorite in the north and Lye Church in the south. I liked Bro Church a bit more but Lye is a lot closer to what a medieval church would’ve looked like.

Lau Church

Lau Church has an odd exterior which was probably due to building plans that fell through. But the main draw of Lau is the beautiful painting of the Last Judgement that dates to 1520. It’s a big highlight of the church and reason enough to stop in.

Endre Church

Endre Church wasn’t even on my radar until I drove by it and thought, “let’s check this out.” Glad I did because it was another highlight for me! It’s filled with beautiful frescoes that date back to the 15th century, and some of the stained glass is even original to the medieval era. It’s quite similar to Lye Church.

Tingstade Church

Tingstade Church also wasn’t on my radar until I drove by and fell in love with its gorgeous tower. The inside also has a selection of beautiful paintings that date from the 14th to the 18th centuries, and is also made from many recycled pre-Christian stone with pictures on them. It’s another one of Gotland’s lovely churches. It was such a nice experience to drive around and just come across these lovely areas.

Across from Tingstade Church is a lake which is probably very lovely to swim in when it’s not cold and rainy.

Kraklingbo Church

This was a place I “visited” but they were closed for a private ceremony. However the outside did have some runestones repurposed as tombstones in the middle ages, so at least there was that.

Roma Church

Just a mile or two from the Roma cloister ruins is the medieval church. Though it’s pretty on the outside, I have to say it’s a bit boring on the inside compared to the other churches on the island.

Nature Reserves

Gotland also has a good share of nature reserves on the island, making it a great getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Folhammar

Gotland and Faro both have beautiful rock formations along the coast and Folhammar is one of them. It’s an easy walk up to see these giant sea stacks pop out of the water and the land. It’s quite lovely! The photos don’t really show just how tall the rocks are but it’s something to behold.

Kovik

Kovik was described as a cute little old fishing town but it was closed off when I visited so I couldn’t get anywhere near the buildings. Their website says they’re open 24/7 but I guess they mean the grounds around the buildings? It was disappointing since I stopped since the fishing village came so recommended. It was cold and rainy on the day I went but the area did look like a nice place to swim and birdwatch on a nice day, so still keep Kovik in your mind if you visit during nice weather.

Nar Lighthouse & Narsholmen

Nar Lighthouse was constructed in 1872 and was one of the “must sees” of Gotland. I have to say, the lighthouse itself was a bit disappointing. You can’t go up near it and so it’s just kind of a lighthouse. It is on a nature reserve called Narsholmen. The nature reserve is probably more worth your time but of all the places I saw in Gotland, it was not remarkable. Nar was at the top of many others’ Gotland lists but I would put several other places before it, honestly.

Add on Faro

Faro’s a free, 5 minute ferry ride from Gotland and though it’s similar, it immediately feels different. It’s not nearly as flat and feels much more modern (meaning 19th century as opposed to 14th century). I didn’t explore it enough to have its own blog post but you should definitely look at visiting Langhammars and Helgumannens Fishing Village at the very least. If you’re an Ingmar Bergman fan, this is where he lived and where many of his films were shot. His house is closed to the public but you can visit his grave.

Places in Gotland I Didn’t Get To

My day was quite rushed and I kept making wrong turns and finding new places to stop at so I didn’t get to visit as many places as I would’ve liked. Here are some places that were on my list but I just didn’t make it to. This is by no way and exhaustive list but it will hopefully give you a more holistic view of what’s available on Gotland island.

Also, if you can’t get enough of Gotland, you can go to the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm. SO MANY of the artefacts (especially rune and picture stones) in their exhibits are from Gotland originally. It’s an excellent museum.

Bungemuseet

The Bungemuseet closed at 5:00 until the week before I got there, when it started closing at 4:00 – and I pulled up at 4:00 thinking I had an hour till closing. It’s an open air folk museum and you know how I love open air museums, so it’s a shame I missed it.

Lejstu Rojr

The smaller sister of Uggarde Rojr is Lejstu Rojr, which is a burial field of cairns. I skipped it for the bigger cairn since I was running low on time.

Trullhalsar Grave Field

Trullhalsar Grave Field is an area of Vendel (pre-Viking) graves. They’re basically stone circles on the ground and there’s so many of them! I was on my way when I found out you can’t just drive up there, but it’s a bit of a hike. Unfortunately I had to cut it because of time but I was so disappointed because the photos look amazing.

Tjelvars Stone Ship Grave

This is another stone ship grave to add to your itinerary.

Galrum Grave Field

The Galrum Grave Field seems to be a bit of a hodgepodge of different types of stone graves dating back 3-4000 years. The field has over 100 different grave monuments, including a few more ships.

Fishing Villages & Beaches

Kovik was closed off. There’s also Lickershamn, Vastergarns, Vastargrunnar, Djupvik, Burgsvik, Vandburg, Fluntinge, Ljugarns hamns, Kronvall, and so many more to be explored. Of course they’re all along the coastline which has lovely beaches.

Jungfrun Nature Reserve

On the west coast, Jungfrun Nature Reserve is also known for its towering sea stacks. Jungfrun has the tallest stacks in Gotland.

Holmhallar Nature Reserve

This nature reserve is another place to see some unique rock formations rise out of the ground. There also looks to be a sand beach and a small fishing village.

Husrygg Nature Reserve

Down at the very south of Gotland is Husrygg Nature Reserve. Here you can find Hoburgsgubben which are some more interesting rock formations.

Lummelunda Cave

I’m not really into caves but there is one north of Visby if that’s something you’re into.

Tons of Churches!

I went to a handful of medieval churches when the island has 92. There are many more to be explored! You can see a list of churches on Wikipedia.

Some Notes on Travelling in Gotland

How to Get to Gotland

There are only two ways to get to Gotland: flight or ferry. I went via ferry, which is done through the company Destination Gotland. There’s also the option to have a bus add-on so you can get to and from the ports from Stockholm. Public transport is available, too.

I don’t know what happened on the way there – whether everyone had boarded, or they just felt like being early – but the ferry actually left the port a full 10 minutes before it was scheduled to. You definitely want to be early.

Then on the way back, there were several buses and it was difficult to tell which one I was supposed to be on since they don’t necessarily say “Destination Gotland.” It was quite confusing for many people, and we only got around it by asking the drivers. Also, our bus was about 30 minutes late. Just something to keep in mind!

How Much Time to Spend in Gotland

As I mentioned at the introduction of this post, it was difficult finding things to do and see on the island. So initially I thought, “ok, I’ll rent a car for a day to see some of Gotland and Faro,” and then booked my trip. Closer to the trip, I was able to tap into some resources on more things to do and the list just grew and grew and grew. I had to narrow it down to my top must-sees.

Overall I spend about 9 hours driving around the island and it was a tight schedule. As you may have noticed, there were many things I wanted to see that I didn’t. Also, the day FLEW by. Time has not gone that quickly for me in a looooong time. I’m glad I got to see what I did, but it was rushed. I didn’t even stop for lunch.

I would definitely dedicate one day to southern Gotland and one to northern Gotland and a separate one to Faro (which I also recommend visiting). The days will still be busy but in a less stressful way, and you can spend more leisurely time at each destination. If you’re a hiker or want to explore the nature reserves, or maybe the medieval churches, more intimately then definitely plan accordingly and add more time.

How to Get Around Gotland

Organised tours on the island are virtually nonexistent. Gotland does have a bus system but it’s more limited than other parts of Sweden. Unfortunately for my nervous self, the best way to get around Gotland was to rent a car – something I’d never done abroad before.

However, the island doesn’t have that much traffic (I went in late August) and so it was quite pleasant to drive around. The highest speed limit there is 90 km/h (about 55 mph). The biggest trouble I had with my car was getting mud in and on it since it had rained.

I really loved my time in Gotland. With so much ancient history, combined with the lovely culture of modern rural Sweden, it just felt magical. Obviously my regret was compressing everything to one day, which was something I did without thorough research. So I hope this blog post gives you a better idea of things to see and how to more wisely spend your time on the island.

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