Starting July 2011 it had been a year since we had been on a vacation … First it was my wife’s last trimester, and then the little Vivaan …. And we were still not too comfortable taking Vivaan to an air trip, so we decided its time he could enjoy a ride over the sea…. Talked to a friend Akhil, who too has a young daughter few months older than Vivaan and fixed up a plan to go to the beautiful island south of Sweden, Gotland … Ferry tickets were booked for 21st July morning, 7:30 morning from Nynashamn (1.5 hours south of Stockholm by commuter train) to reach Visby port at around 10:45AM the same day. The bookings for the ferry were made at the official site www.destinationgotland.se.
We picked up our pre booked car from Wisby Biluthyrning (http://www.wisby.se/biluthyrning.pab), which had their office right outside the port terminal. While the rentals were really cheap (as compared to Stockholm) their condition was pathetic (and we thanked God later that they lasted the three days without any trouble).
The resort
We started our drive towards the Gustavsvik Semesterby resort, which we had booked through booking.com. Unfortunately Google Maps took us right through the Visby Old town which was a nightmare to drive, for its narrow stone paved streets and hoards of tourists. Later we realized there was a much better route bypassing the old town. Anyways, here we were in our two bedroom cottage, some 15 minutes away from the old town Visby, in a beautiful natural setting, right next to a sandy beach. With two “less than two year” olds with us, we decided to take some rest and wait for the evening to fall.
Irevik Beach
Pics: Irevik Beach
Couple of hours rest, coupled with a couple of cups of tea… We were all set to start the fun… The lady at the reception guided us to the nearest ‘decent’ tourist beach, the Irevik Beach … As soon as we reached there, we realized, either the lady didn’t understand what decent means, or was trying to settle some score with us. The place was a deserted stone beach with filthy shore water. Still the kids enjoyed playing with the stones and we spent around an hour.
With a little disappointment written all over our faces, we decided to spend the rest of the evening at Visby old town. By the time we reached there, it was evening, and being in Sweden all the attractions were already closed. We roamed around a little, had dinner at a local Italian joint and then headed back to our cottage.
The next morning, we took the kids to the beach outside of our resort, and it was much better than the Irevik…
With a little disappointment written all over our faces, we decided to spend the rest of the evening at Visby old town. By the time we reached there, it was evening, and being in Sweden all the attractions were already closed. We roamed around a little, had dinner at a local Italian joint and then headed back to our cottage.
The next morning, we took the kids to the beach outside of our resort, and it was much better than the Irevik…
Drive to Fårö
Pics: Fårö island postcards
The agenda for today was to visit the Fårö, an island at the north eastern corner of Gotland, and one of the top attractions. It involved a 1:15 hour drive to Fårösund town, then boarding a free ferry (along with the car) to cross the waters (approx. 5 mins ride), and finally a 15 minute drive again to reach the first of many attractions. Unfortunately, Google Maps were of almost no help on the Island, and we were completely lost until we found a shop where we could buy a local map (Upon de-boarding the ferry, just keep driving straight till you see a church on your left… A small souvenir shop there sells the maps).
This small island, which has no banks, post offices, medical services or police, is famous for its rock formations known as “Rauk” or seastack in English. The coastal line is adorned with many of these beautiful rock formations, the prominent ones being Langhammars rauks and Digerhuvud rauks. Our map had all these rauk areas marked and we just went about driving from the one to the other, spending time on the major ones. The drive on the island was an experience with its huge animal farms, windmills, green fields and the amazing coastline.
After checking off all the rauks on the map, we sat at a local café to have something to eat, and then set our direction towards the Sudersand, a sand beach with big camping areas around. The beach was quite beautiful, but it was too windy and Vivaan didn’t enjoy it, so we couldn’t spend much time there.
By the time we reached back to our resort, Vivaan was already sleeping. So we just had some Pizza packed and took dinner at the cottage itself.
Visby old town
Pics: Visby old town postcards
The final morning, we had two things on our list. The Lummelunda Caves, and the Visby old town. Unfortunately, when we reached Lummelunda (at around 10:00), we were told that the earliest we could get in was around 4 PM!! … So we decided (or were rather forced) to skip it and headed directly towards Visby. (We did visit the caves during the second visit to Gotland in 2013, and they were good, but not as good as the St Beautus caves in Interlaken, Switzerland, both being known for their limestone formations). We had also decided to skip the Tofta beach, the best known beach in Gotland (again, we did visit it on our next trip, and this indeed is the best beach on the island)
Visby, arguably the best preserved medieval city in Scandinavia, is a Unesco World Heritage sight. It is surrounded by a City Wall and is known as the “city of roses and ruins”. This small town has a historic charm, and is buzzing with tourists during the months of July and August (rest of the year you hardly get a place open). The main attractions include The Cathedral, and Ruins of some ancient churches such as St Nicholas Church, St Drotten Church and more. During summer months, the center of the town has an open market with small temporary stalls selling local (and some foreign) craft works. After walking through all these, If the weather is good (which it was), I recommend to grab an outside seating place, order some local food and just soak in the atmosphere… That’s exactly we did and stepped out of the city only when it was time for our return ferry to Stockholm in the evening.
This three day trip had left us wanting for much more, and so we planned another one in 2013, for four days… And this time we did manage to visit Tofta and Lummelunda as well along with all the attractions mentioned above..
Visby, arguably the best preserved medieval city in Scandinavia, is a Unesco World Heritage sight. It is surrounded by a City Wall and is known as the “city of roses and ruins”. This small town has a historic charm, and is buzzing with tourists during the months of July and August (rest of the year you hardly get a place open). The main attractions include The Cathedral, and Ruins of some ancient churches such as St Nicholas Church, St Drotten Church and more. During summer months, the center of the town has an open market with small temporary stalls selling local (and some foreign) craft works. After walking through all these, If the weather is good (which it was), I recommend to grab an outside seating place, order some local food and just soak in the atmosphere… That’s exactly we did and stepped out of the city only when it was time for our return ferry to Stockholm in the evening.
This three day trip had left us wanting for much more, and so we planned another one in 2013, for four days… And this time we did manage to visit Tofta and Lummelunda as well along with all the attractions mentioned above..
No comments:
Post a Comment