When you visit Visby, be sure to tour the botanical gardens and then go a little further west to the magnificent western wall seen in the photo above. Visby is famous for its 16 ancient churches, but all are in ruins except for the Cathedral of St. Mary's, which has been beautifully restored. The walls of some of the churches are still standing and are a good reminder of ancient times.
The Silver Cloud offered three tours on Gotland. The first was a guided walking tour of Visby. The second tour was a bus tour of the island of Gotland, focusing on the western coast of the island. Some of the adventurous passengers on the Silversea Silver Cloud chose the third tour--a bicycle tour of Visby and the surrounding countryside. Those who explored outside the city all returned to the ship with great impressions of the beauty of Gotland. Those of us who stayed in Visby loved the extra time we had to explore the numerous narrow, cobbled streets and fascinating shops.
The Visby City Wall was selected as one of the seven wonders of Sweden in a 2007 Swedish newspaper poll.
