The City of Roses & Ruins’ | Gotland Photo Trip

In preparation of this year’s first photo trip I started going through my shooting-locations-bucket-list. After extensive research - what would I do without you google? - and considering the 4 days I had to spare the decision came to be Gotland.

Except for being a beautiful island and I do love to shoot areas around water, Gotland gets the most hours of sunlight in Sweden. Also I could fly to Visby in under an hour hence maximize my shutter-pressing-time!

The first 2 days I spent exploring the charming city of Visby on foot and on bike. Having literarily the worst sense of orientation in the history of orientation I gladly found myself lost in all the small adorable alleys. Thanks to this ability I stumbled upon GlassmagasinetEurope’s biggest ice cream bar (Say Whaaaaat!?!?). So if you’re a sucker for ice cream as I am it’s well worth a visit. 

If wining & dining is your thang then you’ll find yourself overwhelmed by all the top tier restaurants that are offered. My favorite place was definitely Surfers. Here you get Sichuan inspired cuisine delivered tapas stile and beautiful cocktails served up by super friendly waiters in a chill locale. Check them out at surfersvisby.se.

During my third day I made plans to visit the neighboring island of Fårö. After a bus ride of 1.5h, I rented a bike before crossing over on the ferry. I then biked up to and back from the Digerhuvud nature reserve. This location is known for the rock formations called “Rauk” or sea stacks. These formations are a result of erosion during the Ice age and are unique to Gotland and Fårö.

To summarize, I think the perfect way to describe Gotland & Visby is a quote I found while researching: 

Visby is the city of roses & ruins’, mythic and embodied with a romantic historic aura.
An idyllic small town and yet Gotland’s largest habitation.
— gotland.net

Here are my favorite photos from the trip.


Visby



Fårö