Gotland Road Trip from Visby: Sea Stacks, Fårö and a Hanseatic Town in 3 Days

Gotland is Sweden’s largest island, a slab of limestone in the Baltic Sea. On its coasts the sea has worn the rock into raukar, pillars of hard limestone left standing when the softer rock around them washed away. This loop starts in Visby, the island’s walled medieval town, drives down to the southern tip at Hoburgen, up the east coast to Ljugarn and across to the island of Fårö, then comes back along the north-west coast to Visby. It makes about 356 km in three days.

The easiest way to do it is to rent the car on the island. From Stockholm, take the commuter train to Nynäshamn and the Destination Gotland ferry to Visby, which takes a little over 3 hours, or take a short flight to Visby Airport, where several rental companies have desks. You can also take a car on the ferry from Nynäshamn or Oskarshamn, but the car adds to the fare and summer sailings fill up, so book early if you do. The kilometres in this guide count only the drive on Gotland.

Day 1 — Visby to Högklint, Hoburgen and Ljugarn (169 km)

Pick up the car in Visby and drive a few minutes south to Högklint, a limestone cliff about 5.5 km from the town. At its highest point it stands 48 m above the sea, with a wide view back to Visby; steps lead down to a ledge where the waves have cut small caves.

Then follow the roads south across the island to Hoburgen, the cliffs at the southern tip of Gotland. A lighthouse stands above them, and next to them rises Hoburgsgubben, one of the best-known raukar on the island, a rock that looks like an old face. Drive up the east coast to Ljugarn. Just north of the village, the Folhammar nature reserve has a field of raukar about 500 m long, with stones up to 6 m high, and a hard-surfaced path leads to them. Sleep in Ljugarn.

Day 2 — Ljugarn to Fårö and Fårösund (116 km)

Drive north to Fårösund and take the road ferry across to Fårö. It is run by the Swedish Transport Administration, the crossing of 1,300 m takes about 6 minutes, and it is free. From 1 June to 15 August a priority lane is kept for local residents, so expect a queue on summer days.

On Fårö, drive past Fårö church, where the film director Ingmar Bergman is buried; he lived on the island and died here in 2007. Then head to the northern tip and the Langhammars nature reserve, where just over 50 raukar stand above the beach, some more than 8 m tall. Next to it, Digerhuvud has a long row of raukar along the north-west coast. Park only in the marked places. Take the ferry back and sleep in Fårösund.

Day 3 — Fårösund to Lickershamn and Visby (71 km)

Just south of the ferry, Bungemuseet is an open-air museum of old Gotland farm buildings, open daily in summer. Its café serves simple meals and pastries, including the traditional Gotland saffron pancake, and the museum is very child-friendly. Drive west along the north coast to Lickershamn, a small harbour. Above it, on the cliff, stands Jungfrun, a rauk whose top is 26 m above the sea.

On the way back to Visby, stop at Lummelundagrottan, a cave that you can visit only on a guided tour, roughly from May to September; buy tickets online to be sure of a place. Then drive into Visby. Its old town has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995, as the Hanseatic Town of Visby. A medieval wall more than 3 km long, with dozens of towers, still runs almost all the way round it, and inside stand the ruins of medieval churches and St Mary’s Cathedral. Every year from the Saturday of week 24 to the end of week 35, roughly mid-June to the end of August, cars are banned inside the walls, so park outside and walk in.

Costs

Use the cost calculator to price fuel and nights for your dates. There are no tolls on this loop: Sweden has no vignette and no motorway tolls, and the Fårö ferry is free. Budget for accommodation, fuel for about 356 km, car rental or the ferry from the mainland, and entry to Bungemuseet and Lummelundagrottan. Gotland is very busy in July and August, and rental cars on the island are in high demand, so book the car and a room early.

This trip is also in the free Roadcut trip planner: change the number of days and where you sleep each night, pick your vehicle to see the fuel cost, check the weather on the road, and open each day in Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.