Merchants and Mercenaries Self Guided Tour of Visby

Visby is intact because Visby died young. In the mid fourteenth century, plague, a Danish king's army, and a fleet from Lübeck struck this island city in quick succession, leaving the wall, twelve ruined churches, and cobbled streets exactly where they had stood. This self-guided audio walking tour of Visby brings that story to life on your phone, with no physical guide and no fixed start time. Walk the Ringmuren, three kilometres of medieval wall, and discover why it was built against fellow Gotlanders, not foreign invaders. Hear about a friar who bought two harbour properties to expand his choir, a boy in chainmail at the foot of the wall, and a silver coin reading 'Moses is the messenger of God' dug up beneath a Gotlandic farmhouse. If you want to pause for photos, sit beside a ruin, or stop for coffee without being rushed, this Visby walking tour fits you. Over 20,000 travelers have used your self-guided tours, and this one comes with a full refund guarantee.

1. 1

   Stop 1

   Pass by

   Spot the iron rings still set into the limestone arch where defenders once chained the road shut.

2. 2

   Stop 2

   Pass by

   Trace three kilometres of wall built not against foreigners but against the city's own countrymen.

3. 3

   Stop 3

   Pass by

   Stand at the burial field where the city gates stayed bolted while their countrymen were cut down outside.

4. 4

   St. Nicolai Ruin

   Pass by

   Step into a roofless brick shell where Sweden's first Dominican friars filled the vaults for nearly three centuries.

5. 5

   Visby Cathedral

   Pass by

   Walk through the only Visby church still in use, funded by a tax on every German merchant ship.

6. 6

   Stop 6

   Pass by

   Pause between two ruined churches whose floor plans reveal Visby once had a Russian merchant quarter.

7. 7

   Gotlands Bryggeri

   Pass by

   Find the craft brewery that copied a medieval ruin's arches onto its bottle labels.

8. 8

   Stop 8

   5 min

   Meet the Gotlander whose career began by fixing a cathedral clock that had been silent for a hundred years.

9. 9

   DBW's Botanical Garden

   Pass by

   Wander through a garden funded by fines that twelve young swimmers once paid each other for bathing too long.

10. 10

    Fiskargrand

    Pass by

    Follow Visby's most photographed alley and learn why its famous climbing roses are not as medieval as you think.

11. 11

    Stop 11

    Pass by

    Search the great square for traces of a friary built where two harbour brothels once stood.

12. 12

    Stop 12

    Pass by

    Climb the only spot inside the wall connecting upper and lower Visby without ever leaving the city.

13. 13

    Stop 13

    Pass by

    Walk the street whose name has been misread as 'noble' for centuries when it really means the way of common folk.

14. 14

    Stop 14

    Pass by

    Notice the joint where two ruined churches share one piece of stonework, one Gotlandic, one German.

15. 15

    Burmeister

    Pass by

    Enter the seventeenth century home of the Lübeck outsider who became one of Visby's most powerful men.

16. 16

    Gotlands Museum

    Pass by

    Hunt for the silver coin reading 'Moses is the messenger of God' that reached Gotland by the Volga trade route.

17. 17

    Stop 17

    Pass by

    Pass beneath stepped gables of seven storey limestone warehouses where dried fish and Russian fur once filled the rooms.

18. 18

    Almedalen Park

    Pass by

    Finish in the harbour park where the sea retreated and a young Olof Palme launched Sweden's biggest political festival.

• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.