Gotland Local Customs

This is a society of knights and they perform usually during the week of the Middle Ages in Visby in the beginning of August every year. They like to show how knights fought during the Middle Ages against each other in tournaments. They perform all over Sweden and also international. They do this during the summer season and if you are lucky you will see this knights somewhere, when they perform and use their weapon against other knights.

This is a week when all parties come to Gotand and spread their message to the people. It is an old tradition to be here for politicians. I have been here one year when it was, then I saw many politicians talk about how they could make Sweden better and what their message to the voters was. This is a popular week for all politicians to visit Visby and Gotland during this week. If you are here during Almedagsveckan, you will probably recognize many famous politicians.

This is a brochure with lots of advertisement from tourist attractions all over Gotland and also repotages what you can do on the island. The brochure give you information about good deals, new places to stay at, important things about the new summer season, describing tourist attractions and events on Gotland. This brochure can help you to plan your visit on Gotland!

There are around 100 churches on Gotland and 92 of them are from the medieval time. Lots of old religious here on Gotland. During the summer you can usually visit them between 9.00-17.00. It is also free for everybody and some times they sell cheap coffee with something to eat.

This is a card with good prices all over Gotland. You get free entrance to musuems, tourist attractions all over the island and cheaper prices in many shops and many other offers. There are three- or five-days-cards and you can use them between 15 June and 31 August. You can buy these cards in the tourist office in Visby, Bungemuseet, on the ferrries to Gotland or in Bottarve museum. Read more on the net to get the newest information.

Gotland is full of old things from the viking time. If you find anything or hear about that some one has found things, you can contact Länsstyrelsen in Gotland and they will tell you what you shall do.

Being on an island there is a fair bit of wind, and here it is used. About a fifth of Gotland's electricity is produced by wind by 160 or so windmills. One of Sweden's biggest wind farms is in the south, at Näsudden, and is the most dense land-based windfarm area with around 100 of those mills. Summertime you can visit it and learn about the history of windfarms in Sweden since the early experimental days in the 1970s until today's huge mills.

The Gotland windmills look like no other Swedish windmills and there are times when you expect Don Quijote to appear along the limestone roads. The one in the picture has lost its wings but you will find plenty in good shape still.