How to Get to Visby: Destination Gotland Ferries, Flights and Island Buses

Because Gotland lies roughly 100 kilometres off the eastern coast of the Swedish mainland in the middle of the Baltic Sea, every visitor arrives in Visby either by sea at the southern harbour terminal or by air at Visby Airport, 3.5 kilometres north of the medieval wall. Both gateways sit close enough to the historic centre that you can walk or cycle from the ferry gangway into Strandgatan and Donners plats in 10 to 15 minutes.

Destination Gotland High-Speed Ferries from Nynäshamn and Oskarshamn

Year-round passenger and car ferry services to Gotland are operated under national transport contract by Destination Gotland, founded in 1998 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Rederi AB Gotland (Sweden's oldest passenger shipping company, established on Gotland in 1865). Modern LNG-powered and high-speed Ro-Pax vessels, including M/S Visby, M/S Drotten, M/S Gotland, and M/S Visborg, sail from two mainland ports: Nynäshamn (58 kilometres south of Stockholm) and Oskarshamn on the Småland coast. Both crossings take approximately 3 hours and carry between 1.4 and 1.82 million passengers annually. If you are travelling without a car from Stockholm Central Station, SL commuter train line 43 runs directly to Nynäshamns färjeterminal right beside the ship ramp, or dedicated Gotland transfer coaches connect Cityterminalen in Stockholm, Uppsala, and regional cities with the ferry departures.

Flying into Visby Airport (VBY)

Visby Airport (IATA: VBY), opened on 27 January 1942 with its current passenger terminal inaugurated in 1985, sits 3.5 kilometres north of the city wall along Road 149. Year-round scheduled flights of 35 to 50 minutes connect Visby with Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) and Stockholm Bromma (BMA), supplemented in summer by direct routes from Gothenburg, Malmö, and Nordic capitals. In summer a seasonal airport bus and local taxi ranks link the terminal with Österport in under 10 minutes, or you can cycle the paved coastal path into town.

Arriving at Visby Harbour and Island Bus Connections

From the ferry terminal on Färjeleden, follow the signposted pedestrian walkway north along the inner harbour past Holmen and Uppsala University Campus Gotland to Donners plats (about 900 metres on flat pavement). Baggage lockers, bicycle rental shops, and car hire desks sit right outside the passenger terminal building. Regional Gotlandsbuss services and local city bus lines depart from Visby bus station on Österväg, 300 metres outside Österport and Söderport, connecting Fårösund for Fårö, Slite, Ljugarn, Hemse, and Burgsvik across the island; check the official Region Gotland public transport timetable before travelling, as rural bus frequencies increase significantly between June and August.