We visited the Lummelundagrottan, the limestone caves situated a few kms north of Visby, the main town in the beautiful island of Gotland. This is an activity you should try if you are into caves & rocks & geology or simply the curious kind. Gotland itself is primarily all limestone. Interestingly, ages & ages ago, before the world took the shape of the continents as they look today, the piece of land that is now Gotland, was supposedly part of a coral reef somewhere south of the equator!
The story goes that three teenage boys first discovered the caves on an adventure back in 1948 before it became a more focused subject for excavations and discoveries. Unfortunately, they were not given too much credit when the grown-ups took over, but these days their story is more widely known through a movie shown at the cave exhibition.
Inside the caves one can see some beautiful stalactites, stalagmites, dripstones and other limestone cave features. We were also showed some fossils. The caves have a stream flowing through and we were lucky to spot some trout that live in the water. It’s an educational experience for kids and very popular among tourists to Gotland. Unfortunately, not too many non-Swedes come here, so you have to request that the guide speak in English for your benefit. In summer, there are quite a few tours during the day, so it might be that the guide misses part of the English commentary & explains the story outside, at the end of the tour. However, that wasn’t a deal-breaker for us. The guides are quite pleasant & take your questions, if any. Oh, and an important tip, carry a jacket as it might get a bit chilly underground.
Note: Cave tours are open only from beginning of May till end of September, so you need to time your visit accordingly. Though private guided tours can be booked all year round. If you want to do more than the 300mt long tour, they also have a ‘cave adventure’ which means they take you a further 200 mts into the caves in a small rubber boat like the actual explorers did. But of course, that kind of activity comes with a price. You can find more information on their website.
Apart from the caves, there is a small exhibition & a movie about the caves, a cafe with restrooms and a patch of woods with a tiny stream to walk around and get some nice pictures.
Sunny District 