GOTLAND

I f you want to make something special of your next trip visit Sweden's Baltic island steeped in history and sun

Just a quick 40-minute hop by plane from Stockholm or a two and a half hour ride by catamaran lies another world that few travellers to Sweden are aware of. This is the enchanting Baltic island of Gotland that has, until now, been an almost closely guarded secret for vacationing Swedes and a few adventurous Germans. A renewed interest in Sweden among international vacationers and an article last August in Conde Nast Traveler is beginning to change that. Gotland is really Sweden's Riviera with kilometer-long sand beaches where most of the vacationing girls, of all ages, bathe topless. On the Oregon-like north-western coast dramatic cliffs descend 40 meters to secluded pebbled beaches. The 80-mile long island is a perfect holiday spot that generally has better weather than the mainland.

Being as flat as Holland, Gotland has been a paradise for cyclists who early on discovered the wonderful mix of farmland, lakes and moors and meadows full of wildflowers and rare orchids. Wherever you go you pass medieval churches (92 of them), handsome limestone farmhouses and historic remnants.

Stone-age people arrived on the island 8 000 years ago when the Baltic was still a fresh water lake. Long before the Viking period, Gotland had become a prosperous trading center. This was when the mainly German tradesmen of the city of Visby erected the three kilometer long town wall, which saved them from widespread plundering when the farmers started a bloody civil war in 1288.

In 1361 the Danes conquered the Hanseatic Leaguerun island and King Valdemar IV Atterdag robbed it of its riches. For 300 years after this, the Mecklenburgs, the Teutonic Knights, the kings of the Scandinavian Union and the Gotlanders themselves took turns to control the island before Sweden finally conquered it. Today Gotland is Sweden's main holiday island with a permanent population of 57 000 that multiplies several times during the summer months. There are some 300,000 tourists per annum.

Visby is the city of roses, peaceful courtyards and medieval remains. The town with its pretty reed rooftops, limestone houses (that you can see on the cover), 17 medieval churches (16 in ruins) and a stone wall is on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The only medieval church that is intact and in use is the Maria Kyrka Cathedral. The ruins of 11 others can be visited during the day and sometimes in the evening as backdrops for concerts and theatre performances.

Visby is only second to Carcasonne in southern France as the best-preserved medieval walled town in Europe. Along Strandgatan - the old main street - are several big warehouses up to eight storeys tall that early merchants built. You can also take a walk along the stone wall with its 44 towers and numerous gateways. In the superb "Fornsalen" History Museum you can follow the fascinating history of the island and see magnificent rune-stones and some of the treasures of gold and silver as well as Arab, Greek, Roman and Byzantine coins that can be found to this day all over the island.

During Visby's medieval week you an experience jesters, fire-eaters and other street performers around town and you can also witness tournament enactments. Gotlanders and visitors don the apparel of the period, and Visby once again becomes a living medieval town re-visited by King Valdemar Atterdag, Hanseatic merchants, craftsmen and monks. The ruins, the ring wall, the burghers' stately houses, and the cobbled streets and alleyways form an authentic backdrop for markets, music, historical theatre, dance and pagentry. Every year, the entire island is filled with exciting, spectacular events, living history and carnival atmosphere.

If you want to experience the Viking period, there is a Viking village at Tofta. Wherever you go however, you are always close to history, probably thanks to the island's long economic decline that meant little development, resulting in the preservation of much of Gotland in its original medieval glory. On a hot day you even get interested in visiting cool churches such as the one at Oja (13th century crucifix) and Vamlingsbo (with a superb fresco).

If you tire of the great beaches there! are plenty of excursions, all within 90 minutes drive from Visby. You can visit the Lummelunda stalactite caves, the privately-owned island bird refuges of Stora och Lilla Karlsd, the Villa Villekulla house of Pippi Longstocking as well as various artisans. And if you feel like it, one of Got land's four golf courses is always nearby.

You can also visit the area where Gotland's wild little horses roam. If you are a Swedish citizen you can take a boat to to the security-sensitive areas near and on Fdrd island, where director Ingmar Bergman and others have their summer paradises. This year you can also take a ferry to the remote Gotska Sandfin that has until now been off limits for non-Swedes.

Gotland gets rather crowded during the summer so you should book your accommodation well in advance (at for example Wisby Hotel 0498-211230 or Strand Hotel 0498-212 600) or enjoy the off-season. An inexpensive place to stay 6 kilometers south of Visby is the old royal summer residence of Fridhem (Phone: 0498-296018) that has been turned into a lodge. The local tourist board (0498-27 70 65 or fax 0498-27 89 40) housed in the Burmeisterska huset at Strandgatan 9, itself a museum can help with information and a wide range of accommodation alternatives including bed & breakfasts and country inns.