Talk:Gotland

Missing information

Requirements for guide:

Gives you different choices for which linked destinations (i.e., the 5 to 9 item cities, subregions, and other destinations lists) to visit (all usable status or better), and information on multiple attractions and things to do. Listings and layout closely match the manual of style, and all the standard sections have well-developed prose. All important ways to get in are detailed, along with some suggestions for where to go next, with one-liner descriptions, and thorough information on getting around. At least 2–3 good-quality photos accompany the article; preferably showing famous or important attractions.

I think the Understand section should tell something about to what extent Gotland is a holiday destination. I suppose it very much is, but is all of Gotland crowded with tourists in season, or just specific sites? "Resort towns" are mentioned in Eat, but does that include any village by the coast? What villages in the inland?

What about Klintehamn and Fårösund? Should those be described in Karlsöarna and Fårö or somewhere else? What about the villages by the most important yacht harbours except Visby and Fårösund?

Should Kneippbyn be mentioned in Do?

For Talk, is there any differences from mainland Sweden for the tourist? Does everybody speak English and comprehensible Swedish? I suppose so, but the section gives a different impression. Was the Gotlandic language lost or has it just transformed into a dialect of Swedish?

There is no Sleep section, but as city and park articles cover only part of the island, I'd like some information on what lodging or camping options there are outside these, e.g. for bikers. The Eat and drink sections could be expanded: like for Sleep, are there eateries all about or only at specific sites. And what about nightlife outside Visby?

I think these make for quite much to be added, if somebody has the time and knowledge.

--LPfi (talk) 14:18, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

I agree that there is a lot to be done. Gotland is a wonderful destination which deserves a good guide, and I would be happy to help expand the article. That being said I am no expert on Gotland, having spent only a few nights there, and consequently don't know the answer to all of your questions.

I would say that the main challenges with this region is that it, since it only has one proper city, is hard to divide in a way which makes it useful for travelers and which conforms to Wikivoyage policy. Essentially I think that there are four options:

a) Moving all listings to the nearest city, i.e. listing pretty much everything which has to do with mainland Gotland in the Visby article. This would probably just bloat said article and make both it and this one difficult to use.

b) Create separate articles for every small hamlet (such as Klintehamn and Fårösund). But these articles would pretty much just cover one hotel with its closest surrounding area. They are unlikely to ever grow large enough to be useful guides, and will most likely make the it difficult for travelers to navigate the region and find useful information.

c) Create a new city-article which addresses all of mainland Gotland except Visby. But such an article would just duplicate everything concerning "understand", "get in", "get around" etc. from this article. I.e, it would pretty much be a duplication of this article with a few extra listings.

d) Include listings within this region article. This is what has currently been done with different beaches and rauks around the island.

While I believe that WV:WYCSI and Wikivoyage:Geographical hierarchy policies probably would favor (a), (b) or (c), I am convinced that (d) would make most sense and be most helpful to travelers. Unless anyone disagrees therefore I suggest that we start by adding notable Gotland mainland restaurants and hotels to this article. In the event that the article would grow too large to be useful further division of the region (option b) can be discussed in the future. MartinJacobson (talk) 16:36, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

e) The Surinamese solution; create a couple of (2-3?) region articles, organize them under Gotland and put the listings there. Visby, as a huge entity relative to Gotland as whole, would be kept as a normal city article directly under Gotland (similar to Paramaribo). --ϒpsilon (talk) 17:30, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Yes that also sounds like a good option. There seems to have been an old administrative division of Gotland into three "Tredings" (thirds), North, Middle, and Southern (see this map). While they are still used to some extent organize the local church, I don't think that they matter much for the local identity, and even less for a traveler passing through. Nevertheless, it could be a way to divide Gotland which is not totally arbitrary. MartinJacobson (talk) 19:29, 16 March 2018 (UTC)

@Philaweb, MartinJacobson, Yvwv:. In 2017 MartinJacobson asked "how much can you add to "Eat" in a small region without listing restaurants?" in Talk:Nordic countries#Article status. Since then we have introduced "rural areas", and the tredings were created first as small cities, then converted to rural areas, both with proper listings. The articles are still at outline status. They lack Get around and the Eat sections are empty. Do you know enough to make the articles usable?

Eat would probably be just finding the relevant eateries. Should we wait to after the pandemic or has domestic tourism and locals kept the restaurants running?

For the Get around (now missing or empty) I suppose I'd like to have some info on buses, cars and bikes: What lines go here, along what routes, how often? I suppose the situation is mostly the same in all tredings, so Gotland#Get around could be linked for some of the information. Also for cars a summary and link to the Gotland article is probably enough, but the car rentals in Visby should be listed there, as they are irrelevant for Visby (and not mentioned there). Are there bikes for hire everywhere or should we point to a few businesses?

–LPfi (talk) 10:24, 24 April 2021 (UTC)