~130km by Bicycle in 4 Days

According to Lonely Planet, Bornholm is the sunniest part of Denmark. Not exactly a hard feat to achieve, but impressive none-the-less when our 4 day cycle trip around the island saw nothing but perfect sunny weather!

Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea that can be reached by a short 1 hour ferry ride from Ystad, on the Southern coast of Sweden. It's in the middle of the Baltic and its circumference is around 120km. It is a bit different to the rest of Denmark, both in terms of landscape (it actually has hills), architecture (walking through the villages is like stepping back in time) and the people (they are remarkably extroverted towards foreigners - at least compared to the mainlanders).

One of the many 'unmanned' street-side stalls with honesty boxes

I went with three friends and our bikes, with the intent of cycling around the whole island, seeing the beautiful scenery, eating some great food (the island is known for its smoked fish) and escaping from the fast paced life of Copenhagen for a little while (ok, maybe not that last bit...) Unfortunately, the trip got off to a really bad start. The trip from Copenhagen involves a 1.5 hour train ride to Ystad prior to boarding the ferry. Unfortunately, DSB (the Danish train company) did some trickery in changing the departure platform AFTER one of us had already asked a staff member which platform to go to. To make matters worse, the new platform was the magical platform number 26 - which has terrible signage and cannot be found by logical deduction from knowledge of where the other platforms are. This meant that despite being on the platform while the train was still there, we were too late to be allowed on. Thankfully DSB apologised profusely and in addition to free food and later a voucher for a free train ride anywhere in the country, we were put on a later train and eventually got to Rønne, on the West coast of Bornholm just before midnight. Having missed our first afternoon there, we spent the next morning exploring Rønne with all its history, beautiful old buildings, areas that were bombed during the war (I refer to WWII, as opposed to all the various wars between Sweden and Denmark where the island changed hands like a hot potato). Definitely a very picturesque town.

And then the adventure began. On our first day we planned to cycle to Alinge-Sandig on the northern tip of the island, around 25km away. Add to that a few kilometres for sightseeing along the way. Much to my disappointment, within, at a rough guess, no more than 25m after leaving Rønne, whilst not even moving, I got a puncture! Thankfully we were able to repair it (or so we thought), yet was a bit disappointed to find that the tyre on my newly purchased bike (2nd hand) already had about 6 repair patches on it). To make things worse, it was a public holiday so bicycle shops were closed and we weren't even sure if the bus on the island was running. So off we went, ever grateful for brining a puncture repair kit and pump along!

No Hassles in Hasle? Definitely not when you're like me and get punctures!

Our first stop was Hasle. The primary reason for the stop was lunch, where we ate at the røgeri, or smoked fish house. We were surprised to find that food was remarkably good value in Bornholm, and extremely tasty too! Bornholm was, and still is, home to a staggering amount of fishing and there is a large industry around the smoking of fish. The characteristic smoke houses with chimneys are plentiful in all of the towns.

Smoked fish for lunch at the Hasle Røgeri

The leg from Hasle to our next stop, Hammerhus Slot, was the most challenging of the trip. Not only was the terrain the hardest, but I discovered my initial puncture repair wasn't particularly good, so out came the repair kit again. The ruins of 13th century Hammerhus Castle sit upon cliffs overlooking the Baltic. The backdrop is spectacular and the grounds themselves are large and provide for great exploring. In addition to the imprisonment of princess there on treason charges in the 17th century, the castle served as a vital defence over the years and was fascinating to explore.

That night we slept in Sandvig, where we saw the first of many (and I mean many) mini-golf courses. I would hazard a guess that Bornholm has the greatest number of mini-golf courses per capita than anywhere else in the world!

Following a 2 hour walk around Hammeren on the Northern peninsula of the island the next morning, we returned to the hotel to find my bike tyre, unlike my spirits, rather deflated. 2km down the road were stopping at Alinge for lunch, so I figured this would be a good spot to get a new tyre. Unfortunately, the one bicycle shop in town did not have the time to help me, and I was left to my own devices to replace the tyre on my back wheel. Magically, I managed to do it and from then on in, my bicycle was problem free for the rest of the trip!

Finding the sanctuary at Helligdomsklipperne

On the second day we cycled down the East coast towards the idyllic town of Gudhjem (with some stops along the way of course). Gudhjem, I can say, is my favourite town on the island. Not just because it has an ice cream shop which claims to sell the world's biggest ice creams (and although I only went for a 'normal' one - I was most impressed!), but it is perched perfectly on the side of a hill leading down to the harbour. It has the feel of a modern, thriving, rural village with a lot of charm that has carried over from centuries gone by. The scenery is gorgeous, the houses have a lot of character, the place is lively (as much as a small rural village can be) and it generally just had a nice feeling to it.

Although we had to cycle a further 5km down the road to our accommodation for the night (which, mind you, was set amongst fields, overlooking the ocean, with nothing else around for miles), we were to return to Gudhjem the next morning...

Gudhjem - as seen from the bridge coming into town

The characteristic chimneys of the smoke houses

On the third day we took a ferry from Gudhjem to Christiansø. Christiansø is where people who live in a small village on a remote island go, when they need to escape the busy life! There are no cars there, no cats, and no dogs. It used to be a Danish military fortress, but is no home to 100 or so locals and at least another 200 or so tourists a day in summer. The island is still owned by the state, and the whole place is protected. It is a wonderful place to walk around and explore - there are plenty of old buildings, military barracks, a church, lookout towers and fort walls. A couple of hours is all you really need there, but it's definitely a unique and worthwhile experience.

That afternoon we had one of our longest rides. 30 km or so on to Balka Strand via two quick stop-overs. The first, Østerlars Rundkirke is the largest and most impressive of Bornholm's four famous round churches. The round churches were each built around 2 km inland from the coast on each of the four points of the compass. They were built in the 11-12th centuries and were designed to be used both as churches, but also as fortresses to protect the island. They are still used today as churches and Østerlars gave us a unique impression of this unusual type of structure - with church on the ground floor and 'shooting gallery' (with great views of both the church graveyard, and surrounds) up above.

We then made a brief stop in Svaneke for dinner. On the way into town we noticed the most unusual looking triangular structure in the distance. A bit of an architectural stand-out. Once we arrived in town and opened our book, we realised this was the famous water-tower designed by the Danish gentleman who designed the Sydney Opera House. From water tower in small rural village to national icon - what a voyage!

Our final day in Bornholm consisted primarily of relaxing on the white sandy beaches of Dueodde, and getting very hungry! Dueodde is on the Southern tip of the island, and has a tall and very slim lighthouse that you can climb for an awesome view in all directions. It also has quite an array of white sand dunes leading up to the beach which eerily brought back memories of coastal town of Eucla, on the West Australian/South Australian border. Anyway, this did provide me with an opportunity to swim, which I relished. Despite the relatively icy water, I discovered that the Baltic Sea seems to have a very low concentration of salt an other minerals - no sticky effect when emerging from the water - what a difference!

So apart from desperately trying to find somewhere to eat on our way back to Rønne that afternoon (which we finally managed to do in the inland town of Åkirkeby, we encountered some amazing generosity...A few km before we reached the town, we happened to pass a home delivery ice cream van stopped at a rural house. Unfortunately the gentleman only sold ice creams in bulk, but upon seeing how hot and tired the four of us looked, he gave us each an ice cream for free. Hjem Is - we love you!

And that was it - the rest of the ride to Rønne was uneventful, but the satisfaction we all had with ourselves when we got there was tangible. The sense of achievement was great and all in all, a thoroughly enjoyable holiday!


A big thanks goes to my travel companions responsible for the photos Lilia & Nina.

Sailing off into the sunset at the end of our journey