When Martin was young he hiked around the Danish island Bornholm. This island lies between Poland and Sweden, quite a bit east of Denmark. We took the boat from Kolobrzeg in Poland. We were so much looking forward to getting reacquainted with all the Danish delicacies and delights on Bornholm, a small Danish island.

Photos are here: The return: Bornholm

After a quite uncomfortable ferry ride we made it to Nexø. The first thing we did was visit the supermarket for real Danish food. We bought a collection of some yummy things and took time in the small harbour to eat lunch. The next few days the food would include Danish ice cream, smoked fish from the ‘Rogeri”, ‘leverpostej’, liquorice, etc. and licking our fingers every time 🙂

 Bornholm showed itself from its most beautiful side. We had lovely weather, people were friendly so we had some occasional chats. There were small food stall along the road with local produce and we enjoyed spending time on this magical island with a strong sense of history. It was great to be able to speak the language, have interesting conversation and enjoy a sense of familiarity. We spoke a lot about the process of returning home, how it is to be back on familiar territory. We felt really good about our decision to slowly make our way back to Denmark and the Netherlands and also visiting these places.

 From Nexø we cycled up to Svaneke along the coast having beautiful views. We then turned inland and were on the lookout for the special round churches. There are four on the island. We then headed further west and eventually south to a primitive camping place on the south coast. There are numerous of the camping places on the island and facilities are very basic. At this primitive camp spot is a possibility of setting up 2 or 3 tents and you can not spend more than a certain amount of time there. Also of course you need to clean up after yourself. Sometimes water is available and sometimes not. This camp spot gave us a great view of the sun while it was setting and we were enjoying our first night on the island. 

 A great surprise for us was that friends wanted to come and meet us in Rønne. So we made sure that we were in Rønne bright and early the next day to wait for them arriving by ferry from Sweden. We had a great day hanging out and enjoying each others company and most of us even had a quick dip in the sea! Although we knew we would see our friends soon again in Malmø it was a bit sad saying goodbye to them and continuing on our bikes with just the two of us. We were happy to find another great camping spot on the north coast close to Gudhjem. This time we were not alone but there were also two families enjoying the quiet primitive camp spot and while we were preparing dinner people living on the island came for a sunset swim.

 Bornholm is quite known for a few things. Artistry and crafts are thriving on Bornholm, from ceramics to glass blowing. In many of the villages you can find boutiques and shops selling these and small studios where the products are made. Also there are ice cream and candy making shops in many of the villages which are worth it to have a look, especially if they are making candy right at that moment.

 Our final day on the island brought us past the unique Helligdomsklipperne that we had to check out. These are real Danish cliffs that plummet into sea. It is possible to climb down several of these to have a good look. We continued to one of Scandinavia’s largest medieval fortification Hammershus. Hammershus’ surroundings are very beautiful with the coastline and forest so we enjoyed cycling through the area and visiting the fortress. We were looking for a final place to spend the night near Rønne and aimed for one of the general campsites. The price however was out of proportion so we decided to camp on a beach close by, not an assigned primitive camp spot. We were a bit hesitant because we know Danes can sometimes quite strictly follow rules and didn’t want anybody to inform authorities. Eventually we had a great sunset and a really good nights sleep before preparing ourselves to catch the ferry to Sweden.