Hammershus and other Bornholm, Denmark Things to Do Tips

Hammershus is the biggest medieval castle ruin in Scandinavia and very impressive, not least because of its magnificent setting on the top of a cliff overlooking the sea and the northern coastline. Sheep graze the surrounding fields and in clear weather you can see across to Scania in Sweden.

The castle was started in the mid 13th century and mainly held by the bishops of Lund in what is today Sweden but then belonged to Denmark. It has also been held by the town of Lübeck since several northern strongholds competed for Baltic power in those days. In the 17th century when Bornholm was lost to Sweden at the Treaty of Roskilde, it was here that the Swedish governor settled for a while but also from where he was followed and finally captured by two famous rebellious Bornholmer heroes on his way to Rønne. In the 18th century, the castle lost its important functions and fell into decline but you can still see a lot of its structure by walking around the impressive grounds where signs tell you what was where and about life in the castle. You can also walk down to the sea itself and look at spectacular cliff formations. Definately a destination not to be missed on Bornholm. There is also a medieval exhibition next to it which charges an entrance fee, contrary to the castle grounds which you can visit for free. If you get hungry, there is a restaurant/cafe attached to it where you can get average Danish meals with friendly service.

If you want to see more pictures, have a look at my Sandvig page.

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Address: Hammershus
Directions: Bus no 7 from most Bornholm coastal towns and villages. In the north-west corner of the island, north of Hasle and west of Allinge.
Website: http://bornholm.info/s1/Sevaerdigheder/Hammershus.asp?langId=2

The reason there is no photo is because we came here to see the great art and were then trapped in the worst rain storm the island had seen that summer. Therefore, we quickly left whilst it was a bit better, pedalling furiously to reach our goal for the day, Gudhjem, without flooding away on the roads. I simply didn't want to ruin the camera in the pouring rain and the picture wouldn't have been more than a grey mish-mash anyway. Even the cows ran for shelter as the water came down sideways! But check their homepage for pictures.

Nevertheless, this is a nice museum full of mainly Scandinavian art by mainly Bornholm artists such as the famous Oluf Høst. Here you find his, and many others' paintings but also ceramics and sculptures. The house in itself is a bit of an modern artchitectural masterpiece. Personally, I liked the fact that the "Holy Well" stream had been led right into the museum entrance so there was an internal water source. There is also a viewing tower, although I failed to see how the views could be that interesting. The museum is right next to the famous Heilligdomsklipperne cliffs (a short walk which was too impossible to us in the rain as we had to cycle on and couldn't START already soaked...) and if you could have seen those I would have been more impressed. But the tower still has an interesting exhibition on the cliffs and of nearby Dønedalen with Bornholm's highest waterfall.

There is also a restaurant in the museum which was very innovative and with cheerful staff. Unfortunately, they were understaffed and had us waiting quite a long time and the portions were small. Saying that, the food was really nice and you could always go for just a coffee and cake whilst looking at the sculptures in the meadow outside. There is also a shop full of everything from art and photo books to amber to educational toys.

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Address: Heilligdomsklipperne, Gudhjem
Directions: Only 7 kms west of Gudhjem on the main road to Allinge.
Website: http://www.bornholms-kunstmuseum.dk/

We rolled into Gudhjem wetter than the most drained cats but with a mood more defiant than sour. I already knew from colleagues that it is the Bornholm town most known for its steep streets down to the sea and that some weren't even allowed to bike down. Nevertheless I wasn't prepared for the leg ache I got after mixing foot and hand breaks on a rainy road for as long as it took to get down to the harbour! :))) Once there, we found that it is just the lovely town everyone says it is with its dramatic setting and many galleries and restaurants. Distinctly Danish but reminding you of smuggling villages in Devon or Yorkshire. Gudhjem is also excellent as a base for exploring several of Bornholm's biggest museums and most famous cliffs and for catching boats along the coast and to Christiansø islands.

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Directions: In the middle of the northern coast.

Denmark's smallest and easternmost town with only 1800 inhabitants is a charming place which originally started as a fishing village. The centre is full of half timbered cottages to stroll around amongst, even though it feels cramped at times when the pavements are too narrow :))) It has won prizes for its town conservation and is a great place to base yourself on Bornholm. Famous also for its fish smokery, brewery, windmill and family amusement park, it really is a gem. Read more on my Svaneke page.

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Directions: The north-east corner of Bornholm.

One of Denmark's, if not Scandinavia's, most famous beaches and rightly so. Dueodde's sand is so fine it was exported for use in hourglasses and as ink writing sand. These days, it is more famous as a beach, and people flock here to swim and have fun in summer whilst the lighthouse appear on plenty of Bornholm postcards. I have to say I have rarely seen such white sand in Scandinavia. If you want to see more about the southern tip of Bornholm and have tips, check out my page on Snogebaek.

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Address: Dueodde, Snogebaek, Nexoe
Directions: Signposted west of Nexoe.

Bornholm has several round churches, something only found in a few other places in Denmark. These are from around the 12th century and indeed just that; round. The point was that they could also serve a defense purpose in times of trouble. Therefore, you can see details like gun holes near the ceiling and such. Some say the Bornholm round churches have links to the French Templars and they are in any case impressive. In the beginning, they didn't have a roof but was more like small fortresses.

The church in Osterlars (south of Gudhjem) is the biggest and most visited but Ols Church in Olsker is the highest, Nylars the most well-kept (and has viking runestones) and Nyker has nice chalk frescoes. No one knows which church is the oldest of them.

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Website: http://www.bornholm.info/s1/Sevaerdigheder/Andrekirker.asp?langId=2

As local museums go, this is one of the nicest I have visited and the only bad thing about it is the total lack of information in English. As with many things on Bornholm, it is geared for visitors from Scandinavia, Poland and Germany, so my English husband had to rely on what Danish he could understand from being a Swedish speaker. Nevertheless, he too enjoyed the permanent exhibitions on Bornholm's ancient history (with gold treasures, armoury, pottery, women's life, rune stones and much more) and the more modern (church art, the shipping companies, famous grandfather clock makers, Bornholm during WWII and local school life amongst others). When we visited, there was also a temporary exhibition on the now sadly closed Bornholm railways.

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Phone: 5695 0735
Address: Skt Mortensgade 29
Directions: Signposted from the main square.
Website: http://bornholmsmuseum.dk/engelsk/index.html