Bornholm with care
Nature, closeness and local choices
Come closer to what you came for
Visiting Bornholm thoughtfully is not about perfect holidays or big promises. It is about the choices you can make along the way, and what makes sense in practice.
It might be the journey here, the place you stay, the food you eat, the route you take through the landscape, or the way you use nature. On Bornholm, the sea, the forest, small towns, local flavours and the people behind the good places are all close to each other. That makes it easier to make thoughtful choices, without making the holiday complicated.
When you come a little closer to the island, you notice more. Perhaps you discover a farm shop you would otherwise have driven past, a path between two towns or a place to eat where the menu follows the season and uses nature’s ingredients.
Small choices on a small island
Bornholm is small enough for many experiences to be reached at a calmer pace.
A bike can take you through forest, open countryside and small local communities, with room to stop along the way. The bus can offer an easy route between towns, and the walking trails bring you closer to the landscape than you can get from behind a car window.
What feels special often appears right there, when you move more slowly through the landscape and follow the path as it bends. Bornholm has many walking routes and cycling routes, so you can easily find a trip that suits the day, the weather and the pace at which you want to experience the island.
This is often where you feel Bornholm most clearly, in the wind over the fields, in the light by the coast and in the small pauses between the day’s plans.
Energy in everyday life
Many people come to Bornholm to recharge. Others come to move their bodies in nature. On the island, energy can be felt in several ways, both in the small pauses of a holiday and in large projects that reach far beyond Bornholm.
If you arrive by electric car, charging can become a natural part of the day. Perhaps while you have lunch, go for a walk, visit a producer or take a break in a town you already wanted to experience.
At the same time, Bornholm has been designated to take on a new role in the energy system around the Baltic Sea. With Energy Island Bornholm, electricity from offshore wind turbines in the Baltic Sea will be gathered on Bornholm and sent on to the power grids in both Denmark and Germany. The project is planned with at least 3 GW of offshore wind, which according to the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of around 3 million households.
For you as a visitor, the energy island is not necessarily something you need to go and see. But it is part of the story of a small island where everyday choices and large solutions far out on the horizon exist side by side.
Stay at places that explain their choices
When you choose accommodation, you can look for specific labels and clear explanations.
Some places have certifications such as Green Key, the Nordic Swan Ecolabel or EU Ecolabel. Others explain how they work with energy, water, waste sorting, cleaning, food waste or ingredients.
Bornholm’s hosts are close to their place. It is their life, and they know the house, the garden, the food and the everyday work behind it. Feel free to ask with curiosity. Often, the good story lies in the choices made in the small details.
Materials with another life
On Bornholm, there is a place to stay where the building is not only seen as the frame around the visit, but also as a place where materials can have several lives.
Here, the solutions are inspired by Cradle to Cradle, where materials can, as far as possible, be separated, reused or biodegraded. Reused glass from a Bornholm glass designer has, for example, become paths in the park, and solar panels have been integrated into the architecture of the building.
Eat with place and season in mind
Bornholm has a strong food culture, where the sea, fields, mills, smokehouses, breweries, farm shops and small producers are close to one another.
When you choose local ingredients, seasonal produce or places to eat with The Organic Cuisine Label, you get a clearer taste of the place you are visiting.
It might be new potatoes, rapeseed oil, rye bread, beer from a local brewery, ice cream from a farm or fish from a smokehouse. Food with a sense of place does not need to shout. It just has to taste like something that belongs here.
The water beneath Bornholm
On Bornholm, water is part of the local taste.
Some of the island’s drinking water is drawn from deep wells in Balka and Nexø sandstone. The water is aerated and filtered through sand, but no chlorine is added.
And the taste is not just something the people of Bornholm talk about. In 2019, water from Smålyngsværket was named Denmark’s best-tasting drinking water.
That makes water more than something practical. It is a local raw material that also plays a role in the island’s food and drink production, from beer and spirits to soft drinks and other products where water is part of the taste.
So the next time you fill a glass on Bornholm, you can think of it as carrying a little of the island’s underground layers with it.
Give nature space
Many people travel to Bornholm for the nature, where rocky coasts, forests, rift valleys, sandy beaches and small paths lie close to one another. Here, even a short trip can quickly become an experience in itself.
When you use nature with consideration, it is not about making the holiday less free. It is about giving space to what you came here to experience.
Stay on the paths where nature is vulnerable. Take your waste with you. Keep your distance from animals and birds. Use fire pits, shelters and overnight places according to the rules that apply on site. And feel free to choose times and routes where there is a little more calm around you.
Then nature becomes more than something you look at from a distance. It becomes a place you enter with respect.
Make more of Bornholm
Summer on Bornholm has the sea, harbour towns, markets, events and long bright days. But the island has many rhythms, and some of the best experiences begin when you follow the season a little more closely.
Spring has the light, the first ingredients and walking days with fresh air on your face. Summer has swims, cycling days and big events under open skies. Autumn has the forest, the flavours and the clear air. Winter has the darkness, the stars and the small places where warmth is felt most clearly. Every season has its own charm, and Bornholm is worth visiting all year round.
You can also let your trip take you a little further around the island. To Aakirkeby, Hasle, Nexø, Østermarie, Klemensker and the small places between the towns. Here you will find crafts, nature, food, cultural history and everyday life on a smaller scale.
When more people use the whole island and more times of year, visits are spread more evenly. For you, it can mean more calm, more closeness and more experiences you did not see coming.
Taking care together
We are on the right path, but we are not there yet. If you experience something on Bornholm that should be fixed, improved or passed on, we would like to hear from you.
It might be a missing waste bin, litter gathering in one place, unclear signs, access conditions that are hard to understand, or other practical matters that affect the experience of the island.
We cannot solve everything ourselves, but we read what you send and pass relevant input on to the right places.
Send your comment or idea to info@bornholm.info.
Learning in the old water tower
On Almegårdsvej in Rønne, there is an old water tower from 1936, now called Affaldstårnet.
Today, the tower provides the setting for guided visits and talks where school pupils and visitors can learn more about waste, sorting and the resources that may be hidden in what we otherwise throw away.
That knowledge is important to pass on, because waste does not simply disappear. Especially on an island, it becomes clear that it has to be collected, sorted, treated and preferably used again. The better we understand that, the easier it becomes to make small thoughtful choices, also as a visitor to Bornholm.