Explore Bornholm
Events, sights and inspiration
Experiences and sights on Bornholm
On Bornholm, there are experiences for both planned days and small detours along the way. You can find events and happenings, visit sights, go on an adventure with the family, explore culture or discover local shops, workshops and flavours that belong to the island.
Here, we gather inspiration for what you can experience on Bornholm. From the big places many people come to see to the smaller experiences that make a holiday more personal.
Use this page as a gateway to the island’s attractions, activities, cultural experiences, shopping, events and stories.
Events and happenings on Bornholm
On Bornholm, the calendar is part of the experience. Here, you can plan your trip around major events such as Folkemødet and Sol over Gudhjem, find local concerts, culture weeks, races and activities, or see what is happening right now.
Some events bring many people together. Others are small, local and close to everyday life on the island. Both can give your holiday a natural focal point and lead you on to new places, flavours, encounters and experiences along the way.
Attractions and sights on Bornholm
Some experiences on Bornholm are places you can return to again and again. Hammershus, the round churches, Dueodde, Helligdomsklipperne and the island’s museums each tell their own story about nature, history and life on Bornholm.
Here, you can get close to old ruins, special landscapes, art, cultural history and places where both children and adults can be curious together. Choose a classic sight, a family attraction or a museum, and let the trip lead you on to what is just nearby.
Hitler’s forgotten superguns
Dueodde is known for its pale sand, but hidden in the pine forest are two large, unfinished German gun emplacements from the Second World War. They were part of a planned coastal battery with four 17-metre-long guns, designed to fire 42 kilometres and hit shipping traffic south of Bornholm.
Only two of the emplacements were begun. Today, the raw concrete ruins remain as a dark time capsule in the middle of Dueodde’s holiday idyll.
Activities on Bornholm
Bornholm is easy to explore, whether the day is active, quiet or full of small pauses. You can go hiking, cycle along the coast, swim from rocks and sandy beaches or find activities that suit children, rainy days and holidays with plenty of time.
Many activities are close to nature, towns and places to eat. That makes it easy to shape the day as you go. Perhaps it begins with a trip into the forest, continues with an experience for the children and ends with ice cream, harbour life or dinner somewhere you had not planned.
Cultural experiences on Bornholm
Bornholm has cultural experiences that can fill an evening and give you new trails to follow around the island. Here, you can listen to music, go to the theatre, dive into literature or find places you may know from films, series and stories.
Music and classical notes
Music has many spaces on Bornholm. You can experience open-air concerts, intimate evenings, festival atmosphere and classical music in settings where place and sound are allowed to come together.
Theatre and literature
Theatre and literature offer another way into Bornholm. Here, you meet local stages, living stories and literary traces. In Nexø, you can follow in the footsteps of Martin Andersen Nexø and get closer to the town and the environment that helped shape one of Denmark’s great writers.
Film and stories
Bornholm also appears in films, music videos and stories. Follow in the footsteps of Krølle Bølle, solve Mysteriet på Bornholm or find places from Nordic noir and Christopher’s music video Leap of Faith. It gives you another way to experience the island, where landscapes, towns and moods play a role in the story.
Is the treasure of the Knights Templar hidden in the round churches?
Bornholm’s round churches are among the island’s best-known sights. But around them lives a persistent theory about the Knights Templar, geometry and hidden treasure.
According to the theory, Østerlars Rundkirke in particular forms part of a pattern linking Bornholm’s medieval churches to the Knights Templar. The theory has not been proven, but it has left traces in books, stories and the film Tempelriddernes Skat. This makes the round churches an obvious stop for anyone who enjoys architecture, mysteries and stories that live on.
Shopping on Bornholm
Shopping on Bornholm is often about more than buying something to take home. Here, you can explore small shops, workshops, galleries and farm shops where local produce, good craftsmanship and Bornholm materials fill the shelves.
You might find ceramics, glass, textiles, design, delicacies or something quite simple that reminds you of your holiday on the island. Many places are close to town life, harbours, cafés and experiences, so shopping can easily become a small stop along the way.
Inspiration to explore Bornholm
Bornholm can be experienced in many ways. Some days, it is the major events and well-known sights that draw you in. Other days, it is a small shop, a concert, an activity with the children or a place you discover on the way to something else.
Use this page as a starting point when you want to explore Bornholm and plan your experiences. Choose what fits the day, and leave room for the stops that happen along the way.
Take a piece of Bornholm home with you
On Bornholm, shopping is often an experience in itself. Explore ceramics, glass, textiles, jewellery, delicacies and small shops where the island’s materials, flavours and craftsmanship take shape.
In many places, you can meet the people behind them, look into the workshop or find something that reminds you not only of the holiday, but of the place, the light and the hands that created it.