Our third day of the summer bicycle trip, we started at Sandkaas Familiecamping, in the north-western part of the island. We planned to ride to the north-eastern corner. The route for that day led mainly along the coast.
Sandkaas
In the morning we woke up so early that whole camp was sleeping. We ate breakfast, and the kids had some fun on the playground after that. That playground was very interesting, because it consisted not only of traditional playground equipment but also of small buildings that looked like a real police station, post office, bank, or boat, but in miniature.
Immediately after leaving the campsite Agatha said: “Dad, it will be storm soon”. And she was right. After a moment it started raining before we left town and we had to make a stop to secure things which could get wet – mainly tent and cameras. We were tough and continued our ride in the rain. Along the way we passed a group of cyclists going in the same direction as we, who bravely rode in the rain for the next miles of road.
On Bornholm there is a large network of bicycle roads, and you can ride in any direction you want using safe, well described bicycle roads. This time we rode on a bike road which ran along a fairly busy national road. In comparison with routes that we rode in the past two days, we definitely preferred bicycle paths, which led through the wilderness or roads with little car traffic.
During a ride towards Gudhjem we noticed on the way an information point. We stopped for a moment and it turned out that we were at a place where Bronze Age tombs had been found.
Døndalen Waterfalls
After a short time we got to the first attraction of the day – to the Døndalen Waterfalls . By the road there was a large car park. To reach the waterfalls, we needed to follow a trail. This path was passable by bicycle, so we were able to ride a large section of it. Only at the end it became a fairly steep descent and there, in the middle of the forest, we left our bicycles to continue the journey on foot.
The waterfall (it’s a somewhat grand name for this place) was flowing over stones, but there was no spectacular waterfall. Did you know that this is the highest waterfall in Denmark? Nevertheless, it was nice to take a short break from cycling and climb on the rocks and steep slopes of the mountain. There were some hard-to-climb places where the kids used hanging tree roots to climb higher.
After a moment spent in this place we went back to the place where our bikes were waiting for us. We drove towards the bike road. Then after a few hundred meters we stopped in front of the next attraction. From the main road signpost led us to Bornholms Kunstmuseum, which is Bornholm art museum. But the museum was not on our schedule. Children would not like that. We used only the bicycle parking in front of the museum building to leave our vehicles. And here I must admit that bicycle parking was quite unique – a beautifully marked place, located at the entrance to the museum, sheltered from the wind by plants. Bicycles were parked, so we went to see cliffs located just behind the museum, where caves were hidden.
Helligdomsklipperne cave
One of them, the most famous cave is Helligdomsklipperne. To reach it, we had to descend dozens of stairs leading to the coast. Later there was a huge stone path, then a steel bridge which we used to go to the top of the slot. There we used a ladder to go deeper into the gorge. In the end, in front of us appeared a hole which was the entrance to the cave. The cave was about a dozen meters long, a few meters high, and less than a meter wide! Well, it’s good that we had a flashlight in backpack. With that we could more easily explore the interior of the cave. Inside the rock temperature was much lower than outside and the walls of the cave were wet because of the water. It’s an amazing place that shows the beauty of Bornholm’s nature. Definitely worth a peek.
Gudhjem
When we returned to the bikes we moved on in the direction of the Gudhjem town. The road was long and straight, which was quite monotonous. It is much better to drive on winding paths, where the scenery is constantly changing. This time, in the distance we could see the city, which we were slowly moving to. There was a little surprise, because the bicycle road was over and we had to go through Helligdomsvej – just a national road.
In the distance we saw a town that with every turn of the pedals was closer and closer. The route was mostly downhill – it allowed us to build up quite a bit of speed and take advantage of the speed to overcome the later grades. Finally, there is Gudhjem! At the beginning of the town there is a steep road that leads down to the city center, but we went straight to the viaduct and the town center we’d seen from the top. From this point we could continue riding on a nice bicycle road.
The plan was to have dinner in Gudhjem and fill our water supply. We found the Dagli Brugsen shop. It’s a store similar to a small discount supermarket. In front of it, we found benches that were ideal for preparing a meal. At the end of the street was Gudhjem Camping, but it was not our destination for that day. In our plan it was just the halfway point of our route.
From the town of Gudhjem you can take a day trip to the tiny island of Christiansø.
However, after a rest, we rode toward the round church in Østerlars. Bicycle path led us through fields and forests. We admired the beautiful countryside. This part of the trip was totally different from the earlier part. In the morning we rode in rain – now we had beautiful sun. In the morning we had heavy traffic on the road, now we had quiet road. Even when we rode on the asphalt road no cars passed us. We rode very well. We missed the church in Østerlars. All in all it was an interesting case, because we got to the Østerlars village, and the church was outside of it, not in the center. To reach it we had to go back about a kilometer of asphalt road.
Svaneke
Next we rode from Østermarie along a normal path towards Svaneke. The road was alternately downhill and uphill. At the entrance to the village we saw a beautiful windmill that we absolutely had to take a picture with.
Then we rode through the small streets of Svaneke to reach the historic cannons located at the sea edge next to a fish smokehouse.
The cannons were used in the past to defend the island from Swedish attacks. We read the description near the cannons. These were not the original Danish cannons, but copies brought here from Russia. Next we headed to the port and drove toward the lighthouse in Svaneke. It is the most north-easterly area of Bornholm.
Next to the lighthouse was our campsite – Hulehavn Svaneke Camping. The bicycle counter showed us 38.6 km. Record!
Kids still had power. First we bought some ice cream, then we set up camp, and then kids ran to the playground. I went to the kitchen to cook dinner. There were a lot of people at this campsite during our stay. We had the occasion for some interesting encounters. While checking in at the office, we met two families from Poland, and next to our tent we met a very friendly couple of cyclists from France.
In the evening, we had the ambition to bathe in the sea. However we changed our plans because the water was dark. It was covered with algae. We went to the campsite’s bathroom instead.
We got the impression that this campsite was one of the most popular. Or maybe we just happened to arrive during a busy period.