Bonnie Bornholm, by David

I had heard from a few people about the island of Bornholm and its reputation for beautiful landscapes, beaches, forests, fishing villages, ruins, and hundreds of kilometers of cycle paths.  Most Danes seem to have had a class field trip to Bornholm in their youth and some have vacationed there later in life.  In past years we have taken the quad on bicycle rallies and tours in CA, the San Juan Islands, and Ohio and this year I decided we should try Bornholm.   I planned the trip and my family accommodated me as it represented both my primary birthday present and father’s day gift.

Bornholm is southeast of Sweden and is a small island, about 30 km wide and 40 km long.  It is one part of the more extended realms of Denmark, which once included much more territory. Bornholm is actually closer to Sweden, Germany, and Poland than to the rest of Denmark, but it firmly identifies itself as a Danish outpost. 

our ferry (the next morning in Rønne)

The standard route to Bornholm from the west is by ferry, from Sweden, northern Germany, northern Poland, or from the Køge bay, which is 30 km south of Roskilde.  We could ride from our home to Køge, take the ferry and arrive in Bornholm with our bike.  The ferry only runs once a day, and leaves at 0:30, arriving about 06:00 in Bornholm at the town of Rønne.  The return ferry leaves Bornholm at 17:00 arriving around 22:30.  We booked a hostel room in Køge for our return.  This meant we had two 30 km rides to bookend our trip on Bornholm itself.

We were fortunate to borrow and old Burley trailer (there are many of them here) that had been converted from a child trailer into a kayak hauler by our neighbors.   We got some XXL Ziploc bags (thanks, Lois!) to protect our gear if it rained, and loaded them into a duffel bag that fit nicely in the trailer without much trouble.  We pulled about 60 pounds (about 27 kg) of gear and entertainment for our family of four in the trailer on our trip. 

exploring our cabin

Thursday night we had a dinner at home, and started on the road to Køge.  When the cycle path ended unexpectedly before the city we got some help and made our way into the harbor after about 18 miles arriving about 22:30 while there was still some daylight left. The ferry was tightly packed.  Our room was very nice and the only disappointment was that the ferry was bound for Germany so we could not stay in bed upon arrival, but were ushered out by 06:30, after boarding around 23:30 the night before.  

it's easy to fall asleep at midnight