Bornholm Getting there & around

Getting around

Bus & tram

Bus

Bornholms Amts Trafikselskab (BAT; 56 95 21 21; www.bat.dk, in Danish) runs a good, inexpensive round-island service. Fares are based on a zone system and cost 10kr per zone, with the maximum fare set at 10 zones. Ask the bus driver about the RaBATkort pass, which is good for 10 rides, can be used by more than one person and saves about 20%. There are also day/week passes for 140/460kr. Children travel for half-price. Buses operate all year, but schedules are less frequent from October to April.

From May to September, bus 7 leaves from the Rønne ferry terminal every two hours between 8am and 4pm and travels anticlockwise around the island, stopping at Dueodde beach and all major coastal villages before terminating at Hammershus. The circuit takes two hours and 40 minutes. There are more evening buses in the peak season from late June to the end of August. Other buses make direct runs from Rønne to Nexø, Svaneke, Gudhjem and Sandvig.

Standard fares on the main routes are: 35kr from Rønne to Åkirkeby (bus 5 or 6); 45kr from Rønne to Sandvig (bus 1) or Gudhjem (bus 3); and 55kr from Rønne to Svaneke (bus 4), Nexø (bus 6) or Dueodde (bus 7).

In July and August BAT runs special sight­seeing buses that take pass-holding passengers around the island: Kunsthåndværkerbussen stops at craft studios on Tuesday and Friday; Veteranbussen, an antique bus, visits 20th-century historical sights on Wednesday; and Havebussen visits gardens on Thursday. The tours leave from beside Den Røde Pakhus, on Snellmark in Rønne, at 10am and last between five and six hours. You can use either the daily or weekly pass; refreshments and admission fees (if applicable) are extra.

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Car & motorcycle

Europcar and Avis have offices within walking distance of the Rønne ferry terminal. Avis (56 95 22 08) is at Rønne Autoudlejning ApS, Snellemark 19. Europcar (56 95 43 00; Nordre Kystvej 1) is at the Q8 petrol station and rents cars from 500kr per day as well as scooters. Both companies also serve the airport.

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Bicycle

Cycling is a great way to get around Bornholm, which is crisscrossed by more than 200km of bike trails (for more information visit www.cykel.bornholm.info). Some of the trails go over former train routes, some slice through forests and others run alongside main roads. Together they connect Bornholm’s largest towns, cross a wide variety of landscapes and lead to most of the island’s sightseeing attractions.

You can start right in Rønne, where bike routes fan out to Allinge, Gudhjem, Nexø, Dueodde and the Almindingen forest.

If you don’t feel like pedalling the entire way, you can take your bike on public buses for an additional 20kr.

The tourist office in Rønne sells the handy 60-page English-language Bicycle Routes on Bornholm (40kr), which maps out routes and describes sights along the way.

Bicycle hire ranges from about 50kr to 75kr per day for three-speed bicycles; mountain bikes are 70kr to 90kr with costs reducing the longer you rent. Two of the larger Rønne rental shops are Cykel-Centret (56 95 06 04) at Søndergade 7, and Bornholms Cykeludlejning (56 95 13 59), next to the tourist office at Nordre Kystvej 5. On the island most hostels and camping grounds hire out bicycles. Biking Bornholm (56 97 27 40; www.biking.dk; Slugten 5, Rønne) offers package bike tours of the island from 2995kr per person including bus/ferry, cycle hire and luggage transportation.

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