Svaneke Tourist Information
Svaneke is for cognoscenti. Get to know it and you will newer forget it.
Explore the well-preserved half-timbered houses, which are situated in the cliffs all the way from the harbour. The streets are turning and twisting, also up and down, between the old stone fences. Behind these fences you find vigorous cliff gardens with for example mulberries and figs. Under the red tiled roofs the walls are limed, with the right lime of course, often in a warm yellow colour. Svaneke is the most beautiful and well-preserved old town of Bornholm.
The town and the harbour open up to the east. Therefore, the morning and the forenoon is the most beautiful time in Svaneke. The sun is low and its sunrays shine towards the multicoloured frontages and green gardens, reflecting their light of the bay and the harbour before they hit the quiet town. You will enjoy it!
The mail boat Peter, which sails from Svaneke to Christiansø (on weekdays from May to September), is loaded in the morning with everything, which the inhabitants and the guests of the island need. At 10.00 a.m. it is heading for Christiansø and it willingly brings along passengers.
A flood of galleries, glassblowers, ceramics, artisans – some of them with open workshops – make Svaneke to something unique. A particular cosy experience is the trip between the harbour and the market place along the old groove “Brænderigænget”. Here, you find Glastorvet, where a number of craftsmen have created a common environment.
Close to Glastorvet you find Svanekegården, which is a cultural centre with a gallery and different music events, lectures, debates etc.
Eccentric and original ideas are doing fine in Svaneke. Around the market place you find for example Svaneke Brew-house (and restaurant), which opened in 2000. The restaurant is situated in the brewery so you can sense the smell and the heat from the process when the local beer is being brewed.
Next to Svaneke Brew-house you find Svaneke Sweet Factory (Svaneke Bolcher) and here you have the run to follow the production of the tasty sweets made according to old craftsmanlike methods.
The market place of Svaneke is the cosy rendezvous of the town. Here, you find a baker, supermarket and bodega.
During the summer, on Saturday mornings, the best eccentrics of the town gather on the market place to fall into a clinch with the guests. Now, market has come to town – often with fun of the fair or music. And watch out! The horse-drawn tram has a stop on the market place and offers a leisurely roundtrip in the old town.
Take also a walk towards north from the harbour. Pass the little house with the memorial tablet on the side of the house. This house was the childhood home of the famous painter Oluf Høst. Go on to Svaneke smokehouse, beautifully situated with its five white chimneys on the north-eastern cliff point by the canons on the old redoubt. Here, you find an open “workshop” and many kinds of freshly smoked fish to bring with you or to enjoy at the tables outside. Continue your trip and soon you will reach the small harbour Vigehavn, which is the harbour of Svaneke for small boats. The afternoon sun is warm and the rock walls on both sides of the harbour bound Vigehavn – here you are in a world of its own!
A short walk to the south of the harbour brings you past a small natural harbour and out to Svaneke Lighthouse, which at nightfall sends its evocative light beam over the sea. On the opposite side, you find the small harbour Hullehavn. Hullehavn is the best bathing place of the town with a rocky beach and a diving board on the mole. In Hullehavn you also find a small sandy beach for the small children and the modest ice-cream stall with the name “Hullehavn Shopping Centre”. This is Svaneke humour!
Out here by the lighthouse you also find the cosy Hullehavn camping site, the local tennis courts, the sports centre, the sports hall and Hjemstavnsbyen (the home town), an old holiday village, which is reserved for the many natives of Bornholm, who live in other places, but like to revisit the island and the family during their holidays. On the other side of the town, at Møllebakken, you find another camping site.
At Midsummer Eve, on June 23, the people of Svaneke and many natives of Bornholm walk in torchlight procession to the lighthouse. Here there is a bonfire, community singing and speeches on the beautiful coast area beneath the lighthouse. You can also experience the village fête “Kildefesten”, an old tradition of Svaneke in honour of the young confirmands of the town.
The very beautiful pink-washed Svaneke Church is situated high above the town on the unusual sharp borderline between a built-up area and the surrounding fields. The base of the church is from the 16th century and the spire is from 1789. The church itself is from 1881, where a larger rebuilding made the church longer.
At the driveway to Svaneke, in the northerly direction, you meet two characteristic buildings. The old post mill and a bit to the right the modern three-legged water tower, designed by Jørn Utzon, a column symbolizing Svaneke. The water tower was erected 50 years ago and is no longer in use, but now a preserved tower.
Around the harbour, in the groove “Brænderigænget”, and at the market place you find several cafés, pubs, restaurants and hotels. The youth hostel of Svaneke, Danhostel, is situated in the southern part of the town, only a few minutes from the harbour.
A bit outside Svaneke, you and your family find Joboland-Brændesgårdshaven, an old farm garden, which through the past 70 years has been developed into a friendly and gentle playground for children of all ages. Rowing boats, chair lifts, a large water world, hand-operated toys in large sizes, a zoological park with pets, a cafeteria and the possibility to bring your own lunch basket. One of the most entertaining sights of Bornholm.
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