Svaneke

Svaneke - spend your holiday in Denmark's most beautiful market town

Svaneke is located on the east coast of Bornholm, and is one of the most popular towns to spend a holiday in, on Bornholm. Svaneke has also been named Denmark's most beautiful market town, and is also one of the few cities in Europe that has received the Council of Europe's gold medal for "Excellent Urban Conservation". Discover the idyllic town, filled with beautiful half-timbered houses that you can enjoy on your walks through its charming streets. From the town square, it is possible to ride in a horse-drawn carriage around the town, and enjoy the beautiful houses and the cozy holiday atmosphere in Denmark's smallest market town. When you are on holiday in Svaneke, you can stay in beautiful holiday apartments or beautiful holiday homes. You can also stay in a beautiful holiday home close to the sea, and close to the center of Svaneke, or maybe you would rather stay in a nice hotel located directly next to Svaneke Harbour? The possibilities are many - and then it doesn't matter that Svaneke is an eventful city that offers many sights and exciting opportunities to beautify your holiday days. On this page you will find a guide to what you can experience when you are on holiday in Svaneke. You can click on the individual places to read much more about the resort and book your trip at the top of the page. When you spend your holiday in Svaneke, you have good opportunities to get around the rest of Bornholm, and experience all the exciting sights that Bornholm offers.

Experiences and activities in Svaneke 

Maybe you want to experience Svaneke up close, and walk around the streets and enjoy the atmosphere of a city where there is time to take it easy, or maybe you want to go on an adventure with the whole family? We have gathered a selection of inspiration for what you can experience when you stay in a holiday home in Svaneke.

What is there to do in Svaneke?

From your holiday apartment you have sea views and a short walking distance to the sea. Just a few hundred meters from your holiday home, you will find Svaneke Harbour. At the harbor there are all kinds of cozy cafes and shops. Take a walk along the harbor and experience the lovely harbor atmosphere, and enjoy the sight of the many sailboats that adorn the harbor. From the harbor you can walk up the small cozy streets to Svaneke Torv. Here you will always be greeted by a festive atmosphere - especially on the market days, when you can strike a good deal with the locals. Also visit Svaneke Købmandshandel, which is a vibrant and cozy grocery store in true 50s style. When you visit Svaneke Torv, you must not cheat yourself out of experiencing Svaneke's very own lotto: "Chicken Sledding". In all its simplicity, the game is about 3 chickens being let loose on a large bingo field, where you have to bet on where the chickens first lay a "blob". You can play in Chicken Skiing every Wednesday at 19:00 and Saturday at 13 from mid-June to the end of August. Look forward to wonderful holiday days with lots of square atmosphere when you stay in a holiday apartment centrally located at Svaneke Torv. You can also have a beach holiday in Svaneke. Hullehavn Beach is located between the cliffs at Hullehavn, and here you can get many fun days out of soaking up the sun on the beach, jumping off the diving board, or enjoying a refreshment at the beach café. Of course, you can also stay in a holiday apartment with access to a pool in Svaneke. If you travel with children to Bornholm, they will definitely love having the opportunity to splash around in the water.

If you live in a holiday home or summerhouse with a view of Svaneke, then you may notice a pyramid-shaped tower. It is the Svaneke Water Tower, which has been a landmark for Svaneke for many years. The water tower is also known as Utzon's Water Tower. The name comes from the fact that it was the architect Jørn Utzon who designed the water tower. Utzon later became world famous when he designed the Sydney Opera House. The local inhabitants of Svaneke at the time had a great desire to have running water in the taps, since Svaneke was one of the last market towns in Denmark, without waterworks water. However, the city council at the time did not agree – they argued that a water tower would be both too expensive and too cumbersome, as there was a rock in the underground. In 1949, some local citizens took matters into their own hands and got in touch with both a consortium, an engineer and a contractor, and together they got a water supply system on its feet. The citizens of Svaneke were given the opportunity to register for the cooperative waterworks, and it turned out that there was a high connection rate. At a city council meeting in 1950, it was decided to establish a municipal waterworks – out of it came Svaneke's Water Tower, as it stands today. The water tower is no longer used, but was listed in 1990, and has also been the motif for the fifth tower coin in the series of tower coins issued by Danmarks Nationalbank.

Art and culture in Svaneke 

On Glastorvet in Svaneke, the Bornholm glass designer Pernille Bülow is housed. Here, the store is combined with a showroom and a working workshop, so you as a visitor to the store can feel for yourself how the heat from the glass oven warms your cheeks. You can also try your hand at your own glass creations in Bulow by You, which is also a short walk from your holiday apartment in Svaneke. Take your creative glass creations back with you to your holiday home and enjoy your creative masterpiece.

In one of Svaneke's former merchants' houses, you will find the cultural center, Svanekegaarden. A well-visited cultural centre that is visited by both tourists and local Bornholmers who come to participate in a masterclass, see a theatre or opera performance, a concert, a lecture or perhaps to meet an author. If you are a family with children, various child-friendly events are also held. You will also find a mini bookstore at Svanekegården, where you have the opportunity to buy Svanekegården's own Bornholm postcard series with 33 different postcards, drawn by Claus Seidel. The Bornholm postcard series is a popular souvenir to buy to take home. Maybe you will find a postcard of your favorite place on Bornholm? Take your postcard home with you and let it be a nice memory of some fun holiday days in your holiday apartment in Svaneke.

Art Box in Svaneke is a true wonderland for art lovers. At the gallery in Svaneke you will find art from both well-known artists, but also from ordinary local artists. Art Box offers ceramics, sculptures, lithographs, postcards, posters and much more. At Svaneke Torv you will find an arts and crafts shop and the open workshop Postgade 21, where you can experience ceramics, textiles, glass, wood and much more produced from recycled materials, and have a chat with the talented artists.

Where to eat in Svaneke

You can expect your mouth to start watering when you are in Svaneke. Many delicious restaurants, eateries and food trucks have flourished, and have made Svaneke a city filled with wonderful taste experiences. In Svaneke, all kinds of sweets are also conjured up, where you are always guaranteed to be able to find something for the sweet tooth.

Where can you eat in Svaneke?  

Svaneke is home to the organic and CO2-neutral beer brewery, Svaneke Bryghus, which with the certificate "Green Restaurant", offers highly prized beers and wonderful dishes. The brewery is especially known for its Svaneke Beer, but you can of course enjoy the beer with a delicious meal. 

If you want to have a real "Svaneke holiday", then you must not miss out on a visit to the local smokehouse, Svaneke Røgeri, where you can taste the delicious Bornholm specialty, smoked herring. You don't have to worry about going to bed hungry when you return to your holiday home in Svaneke.

On the square, located under the holiday apartments in Bageriet, you will find Vinøst, which is both a wine shop, a wine bar and a restaurant all in one. Enjoy the market atmosphere with a refreshing glass of wine, and a delicious snack.

At Svaneke Harbour's pier you will find B’s fiskeværksted, which was started by the Svaneke fisherman Benny. Many tourists make a regular lunch visit to B’s fiskeværksted when they are on holiday in Svaneke. Enjoy delicious fish dishes or a glass of wine with a beautiful view of the harbour.

Pakhuset is a true favorite for many families with children. Dive into the large lunch sandwich table and taste a homemade schnapps. Of course, you can also enjoy a selection of evening dishes at Pakhuset in Svaneke.

Hotel Siemsens Gaard offers beautiful holiday apartments directly on Svanekes Harbour. What's even better is that the hotel also houses a delicious restaurant, which is known for its delicious fish dishes, among other things. Enjoy the food on the hotel's terrace with sweeping panoramic views of the harbor and the sea.

If you go for a walk on Svaneke Harbour, you may spot Madsen's Madbar; A small charming yellow house, where there is a wonderful smell of roast pork, sausages and fries. Enjoy a popular roast pork sandwich or a juicy Svaneke Burger with beef from Svaneke Slagteren. Of course, the experience includes a beautiful view of the harbour.

Syd Øst for Paradis is a fitting name for the colourful little beach café in Svaneke, which is located south of Svaneke on Hullehavn. Enjoy a delicious breakfast plate, or board a Spanish-inspired tapas plate in the evening. South-East of Paradise is a perfect place to enjoy the warm summer evenings!

In Bølshavn you can find the family-friendly Steakhouse restaurant, Louisekroen. The restaurant is named after Louise Danner, who was donated a memorial grove with the island's largest collection of menhirs, by King Frederik the Seventh. Enjoy a steak served on cast iron plates, in cozy a tavern.

If you visit Listed, you can experience a real holiday atmosphere at the beautiful café Bay Frost with wine, drinks, lobster rolls, French specialties and much more.

Sweets in Svaneke

If you are into delicious, tasteful licorice, then you must not miss visiting Johan Bulöw's liquorice shop, on Glastorvet in Svaneke. Johan Bülow opened his shop in 2007, with a plan to cook licorice in the shop so that it could be smelled hundreds of metres away. The plan worked, and the wonderful gourmet liquorice was torn away, in a very short time. Since then, Bülow licorice has become a Bornholm delicacy, and tourists come from near and far to visit the shop where it all started.

Svaneke Bolcheri is located on Svaneke Torv in a former grocery store. Take a trip past Bolcheriet in Svaneke and see how the beautiful Svaneke Bolchers are created - and of course you have the opportunity to mix a bag of delicious sweets yourself in the shop, which you can take home and enjoy in your holiday home in Svaneke.

In Svaneke you will also find the delicious handmade chocolates at Chokoladeriet. You can hardly help but get hungry when you are greeted by the smell of nougat, mint fondant and the many other sweet chocolate ingredients. On weekdays, the store holds open workshops, where you have the opportunity to watch the chocolate being created. Maybe you would also like to participate in a chocolate workshop? You're sure to learn some tricks that you can use to impress friends and family when you return home after a wonderful holiday in a holiday home in Svaneke.

Of course, you can also enjoy a good ice cream in Svaneke – Bornholms ismejeri has its very own ice cream dairy in Svaneke, where the ice cream is made with jersey cream from local farms, which is processed by Bornholms Andelsmejeri, and gets flavors from the island's natural pantry.

Where Can You Stay in Svaneke?

Many tourists forget about their return ticket home when they have spent their holiday in Svaneke, where they have fallen for Svaneke's charming town, and the Bornholm community. Many even end up settling in Svaneke, which is also called "Denmark's most beautiful town". Therefore, don't be surprised if you go home with a craving for more.

If you don't want to put up the tent poles and move to Bornholm, that's okay too. In Svaneke you will find beautiful holiday resorts, so you can always come back and revisit Svaneke.

• Hotels

Spend your holiday in Svaneke, at an idyllic merchant's house from the 19th century, which today houses Hotel Siemsens Gaard, where you can have a wonderful hotel holiday. Enjoy the surrounding rose garden, the beautiful rooms and the perfect location directly at Svaneke Harbour. At Hotel Siemsens Gaard you will also find the hotel's delicious restaurant, which offers delicious dishes with panoramic views of the harbor and the sea.

• Holiday Apartments

If you like the idea of living with a historical significance for Svaneke, then you can choose to live in a former bakery, or maybe you would rather live in Svaneke's former sawmill? Of course, you don't have to pull on your work clothes when you live in a former industrial building. Both buildings have been completely converted into beautiful and well-furnished holiday apartments for 4 people or 4-7 people, and have a central location in Svaneke, so you are always close to exciting activities during your holiday days.

In Svaneke you will also find Bryggergården's idyllic holiday apartments with two terraces. Bryggergården is ideal if you are looking for family apartments to spend your holiday in, in Svaneke. The apartments are located in a quiet area, but only 500 meters from Svaneke Torv. Take a long walk along the beautiful fields at Bryggergården, or let the children play on the lawn while you enjoy the holiday atmosphere from your terrace.

In Svaneke you will also find Møllegården, which is located right next to Svaneke's almost 400-year-old stump mill. Møllegården's beautiful apartments are surrounded by a large garden, where you can enjoy the sun, or you can enjoy the beautiful nature areas right by the holiday apartments, and walk off the small path down to the sea, and jump from the rocks into the water.

At the harbour in Svaneke you will find Østersøens Holiday Apartments, which is one of the most sought-after holiday resorts on Bornholm. Spend your holiday with a pool in the beautiful holiday apartments, at one of Denmark's easternmost points, which creates good conditions for you to enjoy Denmark's first rays of sunshine when the sun rises. Enjoy your holiday with sea views from the terrace or in the beautiful courtyard with fig trees, palm trees and swimming pool.

If you are traveling as a large family and you want to have your own holiday home, Munken in Svaneke is a good option. Here you will find 11 beautiful and modern apartments, all of which have a peaceful location, a short distance from the square and the harbor. At Munken you can stay in holiday apartments for 2-4 people, 4 people or 4-6 people. You thus have a good opportunity to find an apartment that best suits your needs. 

• Summerhouse

In Svaneke you can enjoy your holiday days in six different beautiful summerhouses. Maybe you would like to stay in a summerhouse modernly decorated in New York style, a summerhouse by the beach, surrounded by forest where you can enjoy a sunny morning with deer around you, or maybe you want to stay in a summerhouse with access to a pool?

No matter where in Svaneke you choose to stay in a summerhouse, you live close to city life, beach and nature.
 

Experience Svaneke all year round

There are many things that are open in Svaneke all year round, so you should not be afraid to arrive out of season. Maybe you want to travel to Svaneke in the autumn or early spring and experience a beautiful and authentic Bornholm out of season. If you want to travel to Bornholm out of season, you can stay in Svaneke Sawmill, the City Bailiff's House or in the Baltic Sea Holiday Apartments.

Book your Svaneke holiday

Svaneke offers fun holiday days, and is a particularly sought-after place to spend a holiday on Bornholm. Book your holiday in Svaneke by clicking on the button below, selecting "Svaneke" and entering your desired arrival and departure dates in the calendar, or call us now on 56 95 85 66. We are always happy to help you with good ideas and tips for wonderful holiday days on Bornholm.

Book your holiday in Svaneke here