Vester Sømarken: Beach, Heathland and History

Vester Sømarken is a well-established holiday home area on Bornholm. Nearby are the extensive dunes of Sømarken Beach and the open Raghammer heathland. This coastal landscape combines opportunities to observe nature with historical traces and paths whose access is partly subject to military use.

Holiday Home Area Between Coast and Forest

Vester and Øster Sømark lie about 25 kilometres southeast of Rønne and, together with Dueodde, form one of the island’s holiday home areas. In Vester Sømarken, green open spaces between existing holiday home areas help them appear as separate areas among wooded land. This gives the area a different character from a continuously built-up stretch of coast.

Nearby Sømarken Beach consists of two parts: Østre Sømark and Vestre Sømark. The sand is coarser than at neighbouring Dueodde, and the water typically gets deep quickly. Large dune areas also define the beach. At Sømarken Beach, older children can use the large stones in the water for jumping. These features can help you assess this stretch of coast according to your own preferences, without conflating the two beach sections with Vester Sømarken.

Raghammer: Natural Area with Restricted Access

Between Boderne and Vester Sømarken lies the open, protected Raghammer area. It is Bornholm’s largest dune heath and is home to many rare plants, birds, amphibians, reptiles and insects; some insect species are found only there in Denmark. Raghammer Heath is considered the surest place on the island to find the stonechat. This includes a dated observation: in July 2024, DOF Bornholm reported that up to three breeding pairs had nested there in recent years.

Raghammer can be reached from the east through the holiday home area in Vester Sømarken and from the west via Boderne. The Raghammer firing range is used by the Army Operational Command as a training and exercise area; the sea off Raghammer Odde is also used for various exercises by the Navy’s combat divers. When the firing range and the headland are not being used for military purposes, the area may be entered on foot. Check the posted signal before entering. Excluded areas include firing lanes, the demolition area on the headland, the hand-grenade range, and areas around Eskesgaard and other buildings that are closed for safety reasons. Cycling is permitted on marked paths under the same condition.

A recommended walking route begins at the public car park at the end of Vestre Sømarksvej, passes Hullebækken and continues to the tip of Raghammer Odde. There you can see the remains of two fortifications. At the very end of the headland is Raghammer Battery: a curved rampart about 20 metres long and approximately 1.50 to 2 metres high. Some of the stonework is still intact; sand, grass and marram grass cover parts of the rampart.

Archaeological Traces and Paths to Slusegård

The older evidence in the Raghammer area also reaches far back into the past. West of Tyskegård, at the northern edge of the firing range, are three Bronze Age burial mounds. There is also a Neolithic long barrow in the area, immediately beside a stone bearing Bronze Age cup marks. These sites add much older traces to the more recent history of the fortifications.

Another option nearby is a walk through Østre Sømarken to the Slusegård area and the geographic intersection point. The area is a coastal plain with low dunes; a large burial ground was located there during the Iron Age. In the river valley stands a well-preserved watermill with dams dating from around 1800. A trout house was once used to catch spawning trout. The area is protected to preserve the mill complex and ensure public access to the mill and the beach. Øle Å also flows through a slate gorge at Slusegård, where impressions of small organisms such as graptolites can be seen.

Beach, Fishing and the Right Holiday Home

For sea-trout anglers, Gedebak Odde has a stretch about 700 metres long, described as particularly attractive. It is just a short walk from the car park behind the dunes in Vester Sømarken. There are car parks and toilets on Baunevej near Sømarken Beach; the Michelin-starred restaurant Kadeau is also located there.

Vester Sømarken is an area with numerous holiday homes. When choosing a holiday home, it may therefore be helpful to consider the experiences you have planned: Sømarken Beach lets you compare two beach sections and different water conditions; paths around Raghammer are subject to military access restrictions; and the walk to Slusegård passes through Østre Sømarken. This makes it possible to choose accommodation to suit your preferred holiday activities without assuming specific distances or fixed daily routes.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Vang, Gudhjem, Arsballe, Rønne Sogn, Arnager, Nexø, Listed, Muleby.

Go to the main travel overview: Bornholm.