As well as the picturesque villages and crystal-clear air you'd expect of Scandinavia, the Danish Island of Bornholm also has glorious beaches and the sunniest location in the Baltic.

Houses, cottages and apartments can be rented in sites all over Bornholm, and most of the companies that rent accommodation have websites. One of the most useful is that of Svanekeferie (www.svanekeferie.dk): available in an English version, it offers an extensive catalogue of properties, with plans, photographs and short write-ups. Details of other companies with accommodation on the island can be found on the Bornholm tourism website (www.bornholminfo.dk).

HOTEL OSTERSOEN
Havnebryggen 10, Svaneke (00 45 5649 6020; www.ostersoen.dk). Another merchant's house (dating from the 17th century), just along from Siemsens Gaard. Converted in 1990, the building has 22 neat and well-equipped apartments around a central courtyard with a heated pool. The flats at the front have fine views out to sea. Apartments for 2-3 people. £

HOTEL SIEMSENS GAARD
Havnebryggen 9, Svaneke (00 45 56 49 61 49; www.siemsens.dk). A converted merchant's house with a popular café/restaurant on a terrace overlooking the picturesque harbour at Svaneke. Most of the rooms are in a new block at the back, but there are also some in the original building.

JANTZENS HOTEL
Broddegade 33, Gudhjem (00 45 5648 5017; www.jantzenshotel.dk). Large, ochre-coloured hotel in the village of Gudhjem, with one of Bornholm's best restaurants (see Where to eat). Rooms at the front overlook the harbour; there are also pretty cottages for rent in the garden. £

JANTZEN & CO
Jantzens Hotel, address as before (00 45 5648 5084). The new restaurant in the glass pavilion at the back of Jantzens Hotel makes the most of the fresh, clean flavours of Scandinavia. In season the menu features figs fresh from the hotel gardens.

PERRONEN
Monch Petersensvej 3, Rønne (00 45 5696 3410). New restaurant serving good game and fish, plus home-made breads and ice creams. Run by the team that made a success of Christianhojkroen, a restaurant in a hunting lodge near Åkirkeby.

RESTAURANT BOKULHUS
Bokulvej 4, Gudhjem (00 45 5648 5297). In a grand mansion on a hill, with a terrace overlooking the roofs of Gudhjem, the Bokulhus serves modern Danish food that makes the best of local seasonal produce: rolled cod comes with puréed beetroot and home-made bread, fillet steak with a salad of Bornholm new potatoes dressed with balsamic vinegar and thyme.

SNACKS AND DRINKS

BOISEN0KOLOGISK
Hovedgaden 4, Snogebaek (00 45 5648 8089). An ice-cream parlour in a quiet coastal village. Serves home-made ices, including excellent elderflower sorbet, plus very good coffee.

BRYGHUS SVANEKE
Torvet 5, Svaneke (00 45 5649 7321). Bornholm's own micro-brewery makes a variety of beers, including an excellent unfiltered, unpasteurised pilsner, a hop-rich golden ale, a sweet stout and beers made using seasonal ingredients. The relaxed atmosphere of the bar and restaurant (which make a feature of the copper brewing kettles) and the Scandinavian prices encourage you to linger over your drink.

HUMMER HYTTEN
Strandstien 10, Listed (00 45 2022 5305). A small converted smokery on the harbourside in a tiny fishing village between Gudhjem and Svaneke. All but two of the tables are outside, so it's a good idea to visit on a sunny day. As its name (meaning 'the lobster hut') implies, lobster - grilled or served in a vol au vent with scampi - is the speciality here. Open from lunchtime to around 5pm.

ROGERIET I SVANEKE
Fiskergade 12, Svaneke (00 45 5649 6324). Smokehouse open from about 9am to 5pm, depending on the time of year. Serves a superb selection of fish smoked in vast ovens on the premises: eel, salmon, trout and, of course, Baltic herring come on rye bread, or with potato salad or chips. There are other notable smokehouses at Hasle, Allinge and Gudhjem.

STRAND HYTTEN
Baunevej 18, Vester Somarken, Pedersker (00 45 5697 8250). Newly opened café-restaurant at the end of a winding road through the pine woods that leads to the white sands of Dueodde beach. A café during the day, the Strand serves full meals such as linguine with lobster and asparagus on its attractive terrace.

HAMMERSHUS
Hammershus Castle, overlooking the foaming seas and rocky shore of Bornholm's northern corner was once one of the biggest in Scandinavia. The walls are made of huge uneven boulders. From the ramparts you can see the southern coast of Sweden, the province of Skane.

OSTERLAS RUNDKIRKE
Huge and round with a conical roof and metal pinions studding its sides, the white Osterlars Rundkirke, inland from Gudhjem, look like a dwarfish rocket. Dating from the early 12th century, it is one of four rundkirker ('round churches'), a building type unique to Bornholm. Part place of worship, part defensive bastion, the church has two-metre-thick walls in concentric rings, creating a stronghold at their centre. The entry hall was once the armoury where warriors attending mass could deposit their weapons. From the lookouts on the upper storey you can see east to Christianso, a small, outlying island with a circular stone fort where Scottish soldiers first taught the locals how to salt and smoke fish. The rundkirker were built when Wendish pirates regularly raided Bornholm from their strongholds to the south along the coast of Pomerania (now part of Poland and Germany).

SVANEKE
Half-timbered houses are painted in shades of ochre that mimic the colour of the pottery that was once the local speciality. The church is a rich red, and a nearby lane runs between houses painted in colours such as mustard, burnt umber and pale cerise, combined with black timber and all set below pale-orange pantiles. On weekdays the docking fishing boats create what amounts to a major commotion. A big, grey dump bin is wheeled down to the quay. The fishermen load plastic trays of sea trout, dabs, cod and herring onto a mechanical conveyor belt, whilst locals gather round to buy bags of shellfish, stretching across the gap between the boat and the quay to hand the fishermen their cash. Much of the fish finds its way round the corner to the local smokehouse.

THE KUNSTMUSEUM
The Kunstmuseum carries works by the best of the Bornholm artists. It stands above the high cliffs of Helligdomsklipperne, a masterpiece of modern Danish design by the architects Fogh & Folner. Intimately proportioned galleries lead off from an airy central aisle of polished granite, brick and raw steel.

AIRPORT
The nearest airport is Bornholm-Roenne Airport.

AIRLINES FROM THE UK
Cimber Air (00 45 7010 1218; www.cimber.dk) operates several daily flights from Copenhagen to Rønne. You can also catch an overnight ferry (journey time six-and-a-half hours) to Rønne from Køge, 30 minutes' drive from the Danish capital. Arguably the easiest way is to take the train direct from Copenhagen airport (for timetables visit www.dsb.dk). Lasting just over four hours, the journey takes you across the Øresund Bridge and down to Ystad in Sweden, where it connects with the fast ferry to Rønne. Ferries to Bornholm are operated by Bornholmstraffiken (00 45 7010 1866; www.bornholmferries.dk). Bank holidays and certain dates in the summer can sell out months in advance, so it's wise to pre-book for that leg of your journey.

The island's biggest attractions - its colourful towns and villages, powder-sand beaches and pretty restaurant terraces - are at their best in the sunshine, so take a Baltic break in summer. The best month is August.

Visit the Bornholm tourism website, www.bornholminfo.dk