Canoeing in Sweden

Canoeing in Sweden - a paddler's paradise (part 2)

Rural Canoe Tours

Our canoeing holidays running in scenic rural locations, Canoe on Klarälven and Canoe on Röjdån, are suitable for all ages and levels of experience. Even if you have never been canoeing before or have limited experience of the outdoors, these tours are accessible to anyone who enjoys outdoor life with a reasonable level of fitness and give you an opportunity to experience the tranquility and adventure of a paddling holiday in Sweden!

Canoe on Röjdån is a four-day canoe tour which runs in a cultural landscape. Starting from the small town of Torsby, the route takes you to the beautiful lake of Kläggen. The canoe tour starts at Torsby and after canoeing to lake Kläggen you return to Torsby again. 45km of relaxing canoeing and two short land transports in each direction. There are limited places to shop on this tour, so we recommend you bring all your food with you. A fishing license can be bought for the whole length of the canoe tour to allow you to fish for your supper along the way, and a map is included in the price. Canoe on Röjdån is a canoeing holiday suitable for the whole family and is ideal for younger children.

Canoe on Klarälven is another family-friendly canoeing holiday available in 4 or 7-day variations, covering a distance of between 50 and 100km. This canoe tour takes you through an attractive rural landscape along the wide, slow-flowing waters of the Klarälven river. The Klarälven area is also the location for our popular timber rafting experiences. Canoeing on Klarälven is a sociable experience, and you may well make friends and share stories with other canoeists and timber raft adventurers along the canoe tour route. Along the way there are small villages and cultural attractions and opportunities to stop and shop. Wild camping is possible all along the canoe route, or you may choose to spend a night or two at some of the designated campsites along the river bank. Fishing is possible along the way, and a map is included in the price.

Canoeing in Dalsland's Lake District is a 7-day tour through a beautiful system of lakes in West Sweden. This is the most challenging of the rural tours listed here, and is suitable for both adults and active families. Many of the lakes are connected by locks and you will pass some small villages along the route with stores where you can top up provisions, etc, if required. Some land transports are also required (a canoe trolley is included). The Dalsland lake area also offers wonderful opportunities for more remote paddling, and the flexible nature of this tour means that you can choose to vary and extend the planned route to increase the level of challenge and distance covered if you wish.

Photo: VTR

Photo: Staffan Widstrand

Remote Canoe Tours

Canoe on Rottnan is also a four-day canoeing holiday, this time in a more remote setting, taking you through a lovely area of forests and lakes. Opportunities to shop along the canoe tour route are limited and it is recommended that you bring all your food with you. It is also possible to buy a fishing license for the tour. This wilderness canoe route involves no land transports and includes a map in the price. The Canoe on Rottnan tour makes an ideal canoeing holiday for those who want to experience the beauty and silence a remote canoe tour in Sweden but have limited time, or for those not used to wilderness camping. Total distance covered is around 35km. This is also a family canoe tour suitable for children of any age and is also an ideal canoeing holiday for those looking for wilderness paddling without the commitment of a longer tour or the physical challenge of land transports. It also offers very flexible dates, with start days by arrangement between May and September. This added flexibility means that Canoe on Rottnan is a particularly popular remote canoe tour for groups of friends and Duke of Edinburgh Award groups.

If you have a little more time to spend on your canoeing holiday in Sweden, there are a two possibilities for longer canoe tours in the Värmland area. Our two extended canoeing holiday experiences in this region are Canoe on Svartälven and Canoe in Bergslagen, both available in 7 or 14 day variations (Svartälven is also available as 4-day tour). Whether you choose the 7-day or 14-day versions of these canoe tours, the basic distance is the same. However, choosing the 14-day route gives you greater freedom to explore the many tributaries along the route or take detours into some of the dozens of small lakes in the region. You may also wish to leave your canoe behind for a day or two and take a hiking trip into the surrounding forests. To cover a greater distance, participants on the 14-day tour can choose to combine the Svartälven and Bergslagen routes back-to-back, offering almost 200km of paddling, which can be further extended by planning your own detours into side lake and river systems.

Canoe on Svartälven is an excellent choice for a remote canoeing holiday which is nevertheless accessible to a wide range of participants. This canoe tour offers extending river canoeing, with the last section of the route leading through a series of lakes. The canoe tour involves 10 land crossings and 1 lift, the longest crossing being 2km. Though not as demanding a canoeing holiday as the Bergslagen tour, Canoe on Svartälven can be challenging for children under 10 years of age. There are limited places to shop while you are out canoeing on this tour, although provisions are available at a small village approximately two-thirds of the way along. Once again, a fishing license can be purchased to cover parts of the canoe tour route. As with Canoe in Bergslagen, maps are necessary in order to do this tour. Total distance covered on this canoe tour is around 70km, though this can easily be extended if you wish by planning extensions to the basic route.

Canoe in Bergslagen is a wilderness canoeing holiday which takes you through a network of lakes. There are a number of land transports along the route, the longest of which is between 4 and 9km. The number of land transports required and the distances involved vary according to the water level, and it may often be possible simply to step out of the canoe and tow it alongside you for a while as you move between the many lakes along the way. Canoe in Bergslagen is an ideal canoe tour for those with a good level of physical fitness and seeking a wilderness canoeing holiday experience, covering a distance of 85-105km. There are no shops in the area and it is necessary to bring all the food you will need with you. The Bergslagen canoe tour is not possible without maps, which you can order through Nature Travels if you wish.

Because of the many land transports involved, Canoe in Bergslagen may not be a suitable canoeing holiday for younger children, as transporting the canoe can be physically demanding, and we do not recommend the tour for children under 10 years of age. But if you are an active person who enjoys the outdoors and the challenge of wild camping, you will find Canoe in Bergslagen a perfect choice for your canoeing holiday in Sweden, and the possibility to fish along some sections of the route allows you to supplement your provisions with delicious Swedish freshwater fish straight from the line!

Photo: Staffan Widstrand

Photo: VTR

Wilderness Canoe Tours

Located in the mountain area of north-west Sweden, the largely pathless wilderness of Rogen Nature Reserve and its partner on the Norwegian side, Femundsmarka National Park, is an exciting and beautiful area ideal for challenging wilderness canoeing. These tours run in a remote wilderness region with no infrastructure and limited access, so if you are considering one of our tours in this area it is important that you are able to handle yourself confidently in the outdoors and have a good level of fitness. There are a number of land transports required, and unlike for the tours in Värmland, where a canoe trolley can be used, in Rogen the canoes and all equipment must carried, often over rocky and uneven terrain.

Discover Wilderness Canoeing in Rogen is the more accessible of the two tours available, suitable for adults or active families with older children who are confident in the outdoors. As a circular tour with pick-up at the start point, this wilderness canoe tour offers a great deal of flexibility in terms of the level of challenge and distance covered. Recommended duration is 4-8 days, but you are welcome to add additional days if you would like to extend your paddle tour. The reserve offers excellent fishing and the flexibility of the tour gives you considerable freedom to plan your own route and create your own adventure. At minimum, two transfers of approx 500m and 700m in both directions are required, with additional portages also necessary depending on your chosen route.

Rogen Wilderness Canoe Expedition is the more challenging option and is suitable only for those with extensive outdoor experience and previous experience of canoe tours. Over 8-14 days the tour takes you from Rogen across into Femundsmarka on the Norwegian side with a choice of two pick-up points in Norway. This is a real wilderness challenge and a great adventure. A number of extended portages are required over rough terrain, but the stunning scenery, marvellous fishing and unique experience of canoeing in a very remote area will be ample reward for your efforts!

Canoeing is a marvellous way to experience Sweden's truly wild places. Whatever your level of experience, your age, or the composition and size of your group, Sweden offers wonderful opportunities for true nature experiences by canoe.