Camping Trip to Sweden and Denmark Summer 2022

Camping 2022

My advanced age (81) makes so much difference that I no longer can risk a real mountain trip with a heavy backpack. I am so dizzy and frail that get to an upright position is quite a chore. I therefore hav scaled town to an ordinary camping trip. And this confirmed that I should reduce my ambitions.

The trip took me to Lysekil in Sweden on July 8., then on July 10 Gothenburg by ferry to Frederikshavn, from there by ferry same day to the Læsø island. Back to Jutland on July 17, where we camped on the Tolne Camping until July 25. Ferry from Hirtshals to Larvik and then home.

First stop was Gullmarsbaden Camping near Lysekil. The facilities there were dirty and run down. Also, I could not find any suitable bicycle tracks. A trip to the Lysekil center was OK, but the place was teeming with tourists. So we stayed there only for two days.

The trip from Lysekil to Læsø with two ferries went OK. Made it to the Østerby Harbor Camping site, where we found a suitable place sheltered from wind and close neighbors. The island of Læsø turned out to be a holiday paradise. Large parts of the island is forest and moors, with lots of private houses and resorts hidden in the forest. We could go swimming in the ocean with strong winds and big waves. Chomsky was not afraid of the waves, chasing his tennis ball which often disappeared in the waves. Also he enjoyed digging deep holes in the beach.

At the camp site we go acquainted with a married couple from Hamburg, Birca and Dieter, who were particularly likable and helpful. She is a librarian and he an engineer. I envied them for their camp-mobile that you can see on the photo. On their side they were impressed by Chomsky.

We also visited the Læsø Saltsyderi. From their own website:

“Læsø Saltsyderi saw the light of day in 1991 as a historic workshop for unemployed young people from Læsø Production School.
The background was a number of archeological excavations on Læsø, where remains of medieval salt-soaked huts had been found. In 2004, the production school was closed down, making it redundant.”

I fount this place particularly interesting. The salt is produced from water collected from holes in the beach and produced in large and wide containers heated by by burning birch wood in stoves under them. When the water vaporizes the salt is deposed in the containers. An elaborate production process with long traditions.

On advice from the manager of the camping site on Læsø, we found Tolne Camping on Jutland halfway between Frederikshavn and Hirtshals, in the forest in a more hilly terrain than is usual in in a flat Denmark. Campers and tents can be placed between tall trees. There were high winds, but we were sheltered among the trees. Nice trails in the forest and separate bicycle trails beside the roads. We went ten kilometers by car to the Tversted beach were we went swimming in high waves in a very shallow beach.

We also visited the Bangsbo botanical garden and the Coast Museum. An idyllic place where I had the trip’s most delicious meal at the Møllerhuset Guesthouse.

The Colour Line ferry trip from Hirtshals to Larvik was a solid downturn. The whole boat was full of shrieking children. To upgrade to a more quiet place was impossible because everything was fully booked. The only good thing was that I could place Chomsky in a kennel. I saved myself by finding a chair and absorbing myself in a difficult sudoku puzzle. After we landed in Larvik it took an hour to get the car off the boat.

It should feel good to go on trip and also to return home. This was then case also this time.