Plan a Multi-Day Tour with Canoe or Kayak

A multi-day tour of the water is the paddling’s finest adventure – packing everything you need in canoe and living easily for a few days. With a little planning, it becomes safer and more fun. Here’s how you put it up.

Choose trail by ability

Start by choosing a water that suits your habit. A well-marked sjösystem with short portages and plenty of camp sites are grateful for beginners, while open seas and long rapids require more. Find the trailers, renters and put-ins on kartan, and read our guide to paddle sjösystem och portage.

Counting the Day Stages on Time, Not Just the Km

Think for hours rather than miles. Reverse wind, packing and portage lower the pace more than you think, so plan short days by margin. Put the portage in the timetable – they take time – and have a backup plan if the weather turns. It is better to get out early and enjoy than to paddle in the dark.

Pack smart

Pack in waterproof sacks which are easy to lift off at portages – several smaller ones are smoother than a large one. Keep heavy things low and midships for stability, and crawl everything. - Bring what makes the tour safe: map, life jacket, dry change, first aid and loaded phone.

See the full packlistan and our equipment tips in the nybörjare purchase guide.

Locate camps and leave no tracks

Use set-up campsites where they exist, respect the right of public access and landowners, and fire only where permitted. Learn more about övernatta och tälta. With good planning and the right margins, the multi-day tour will be one of the journeys you remember the longest.

How far do you paddle in a day?

Count for hours than kilometers. An above paddler holds a few miles per hour in calm water, and a reasonable day stage for beginners is short with plenty of margin. Reverse wind, packing and portages lower the pace considerably – plan shorter than you think and enjoy having time over.

What is portage?

Portage is to carry or pull canoe and pack over land between two waters, such as passing a rapid or a nose between two lakes. The portage always takes longer than you think – put them in the timetable. Read more in our guide on paddling maritime systems and portage.

Where to get a tent?

The right of public access applies, and along most canoe routes there are set up camp sites and wind protection – use them where they are located. Respect landowners, distance to the house, fire only where permitted and never at the ban on fire, and leave the place finer than you found it.