June 24, 2023
Elsinor to Farhult, Sweden
An advantage of this commercial campground was an electric kettle in the kitchen so we didn't need to set up the stove to make coffee. We packed up the tent and crossed through town to the harbour for the crossing from Helsingor, Denmark to Helsingborg, Sweden. The ferry terminal was a picture of Nordic efficiency: we followed the painted bike lane signs among the cars up to the kiosk, bought our tickets at 9:15, rode our bikes on ahead of the cars at 9:20 and pulled away from the dock at 9:30, right on time. Up on the deck we sat in the glorious sun to soak in the vista of the Swedish coast we would be riding up, the city of Helsingborg approaching and the ships, ferries and pleasure boats criss-crossing the strait.
Helsingborg is truly a city and right away it seemed everything was a little more hectic and grittier than what we had left in Denmark, but still with great bike paths everywhere. Before long we were out of the centre and riding along the coast with parks, swimming spots and facilites, all busy with people getting as much sun as they could on a beautiful Saturday. We stopped for a picnic lunch but the wind was cold enough to deter us from swimming.
For the next week we will be riding the Kattegattleden, a scenic bike trail that runs along the coast for 390km from Helsingborg to Gothenburg. Today's riding was easy, flat and the route was clearly signposted and almost always on a path or lane separated from car traffic. We continued up the coast, then cut over a headland at Hoganass down to where we hoped to find our first spot to "wild" camp. We had heard that the Scandinavian countries have numerous shelters, some with toilets, that are set up and free for people to camp. A search of the official Kattegatteleden map had shown one near Farhult, which made for an approximately 35km ride, giving us lots of time to scope it out and set up, or if it seemed unsuitable, to ride on to a commercial campground. Although there was no sign, we found it easily enough, just down a lane as the GPS indicated.
The site was perfect: sheltered spot for the tent under big trees, a grassy area with picnic tables, a shelter in case of rain that even had 2, solar powered USB ports to charge phones, drinking water and an outhouse toilet nearby. But, we were not the only ones there as a group of young people were setting up and they informed us that they would be having a celebration that night and would have music playing. There are probably laws restricting noise, but they were the locals and we were the visitors, so we re-assessed and noticed another area beside an unused parks building that was almost as suitable and far enough away to not hear their partying.
We set up the tent, refreshed ourselves with field baths from a pot of cold water and still had time for a tent repair and a walk over to the nature reserve before making dinner. Later three young people who also wanted quiet, set up their tent in our area. It reminded us of camping in Banff with the primitive facilities and was so much more wilderness-like than any campground we have stayed at in Europe with no visible habitation, but the lane was used by dog-walkers and joggers so we didn't feel too isolated. We ate well and slept solidly. Looking ahead, we cannot find any other such sites on the map, but we will continue looking.
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 36 km (22 miles)
Total: 2,586 km (1,606 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 7 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |