Sweden’s Right of Common Access

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Sweden has allemansrätt (Right of Common Access), meaning you can go pretty much where you want in nature, as long as you are respectful. Swedes are rather proud of this right, and would put up a big fuss if this freedom were to be curtailed.

I am not sure if this particular right is unique, but it must be pretty rare.

Wikipedia has more specific information here:

Allemansrätten gives a person the right to access, walk, cycle, ride, ski, and camp on any land—with the exception of private gardens, the immediate vicinity of a dwelling house and land under cultivation. Restrictions apply for nature reserves and other protected areas. It also gives the right to pick wild flowers, mushrooms and berries (provided they are not legally protected), but not to hunt in any way. Swimming in any lake and putting an unpowered boat on any water is permitted unless explicitly forbidden. Visiting beaches and walking by a shoreline is permitted, providing it is not a part of a garden or within the immediate vicinity of a residence (legally defined as the hemfridszon). The hemfridszon’s size depends on conditions but can be as large as 70 metres from an ordinary dwelling house. To better protect access to water and the right to walk along beaches, it is since 1975 generally not permitted to build a new house near (generally 100 m) from a beach and/or shoreline.

Fishing remains essentially private—apart from on the biggest five lakes and the coast of the Baltic Sea, the Sound, Kattegat and Skagerrak. It is permitted to drive a car on a private road unless explicitly signposted otherwise. Small camp fires are generally permitted, but in some periods banned by local authorities due to wild fire risk. It is allowed to put up a tent on any uncultivated land for a night or two. There has been some controversy on commercial use of the berry picking rights, when companies legally contract people to pick berries in the forests.[30]

Building a fire is generally permitted except on bare rock faces where it can lead to cracking. Municipalities can issue fire bans during dry periods.

With a motorhome or camper, you can park and spend the night anywhere parking is allowed, including along public roads. Driving off-road with caravans and mobile homes is not permitted. At rest areas, the usual maximum stay for overnight stays is around 24 hours on weekdays, with slightly longer durations on weekends. Additional rules will be posted on rest area signs. There are no specific regulations regarding how long you can park your motor vehicle adjacent to a non-off-road road.

Author: Janet Carr

Fashion, beauty and animal loving language consultant from South Africa living in Stockholm, Sweden.

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