How much does a canoe trip in Dalsland cost?

A week in a canoe is one of the cheaper holidays in Scandinavia once you are there. Wild camping is free, the campsites cost a few euros a night, and a canoe package split between two people costs less than most hotel rooms. Getting to Sweden is often the biggest single cost.

Outpost North prices are for 2027. The other prices are 2026 prices from the operators’ own websites. Check them again before you book.

What a week costs on the water

This assumes two adults sharing one canoe for seven days on the lakes. At Outpost North you book a canoe package that starts on any day you choose and lasts 1 to 14 days. It includes the canoe, paddles, life jackets, a waterproof barrel, a shovel, canoe wheels, the route in an app, a map of the lakes and the DANO nature card. The price is per canoe per day and depends on the period:

Period (2027)	Per canoe per day	7 days per canoe	7 days per person
1 May – 2 June	€80	€560	€280
3 June – 30 June	€95	€665	€333
1 July – 13 August	€115	€805	€403
14 August – 1 September	€95	€665	€333
2 September – 12 October	€85	€595	€298

A kayak package for one person costs €45–€60 a day. Two more costs can come on top:

Item	Price	When you pay it
Nature conservation card (DANO)	80 SEK per person per night in 2026, children under 12 free	included in the Outpost North package
Lock passages on the Dalsland Canal	priced by boat type, length and number of lock chambers	only if your route uses a lock
A night at the base before or after	camping, huts and glamping tents on site	if you arrive the evening before

The nature card is what pays for the DANO campsites: the wind shelters, fire pits, eco toilets and firewood at around a hundred sites in the lake system. If you rent elsewhere, you can buy it online, at tourist offices or from the canoe rental. More on what it covers in the nature card guide.

The Dalsland Canal charges for each lock station you pass. Your route decides whether you pass one. If you do, see how the canal locks work and check the current tariff with Dalslands Kanal AB.

Gear you rent or bring

If you own a tent, sleeping bags and a stove, you pay nothing extra here. The barrel, wheels and map are already in the Outpost North package. Its options for 2027, charged per day:

Option	Price per day
Tent	€15
Sleeping set	€15 per person
Food pack, meat or vegetarian	€20 per person
Middle seat for a third person	€4
Parking	€10 for a car up to 5.5 m, €12 for a van

Two people who add a tent and two sleeping sets for seven days pay €315 between them, so about €158 each. Parking for the week is €70. The packing list shows what you need and what you can leave at home.

Food

You cook for yourself all week, on a stove or on the fixed fire pits. What that costs depends on how you eat. Shop at a supermarket in Bengtsfors, Årjäng or on the way, and plan for six days without a shop on the water. If you’d rather not plan menus, Outpost North’s food pack costs €20 per person per day (€140 for seven days), and The Canoe Trip sells one for €129 per person for its week.

Travel from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and France

This is usually the largest item. Road distances below are to Gustavsfors, where the lakes Lelång and Västra Silen meet.

From	Road distance (one way)	Main costs
Brussels	about 1,550 km	fuel, Danish bridges or a ferry, a night on the road
Utrecht	about 1,390 km	fuel, Danish bridges or a ferry
Hamburg	about 960 km	fuel, Danish bridges or the Kiel–Gothenburg ferry
Paris	about 1,850 km	fuel, tolls in France, Danish bridges or a ferry

The Øresund Bridge costs 470 DKK one way for a car at the toll station in 2026. The Storebælt Bridge costs around 235 DKK one way. Stena Line’s overnight ferry from Kiel to Gothenburg needs a cabin. The Canoe Trip estimates ferries, bridges and tolls at €190–€330 for a car, before fuel.

Without a car, two options are built for this trip. The Canoe Trip runs a night bus from Brussels, Utrecht and Hamburg from mid-June for €155 per person, and an airport shuttle from Oslo Gardermoen for €95 per person. Details in how to get to Dalsland.

Canoe package or The Canoe Trip?

Both start at Outpost North, on the same lakes. Per person, for two people sharing a canoe:

	Outpost North canoe package	The Canoe Trip
Start day and length	any day, 1 to 14 days	Sunday or Thursday, 8 days
Canoe, paddles, life jackets	included	included
Barrel, wheels, route and map	included	included, plus a dry bag
Cooking set	bring	Trangia included
Nature card	included	included
Lock pass	pay per lock if needed	included
Briefing and ranger at basecamp	ask when you book	included, in English
Tent and sleeping gear	€15 tent, €15 sleeping set per person, per day	€49 tent, €39 sleeping set
Starting price	€280 for 7 days in May, €403 in July	from €265 (2026)

The package suits you if you want to pick your own start day, or paddle for a weekend or for two weeks. The Canoe Trip is a fixed 8-day week with the lock pass and a briefing included, and the night bus or airport shuttle as options. It runs from mid-May to mid-September.

Where your money goes furthest

The base you start from changes the cost more than people expect. A base at the end of a long lake can mean a car transfer to reach the good loops, or two days of paddling the same water out and back. From a base in the middle of the lake system you set off from the jetty in any direction.

That is why we would start at Outpost North in Gustavsfors. It sits on the water between Lelång and Västra Silen, so both lakes start at the camp and no transfer is needed. A canoe package costs €80–€115 per canoe per day in 2027, starts on any day you choose, and includes the nature card. See the best base for a canoe trip in Dalsland for how the bases compare.

Sources

DANO: nature conservation card, DANO: campsites, Outpost North: canoe tours, Outpost North, The Canoe Trip, Øresund Bridge prices, Storebælt Bridge prices, Stena Line: Kiel–Gothenburg, Västsverige: Dalsland Canal.