Introduction
Living in Stockholm is great for a number of reasons. There are great restaurants, many job opportunities, plenty of events to attend, and fantastic public transportation options for getting around. With that said, sometimes it is good to get out of the city and experience something that is hard to come by in the city. Nature.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we lived in the US and were trying to find activities we could safely do without too much interaction with others, which was when we started camping, which we really enjoyed. Unfortunately, when we moved to Sweden, we didn’t have enough space to pack our camping gear so we ended up getting rid of all of our gear. Now that we are in Sweden which is known for its great outdoors, we were trying to find a way to really enjoy nature and take advantage of allemansrätt, or the right of access to move freely in nature.
Not having our camping gear anymore means that we would have to buy a lot of things which would mean a significant upfront cost and finding a place to store the stuff after we buy everything, which is not the easiest when living in an apartment in Stockholm. So we began to look for other ways to camp without having to buy all of the gear, which is when we came across Happie Camp.
Happie Camp is a company that has camping sites in multiple areas around Sweden. But it is more than camping, it is a glamping experience. Each campsite has a tent structure, an outdoor kitchen area, an eating area, and a fire pit. Additionally, all of the camping sites are lakefront. You can bring your own food, but for an additional fee, they will provide food boxes that have the means for your entire stay. This means that all you really need to bring with you is your clothes, which was ideal for us as we were trying to avoid having to buy any gear.
Booking and Pre-Arrival
After looking through the available campsites the weekend that we were planning to go on our trip, we ended up picking Camp 4 Glaskogen, Arvika. It was a very easy booking process, you pay, and then you get a confirmation email. Something that felt a little bit bizarre as we were booking was that they do not tell you the exact location of where you will be staying. However, the website does say that they will send an email with the exact coordinates about a week before your scheduled arrival. Because the campsites are rather remote, there is no street address, they really do mean GPS coordinates. Just put the GPS coordinates in your GPS and it will take you right to the parking area. We did see that they recommend bringing bug spray and sunscreen. I definitely recommend both of these things. There weren’t too many bugs, but there were enough that I am glad that we had the bug spray and the campsite was in the sun pretty much the entire day, so you will definitely want some sunscreen.
A few days before we were planning to arrive, I got another email from one of the Happy Camp employees letting me know that no one was staying at our campsite the night before our arrival and offered the extra night to us at a discounted price. We were already planning to pick up our rental car the evening before we were going to leave, so we took them up on the offer and decided to arrive at the campsite late a night early. We did decide not to do the extra days worth of food since we knew we would be arriving so late on the first night. From Stockholm to the campsite, the drive took just a little over 4 hours, but this is of course dependent on traffic. As we got close to our destination, the GPS was still working, but we were losing cell service. We were getting very close to the final location on the GPS and we did not see a parking place, but then just a few meters after the GPS said we arrived, I noticed a small open area on the left side of the road, just about large enough 2 cars, 3 if they parked very close together. Looking a little closer, there was a wooden sign with their logo attached to a tree maybe 5 meters past the front of the car, so we knew we had arrived.
Arrival
On the description for this campsite, it says it is a 5-10 minute walk from the parking area to the actual campsite. You just keep following the signs with the Happie Camp logo and eventually saw the tent which was on top of the hill. With our backpacks and the extra food we brought for the first morning combined with the fact that we did not know exactly where we were going, the walk was probably a little closer to 10 minutes. I will say, the actual path was very narrow. I would recommend at least having some good shoes. You probably don’t need hiking boots, but sandals are definitely not the right choice. I would also recommend having some long pants if you don’t like having bushes rub against your legs.
After we arrived at the campsite, we unlocked the tent and put our things inside before taking a quick swim. The tent was perched on top of a rocky hill with a beautiful view of the lake in one direction and a view of the woods in the other. When you exit the tent and take a few steps down the hill, you then get to the outdoor kitchen area that also has panoramic views of the lake. A few more steps down and you reach your mostly private swim area. You can’t see any other people or camping areas from the tent, but throughout our stay, there were 2 boats that passed by, but other than that we were pretty much on our own the entire time. It feels very remote and they try to keep the area as natural as possible which made the experience very enjoyable.
Amenities
The next morning, we woke up and had the easy breakfast that we had packed and some coffee. The one thing I will say about the food boxes is that the coffee they provided us was instant coffee. However, they did have a French press, so you can bring your own coffee if you would like. We then took a closer look at all of the things that were provided. I will start by saying that the pictures are exactly as described. Inside the tent there are 2 comfortable beds with bedding that are pushed together, 2 camp chairs with a little table in between which had some candles, a power bank to charge your phone (bring your own cords), a first aid kit, a trash can with separate sections to sort out recycling and compostable waste as well as kitchen supplies. You also get slippers, body soap, shampoo, and conditioner. All of the soaps that they provide are eco-friendly products that you can use in the lake if you want to clean up a little bit while you are out in the woods.
In the 2 kitchen supply boxes, they provided exactly what was described in the FAQ section of their website:
A 2-burner gas stove and plenty of gas to cook with
2 pots with lids, a frying pan, and a French press for coffee
Plates, cutlery, glasses, and mugs for 2 people
Cheese slicer, potato peeler, wooden spoon, strainer, tea strainer, can opener, measuring cups and spoons, kitchen knives, corkscrew, spatula, cutting board, and serving bowls
Salt and pepper
Water jugs with drinking water
They also provided soap, a scrub brush, and dish towels to wash all of the kitchen supplies after you are finished using it. They recommend using the lake water to wash the dishes after getting all the food off of them to save drinking water. The one thing that they didn’t have was tongs, so if you bring your own food and will need tongs to cook them, you should bring your own. However, for the food they provide the supplies are exactly what you will need.
One other thing that I was concerned about was the bathroom situation. We knew there was a bathroom, but it is a composting toilet. For those who aren’t aware, that basically means it is a fancy bucket with a toilet seat on it. While that doesn’t sound like the most pleasant, it really wasn’t bad at all. The bathroom had its own ventilated tent, there was toilet paper and hand sanitizer. One thing to note is that you shouldn’t put anything that can’t be composted in the toilet, so leave the sanitizing wipes at home on this trip.
The Food
We had the 2-night food box which included dinner for the first night, breakfast lunch snacks and dinner for the second day, and breakfast for the departure day. Our first dinner was a cantered mushroom bolognese and dessert was popcorn with spruce shoot salt. The first breakfast was oatmeal with chia seeds, dried blueberries, and nuts. The lunch was tomato soup with nice spices. The snack was two packages of trail mix (nuts and chocolate). The second dinner was a mushroom risotto and the dessert was chocolate pudding. The second breakfast was blueberry pancakes. They were out of season when we stayed, but the recipes also recommend getting some fresh blueberries to add to the breakfasts.
All of the meals were organic plant-based meals and, as they describe online, were easy to cook in the outdoor kitchen. The only thing that I think was a mistake was including chocolate in the trail mix. Since it was warm outside the chocolate ended up melting a little bit. It still tasted good, just not the easiest warm-weather snack. The food was all very good and I do think it was nice to not have to worry about packing your own food that will stay good. However, for two nights the food box cost 1399 SEK, which might be a bit pricy. But, when you consider that it adds up to around 140 SEK per person per meal, it isn’t really so bad. If you were going on a vacation where you stay at a hotel and eat out every meal, then you would likely be spending just as much. The only difference is that you are paying for all of this food up front.
Relaxation
As Happie Camp points out on their website, we feel better after spending time in nature. Studies claim that after 15 minutes in nature, people feel happier and more at peace. Spending more time in nature has also been linked to lowering blood pressure, reducing stress and anxiety, and improving mood. After we arrived, we decided to take that to heart and were mostly just relaxing. We did not have very good cell service, which made it easy to disconnect from the rest of the world. We brought a few card games with us, we both had books, and we just enjoyed our time in the woods. There was also a hiking trail that we followed which was really nice. We also went swimming right from our campsite. I do not know much about fishing, but I did bring a fishing pole which was enjoyable. However, because I am not so good at fishing I ended up losing the lure and I didn’t bring any extra supplies, so I didn’t end up doing too much fishing. I did see quite a few small fish near the shore though, so I am sure if you are better at fishing than I am that you could catch something.
In the evening we started a fire in the pit at the campsite. I have experience starting campfires so it wasn’t too difficult for me, but if you haven’t started a fire before you should look it up ahead of time. They provide little starter cubes and a lighter to get the fire started. You then want to add small sticks on top to get the fire a little bigger, then add on the big logs after it is going. Look up some tutorials on YouTube and you should be fine. Since we went in the summer, we didn’t need the fire for warmth, but it is an element of coziness that I find nice while camping.
Checking Out
Our last morning we had our breakfast and began to pack up so we could head out. We cleaned the dishes one last time and tried to leave the campsite and the tent as we found it. We then locked up the tent and made the final hike back to our car. Our understanding is that the check-out times vary between campsites, but ours was at 11 am which was just the right time, as that means we would be getting back to Stockholm by the middle of the afternoon. Part of us wishes we would have had one more night, but it was a great long weekend and I am glad we ended up doing 3 nights instead of 2.
In Summary
Happie Camp is a great glamping experience that allows you to get into nature without the need for buying any of the camping gear that would be needed. The customer service was excellent and they are happy to answer any questions prior to arrival. This campsite, in particular, was fantastic and exactly as we expected based on the pictures that were provided. We had a great and relaxing time and would happily stay at a Happie Camp location in the future. If you are looking into a weekend getaway in the forest, definitely check them out!
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