Canoe hire in Dalsland, Sweden

[Steff]

Good morning,
A friend and I are planning to paddle for a few days on Stora Le in Dalsland, Sweden, in June. I tried to contact Canodal in Ed, to inquire about canoe rental and maybe equipment. I wrote the email in November, no reply yet. A friend here is friends with the owner and has tried to contact him too numerous times, to no avail. I am now getting a bit nervous. Can anyone recommend another canoe hire place in that area, or close by? As we will be travelling by bus/train we are a bit limited with travelling around. We will arrive in Gothenburg by ferry which is already booked but easily cancelled.

 

[SaraR]

Sorry to hear that you're having problems! I don't have any personal experience of any of these but there seems to be several options (e.g. have a look at Dalsland on Google maps and search for "kanotuthyrning" or just "kanot" if "canoe rental" isn't working for you).

Also, this website lists 14 options: https://www.vastsverige.com/dalsland/natur_och_friluftsupplevelser/paddling/ (choose German or English in the top right corner).
For instance, from Dalslands Camping & Kanotcentral in Bengtsfors you could access lakes Lelången and Ärtingen. In general, camp sites next to lakes tend to have canoes for renting out and you don't necessarily need to stay there to use them.

​

 

[Steff]

Sorry to hear that you're having problems! I don't have any personal experience of any of these but there seems to be several options (e.g. have a look at Dalsland on Google maps and search for "kanotuthyrning" or just "kanot" if "canoe rental" isn't working for you).

Also, this website lists 14 options: https://www.vastsverige.com/dalsland/natur_och_friluftsupplevelser/paddling/ (choose German or English in the top right corner).
For instance, from Dalslands Camping & Kanotcentral in Bengtsfors you could access lakes Lelången and Ärtingen. In general, camp sites next to lakes tend to have canoes for renting out and you don't necessarily need to stay there to use them.

​

Thanks, will look into those!

 

[Riven]

Is renting a car viable for you as it would increase your options considerably. As said previously there are plenty of campsites that rent canoed and equipment on many lakes, some connected by canals or a short portage.

 

[Erbswurst]

It's sensible to compare the prices for renting a canoe with the prices for buying them used. During the last decades I found several situations in Germany when buying was cheaper than renting.

With bicycles I did that pretty often and just gifted them away in the end.

 

[scoutmaster]

Perhaps you should invest in a folding canoe/s. I've had my Ally canoe for 20 years and I've paddled it in many places where it's impossible to rent or too expensive to rent canoe. It will also open up your opportunities to canoe trip in parts of the world you would never of thought of.

Here's a couple of blogs of some of the trips I've done over the years in my Ally canoe:

https://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=665790#p665790

https://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=423972#p423972

https://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=565011#p565011

https://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=360833#p360833

I've certain gotten my monies worth out of her.

Good luck in finding a solution.

Fred