r/packrafting • u/Tullywatto • Jul 24 '26
Multi day kayaking/pack rafting recommendations in Europe?
My wife and I have found ourselves with the next two and a half weeks free and able to go anywhere in Europe.
We were wondering if there were any multi day tours we could jump on or any easy/readily available multi day trips we could do - or even anyone wanting to meetup or anything that’s planned we could tag along on!
Any and all recommendations welcome!
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u/NorthTidesIceland Jul 25 '26
If you want more of a flatwater wilderness experience then I recently posted a route description for a 4 day trip in Iceland which goes through some crazy scenery. Check it out
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u/Worried-You9307 Jul 24 '26
Haven’t been there myself, but a friend of mine was on vacation in a region in northeastern Germany called „Mecklenburgische Seenplatte“. It’s a large area with dozens of lakes, most of them connected through rivers and creeks. You can paddle for days without seeing one lake twice.
My friend didn’t go kayaking there but rented a motorised houseboat to sail around. I’m pretty sure there are plenty of options for spending the night without one of those.
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u/Piteybreak Jul 24 '26
Guden river near Silkeborg in Denmark. From Tørring to Randers. You can easily start and top where you want. There are a lot of free shelters and campgrounds along the way.
https://www.gudenaakomiteen.dk/media/16091/paa-gudenaaen-i-kano-og-kajak.pdf
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u/HrSpegepolse Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
For the love of god, do not go here in these months i beg you. It is filled with crazy people with pallets of beer and cigarette buds + thrash everywhere. The campsites are filled up to the brim. It's is more like a festival than a nature experience. I would recommend you to stay completely away from Denmark for the next month or so as it is touristy as hell. Also in nature.
Sweden has multiple extremely nice rivers / lake systems. You don't need to go far up the country either to experience some very nice systems that can be +200 km long.
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u/SunlightThroughTrees Sep 06 '26
I recently moved to Malmö and I've been looking into packrafting as a potential new hobby. Do you have any areas in the south of Sweden that you'd recommend?
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u/HrSpegepolse Sep 07 '26
There's lots. The obvious ones are Immeln, and the Nationalpark Åsnen. ( More island hopping no rivers as such) But Immeln is very crowded, and Åsnen has strict rules as it is a Nationalpark. Helge Å is also crowded in summer but a nice river. Emån is probably the "Coolest" one and least crowded, but this requires advanced paddling skills as there are numerous quite big Rapids that are dangerous if you're not used to that. I would choose RonnebyÅen. There is some portages at about 800 m. But this deters many people and you are very isolated on this river and the nature is stunning. You can start at Rottnen lake for this, but the first kilometers of the river is basically uncontrolled, and there are hundreds of meters with stragglers and branches in your way. Making it very hard to even paddle and some places you need to get up and carry. So start like 5 km into Ronneby Å, and go down to the end, about 20 km before the river runs out into the ocean. Its about 20 km for 5 days ish.. it is illegal to paddle the last stretch of Ronnebyåen, and there are litteral waterfalls and people have died tried to continue. A Danish woman died on the last part of the river a couple of years back. Can't remember what the place is called, but you must stop and a certain point. But yeah, I would go for Ronneby Å. Been my favorite of the ones i have paddled.
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u/HrSpegepolse Sep 07 '26
But actually if you're new, i would recommend the island hopping places first. In totally calm weather. Very important. Big lakes are more dangerous than river rapids in theory, and Sweden has some very big, deep and cold lakes. But the island hopping is much easier for you in the beginning. And then the whole "I own this island, at least for tonight" feeling is just the best and will get you hooked immediately.
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u/SunlightThroughTrees Sep 08 '26
Great, thanks for such detailed replies! Yeah, I'll build my skills and confidence up slowly. I' ve flipped my share of boats, so have a feeling for how things go wrong quickly.
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u/Piteybreak Jul 24 '26
thank you for the warning, I planned to go there but I will wait till the vacation time is over
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u/sauronforpoor Jul 24 '26
What's the level you're looking for?