Sweden's right of public access: what can you do?

Sweden's right of public access, allemansrätten, allows you to spend time in nature on land owned by others. It also requires consideration for residents, wildlife and the ground you use. Start with the rules for the actual location. A national park, a path beside a home and ordinary woodland are different situations. Sweden has no general rule setting one fixed distance between a tent and a house.

Information checked on 13 November 2026. For trips in January, February or March 2027, check current local decisions again before departure.

What public access covers

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency describes walking, picking berries and mushrooms and occasional overnight camping as activities covered by public access. The right is available to everyone, including visitors from abroad. Consider the effect of the activity: passing through, making camp and organising a large gathering are different uses of a place.

Plan a simple outing in three stages. First choose somewhere you can visit without disturbing others. Then decide how to arrive and take your waste home. Finally check whether the area has its own regulations. Private ownership does not automatically prohibit access, but public access is not blanket permission for every activity.

Source: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, public access.

Give homes enough space

The privacy zone protects the area immediately around a permanent or holiday home. The Environmental Protection Agency does not specify a fixed size: terrain, vegetation and boundaries affect the assessment. Allow more space when stopping than when briefly passing.

Ask what the resident would experience: someone walking past or a camp remaining outside the window? Find another picnic spot if your stay takes over the private outdoor living area. A distance rule used in Norway should not be treated as the rule for Sweden.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency, privacy zones.

Camping and larger groups

The agency's information materials distinguish a few tents for an occasional night from larger groups, which need the landowner's permission. Choose durable ground away from homes. Pack so that leaving does not mean abandoning tent materials, food waste or a new fireplace.

For a group trip, give one person responsibility for contacting the owner and checking local regulations. Identify an alternative before setting off, so a full site does not push the group onto vulnerable ground. A marked picnic area is not, by itself, confirmation that overnight camping is permitted.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency, public access discussion cards.

Check fire restrictions separately

Krisinformation provides a fire-ban map with links to local decisions. Read what the decision covers, its dates and its geographical boundary. An existing barbecue area does not, on its own, establish what is permitted that day.

Make your meal plan independent of a campfire. A restriction can then change the atmosphere of lunch without creating pressure to improvise a fire. Dalarna County Administrative Board also stresses that responsibility for preventing a fire applies even when no ban is in force. Someone else's fire is not evidence that the rules have been checked.

Sources: Krisinformation, fire-ban map and Dalarna County Administrative Board, fire risk.

Dogs in winter and spring

From 1 March to 20 August, extra supervision is required to prevent dogs running loose in nature. The Environmental Protection Agency explains that this almost always means using a lead. Dogs must be prevented from disturbing wildlife during the rest of the year as well.

A trip spanning February and March therefore crosses a relevant seasonal boundary. Check the destination's dog rules before booking transport or accommodation. Some protected areas prohibit dogs altogether, so bringing a lead does not settle every access question.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency, dogs in nature.

Picking berries and leaving plants intact

Picking wild berries, mushrooms and flowers that are not protected is generally allowed. Breaking branches, damaging bark or digging up plants is not included in the same freedom. Taking a berry and changing its growing site are different actions.

When you are unsure about a species, let children collect observations through photographs and notes. The outing can continue without needing to decide every species-protection question on the spot. Protected areas may also impose their own picking restrictions.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency, flowers, berries and mushrooms.

Protected areas and getting there

National parks and nature reserves have regulations applying to visitors. Read the official area page and the entrance notices. A map showing a path does not tell you whether dogs, fires or overnight stays are permitted.

Plan your arrival too. The agency's outdoor checklist calls for taking waste home and avoiding driving or parking campervans on natural ground. For a trip based in a city, find contacts in the Stockholm directory, Gothenburg directory and Malmö directory. Confirm the route and services directly; a directory address does not replace the area's visitor information.

Sources: Environmental Protection Agency, protected-area rules and sustainable outdoor recreation checklist.

Official sources

Checked 2026-11-13.

• Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, public access
• Environmental Protection Agency, privacy zones
• Environmental Protection Agency, public access discussion cards
• Krisinformation, fire-ban map
• Dalarna County Administrative Board, fire risk
• Environmental Protection Agency, dogs in nature
• Environmental Protection Agency, flowers, berries and mushrooms
• Environmental Protection Agency, protected-area rules
• sustainable outdoor recreation checklist