Food planning
A complete guide to planning your food for your self-guided kayaking adventure. A nice meal and a couple of beers at sunset really makes for an enjoyable trip! Fill out the food order in your Trip Planner. You buy at cost price and we shop and pack for you. It’s like going to the Swedish supermarket – from home.
Planning your meals
There is absolutely no reason to be compromising when it comes to food on this journey. The kayaks are quite roomy and we supply diverse cooking gear and a large assortment of spices, herbs and flavourings free of charge.
It does take some effort to plan meals and snacks for an entire wilderness stay. Plan each day’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, beverages & snacks in detail. Free-styling it is a sure way to end up with way too much food!
A good setup:
Big breakfast – at the camp
Light lunch that require a minimum of cooking gear – while kayaking
Big dinner – when you arrive at your new camp.
Our recipe site
Make sure to visit our recipes page. It’s completely possible to cook wonderful food during your entire adventure without having to lean on heavily processed options. There are also a fair few typical Swedish dishes if you feel like tasting some of our culinary culture.
Keep in mind when choosing recipes that food items come in certain sized packaging from the supermarket. If you pick recipes for all your meals, it’s very likely you’ll end up with lots of leftover ingredients. Pick a few, use some for inspiration, and try to come up with ways to utilise most of what you order. We have leftover tips in lots of the recipes to assist you.
In each recipe, you can choose number of portions and "save to shopping list". Go to the shoopping list in the menu at the top to see your whole list. Your ingredients are compiled and sorted according to the same categories as the food order in your Trip Planner. Note! You still need to enter all the ingredients into your Trip Planner to order your food.
Durability of food items
Our top quality mylar-lined NRS Cooler bag will keep your food cold for 3–4 days and is designed for maintaining cleanliness between use. You will receive one 30 Liter cooler per double kayak (about a quarter of it is taken up by ice packs).
Note! If you’re group is using single kayaks only, you will receive a regular cooler bag that will stay cold for 1-2 days. Please plan accordingly.
Colour-coding:
All recipes are colour coded to indicate durability recommendation.
Note! These recommendations are adapted to the cooler bag that fits in our double kayaks. If your group is using single kayaks only, please consider the red category to last 1 day, and the orange and blue category to last 3 days (except the veggies in the blue category, they will last 4 days).
Red: Will last 1–2 days. Fresh meat, chicken and frozen fish – 1 night. Frozen chicken, fresh milk, cream, flavoured yoghurt, sour cream, smoked salmon, ready-made creamy salads like potato salad, shrimp salad – 2 nights.
Orange: Will last 3-4 days. Meatballs, smoked ham, smoked turkey, roast beef. Soft and hard cheese. Greek yoghurt. Perishable vegetables like spinach, arugula, lettuce, kale, mushrooms, scallions, cherry tomatoes. Swedish style wraps and liba breads.
Blue: Will last 4-5 days. Butter, creme fraiche, halloumi, parmesan. Hummus. Bacon, sliced salami, prosciutto, sausages like chorizo and brats. Cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, aubergine.
Green: Will normally last your whole trip. Root vegetables, onions, cabbage. Eggs, long-lasting milk, cream & butter. Hard-smoked or cured sausages like whole salami. Lemon, limes. Anything preserved e.g. tuna, crab, beans, olives, grilled peppers, pesto, mayonnaise. Tortilla wraps and Danish style rye bread.
Restaurants and pubs
Although you’ll spend almost all of your time in complete solitude among uninhabited islands, there are a few hubs on some of the islands or the mainland with family-run establishments. It’s a great way to meet some of the locals and enjoy the culinary traditions of the archipelago. Please note that these restaurans are not open during early and late season.
Tyrislöt is a mainland hub that you may visit to fill up your water. There’s a well-stocked country store if you’ve run out of snacks or something (but we do recommend ordering everything you need in advance, so your paddling route is flexible). There is also a pub that serves simple dishes, and they have a great garden where you can sit among the cherry trees.
Phone: +46 121 520 21
Country store
29 May – 15 June: 9.00 – 18.00
16 June – 10 Aug: 9.00 – 20.00
11 Aug – 23 Aug: 9.00 – 18.00
Pub
Quite simple food, but it’s wonderful to enjoy a beer or an ice cream under the cherry trees in the garden.
18 June – 10 Aug: 9.00 – 22.00
11 Aug – 20 Aug: 9.00 – 18.00
Menu
Archipelago Museum
20 June – 11 Aug, Thur –Sun: 12.00–17.00
12 Aug – 3 Sep, Sat –Sun: 12.00–17.00
Price: 40 SEK per person, cash
This is quite close to where our launch is, so you may not go in here. If you do however, they have a great boathouse restaurant right on the sea.
Phone: +46 121 511 33
Waterside restaurant
Toast Skagen is a Swedish classic!
Peak season, 30 Jun – 3 Aug: Monday through Saturday, 12.00 – 20.00. Sunday, 12.00 – 16.00
Menu (in Swedish)
Low season, 16 – 29 June and 4 Aug – 17 Aug: Monday through Saturday, 12.00 – 20.00. Sunday, 12.00 – 16.00.
Menu (in Swedish)
May and September, Fridays 17.00-20.00, Saturdays 12:00-20.00, Sundays, 12.00 – 16.00.
Country store
6 Jun – 10 Aug: 9.00-19.00
11 Aug – 7 Oct: 9.00 – 12.00. Sundays closed.
Harstena village is the busiest hub of the archipelago islands. Boaters and kayakers gather here to stroll around the picturesque village. There is a kiosk, bakery and fish smokery. The restaurant serves up delicious archipelago cuisine and lagers. The establishments on Harstena are open from Midsummer until the third week of August.
The establishments are open June 18 to August 23.
Restaurant
Try the butter-fried fresh herring!
Lunch: 11.30 – 15.00
Dinner: 18.30 – 22.00
Phone for reservations: +46 123 420 50
Menu (in Swedish)
Bakery
Amazing cinnamon rolls!
8.00 – 18:00
Country store, ice cream & smoked fish
9.00 – 21.00
Museum/old school
11.00 – 15.00
Historic building for rendering seal blubber
11.00 – 15.00
F.A.Q. for food planning
How much space is there for food in the kayaks?
Our double kayaks have lots of room. If you’re using a single kayak you do have to take space into account. In regards to alcohol, boxed wines, as well as cans of beer are easy to stow in the kayaks. Much preferable to glass bottles of wine.
Where can I drop off rubbish?
There are many bins for rubbish in the archipelago, marked on your sea chart. We ask you to separate aluminium and plastic as there are recycling stations in some locations.
Where can I fill up fresh water?
We provide 9 liters of fresh water per person in Klean Kanteen drinking bottles and water canteens. There are a few places to replenish your water supply along the way, marked on the sea chart.
Do we get dried herbs, spices and some condiments at no charge?
Yes! Be sure to go to the "free of charge herbs, spice and condiments" section of the food order in your Trip Planner. You can select as many as you like at no extra charge.
What cooking equipment do you provide?
We provide a versatile set of cooking supplies. If you’re a keen cook, you’ll be well equipped! We provide and What to bring
Some of our favourite ingredients that last well.
- Hard-smoked whole sausages like Salami, Suxhuk Shtepiak or Juniper
- Cooked sausages like Brats and Chorizo
- Danish style rye bread, tortilla wraps
- Halloumi cheese, parmesan
- Creme fraiche
- Oat-based “dairy” products, especially Oatly oat milk instead of regular milk for cereal or coffee
- Beans, hummus
- Coconut milk, conserved cherry tomatoes
- Root vegetables, onions, cabbage
- Fresh lemons and limes
- Pressed garlic in a tub, chipotle paste, harissa, fond du chef (concentrated stock in small portions of much higher quality than cubes)
- Ajvar relish, pesto, tapenade
- Grilled peppers, olives, pickles, capers
- Mayonnaise, Sriracha mayonnaise, coarse mustard, ketchup, chili sauce
- Honey, agave, raw sugar