the Water lapping against the elongated swim platform. Further out the looming less skärgårdsöar and forested small rocky islands. Behind them is the open sea.
– Here it is full with guests for a few months. Most people want as far out in the archipelago as possible and then end up here, ” says Lotta Rosell, 59, who is the sole driver Tyrislöt camping.
the Preparations are in full swing for the season. Among other things, the eleven gäststugorna cleaned. Each cabin has four beds and a kitchen area. The shower and toilet are in an adjacent building. Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
. Tyrislöt camping is as far as you can get with the car on a promontory in the St. Anna archipelago, is just over four miles south-east of Söderköping in Östergötland.
Up on the smooth rocks, is frantic activity. Lotta and some of the employees go through and clean up the eleven gäststugorna on the camp’s northern part. Next is the bathing area and a marina. The camping opens on april 26, but already in February we had Lotta hired 20 people for the summer and booked into summer children’s theatre, disco, flea market, yoga, karaoke, musical entertainment and arranges singing evenings.
Scattered between the pine forest and junipers are four grassy areas with 130 pitches. 40 is säsongsplatser which is booked for repeat guests. To stand with the caravan for a full season cost 10,000 sek excluding electricity.
– Säsongsgästerna is gold worth. Last February pay check and then I have a buffer for unforeseen expenditure if anything breaks before the campsite opens, says Lotta.
On the northern part there is a marina where 62 moorings are rented out. Nearby is a bathing. Sankt Anna archipelago is a part of the Archipelago. Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
has become more and more popular. In 2017 had the Swedish campings 15.7 million guest nights – an increase of two million in ten years.
this year, a record 16 million overnight stays, according to preliminary figures from trade association the SCR. A key quarter of the guests come from abroad. Mainly Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. In the summer, is now more than 50 per cent of all guest nights in Sweden in a campsite.
– It becomes more and more guests every year. We have many from Germany and Holland. Motorhomes have grown a part and also in the tent, ” says Lotta.
the camping area was formerly a large farmhouse. An old granary has been converted to a pub. Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
the gravel roads, past the large red wooden house with white trim. In a two-storey house is located the campsite’s reception with on-site dining and gift shop. An old granary has been converted to a pub and nearby homes.
In a converted barn, there is a skärgårdsmuseum and a general store, which is open June to september. Lotta started it in the year after the old general store eight miles away closed down. In the village there is a mini market but it was not enough, thought Lotta. The nearest big supermarket was two miles away.
” I knew that I had to open the store. Should you feed on this, you have to have many streams small. Therefore, I have also the gift shop. It will be hard to get customers if it is to act.
In the general store to some of the most be. Ranging from milk, cheese and other dairy and refrigeration products to the sausages, barbecue, smoked fish, fruit, vegetables, ready-made pies, freshly baked bread, pastries, canned goods, chips, ice cream and candy. Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
goes down to a marina with 20 moorings. Every day in the summer, the ferries out to the coast. Nearby, tourists can rent a boat and kayak.
Lotta live five-minute boat ride away on an island with seven residents. Her family has had a farm there for five generations and, in 1989, she moved there from Norrköping. One of her two sons lives near and her särbo staying at one).
– My island it is dark you can see far away there, ” says Lotta, and pointing towards the horizon.
Since 1995, the lease she is camping, both land and buildings, of the municipality and are now negotiating to buy the buildings. At the end of september is the season end and Lotta get some rest before she has a christmas market in december. Vacation she takes in January.
” this is a way to live, it is no ordinary job. I can’t have holiday in the summer, and have no free weekends when I work. It is tough and a lot to do but I have the staff and the help of friends and family. At the same time, I would not want to be anywhere else. It is great fun and the vast majority are happy, they are on vacation.
