Vässarö

Vässarö Scout Center is Sweden's largest permanent youth camp. It is owned and run by the Stockholm district of the Swedish Guide and Scout Association. Each year about 30,000 overnight guests get to experience a wonderful camp life on Vässarö. Vässarö was bequeathed to Stockholm's Scout troops in 1942 by the sea captain Ragnar Westin. Every summer since the end of the 1960s, extensive camp activities have been arranged here for thousands of young people from many different associations. Everything from scout camps, outdoor and sailing camps to confirmation camps and class trips is arranged here. Other organisations also rent space on Vässarö for camp activities, e.g. the chess club, the LAN association, the hockey club or the gymnastics club. Here there are great opportunities for exciting and varied programmes. Forest, meadows, rocks and sea are part of the experience and are used in various activities such as hiking, trekking, sailing, paddling, treasure hunts, light trails, orienteering, raft building, diversity trails, handicrafts, campfires and nature studies. The main island Vässarö is 1.5 km wide and 2.5 km long. The old archipelago environment is well preserved. Houses from the end of the 1800s are tenderly cared for; new buildings blend in and are adapted to the island's activities. Today there are dwelling houses, a dining hall, a chapel, a barn, a kiosk, a course house, accommodation cottages, showers, a sauna, storerooms and assembly rooms. Vässarö chapel is built on the ruin of an old barn. Parts of the stone foundation are the same as in the original barn. The chapel is used as an assembly hall, disco, chapel etc. You get to Vässarö by SL bus to Ellan on Singö from Stockholm with a change in Norrtälje, by hired bus or by car. From the terminus at Ellan it is about a 15-minute walk to Vässarö's boats, which pick up at Strömsviken. Groups coming from the north can in some cases arrange boat transport from Äspskär on the southern tip of Gräsö (outside Öregrund). For booking of camps and boat trips – Vässarö