Winter camping is trending: It’s a "retiree pub crawl" and "intense coziness."

Winter camping is booming: It’s a ’pensionist pub crawl’ and ’intense coziness’

More people are waiting on lists to secure a winter campsite, according to DCU.

Today, around ten guests are staying in caravans at Egtved Camping. However, it’s not unusual for weekends to see 25 people camping here, even in winter.

What would you say to spending your winter break at a campsite in sub-zero temperatures, snow, and wind?

For many, staying in a caravan during the cold winter months might not sound immediately appealing.

Yet, winter camping is actually quite widespread, and there is demand for campsites in the colder months, says Svend Erik Henningsen, vice president of the Danish Camping Union.

- I know that at some of our sites on Zealand, there have simply been waiting lists for people to get permission to book a winter spot.

- Many of those who camp in winter do so as permanent residents, choosing a spot and staying from mid-October until Easter, roughly.

Bent Lodberg is a permanent resident at Egtved Camping—even during the winter months.

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22 degrees in the heated tent and snow outside

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One of the permanent residents is Bent Lodberg. He has his caravan with a heated tent at Egtved Camping. For Bent Lodberg, camping is a way of life.

- It’s about togetherness. We know each other here, those who live here permanently, and there are also events both in summer and winter, he says.

- We’ve just had a communal meal in the shared lounge, and it was completely full. There couldn’t have been more, he tells us in the clip.

Even though the temperature outside is around freezing, it’s neither cold in the heated tent nor inside the caravan.

- There are 22 degrees in here in the tent. There’s a heat pump and an oil heater, but the oil heater is only for emergencies.

Inside the tent, Bent Lodberg has both an air fryer and extra sleeping space for overnight guests, he explains in the clip.

One of the few things missing in the caravan is a shower. But that’s no problem for Bent Lodberg.

- We just put on our morning coats and walk the 50 meters up to the bathroom. We’re used to that, he says.

So you never wake up thinking, *"I really miss those walls and underfloor heating"*?

- No, I don’t. Quite the opposite.

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’A pensionist pub crawl’

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Today, Thursday, there are about ten campers at Egtved Camping. But on weekends, it’s not unusual for them to have 25 overnight guests, even in winter, says Thomas Bank, co-owner of Egtved Camping.

- They might come from city life, living right next to a busy road, and then they come here, where there’s complete peace, where wild boars wander in the backyard, and pheasants waddle in, and cranes fly over occasionally.

When you’re camping in winter, you embrace each other in a different way than in summer, Thomas Bank believes.

- It’s kind of a pensionist pub crawl. So you go from tent to tent and get a cup of coffee and a piece of cake here and there, and you chat.

- It’s this intense coziness with nest-building, where you crawl into the corners and wrap yourself up—surprisingly, many people do that.

In winter, camping is about getting warm, says Thomas Bank.

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