This special rule has a Swedish name: Allemansr盲tten. It means 'the right of everyone'. The idea is simple - the forests, lakes and mountains of Sweden are too beautiful to be locked away. So everyone is allowed to walk across most land, pick wild berries and mushrooms, swim in lakes, and even camp for a night under the trees. You just have to follow two rules: don't disturb, and don't destroy.
Swedish forests are full of food in late summer. There are wild blueberries by the million, lingonberries (a tangy red berry used in jam), and 'chanterelles' - golden mushrooms that taste like apricots. Many Swedish families spend whole weekends in the forest picking berries, then turning them into jam at home.
The forest is also full of animals. Moose wander between the trees. Brown bears sleep in dens for half the year. The lynx, Europe's only big cat, hides in the deep woods. Some areas have wolves. Most people walking in the forest never see any of them - the animals are shy and disappear before you arrive.
Swedish children grow up walking in the forest from very young. Many kindergartens are 'forest kindergartens' (called 'I ur och skur' - 'come rain or shine'), where children spend most of the day playing outside in the woods, even in winter. There's a Swedish saying: 'There is no bad weather - only bad clothes'.