+44 (0)1625 838225
Enquire
Close to home, Europe has some memorable wildlife experiences. Despite being heavily populated through many parts; from northern Finland through to the Carpathians of Bulgaria and the Apennine Mountains of Italy, bears still roam wild, wolves too and they extend through to Portugal whilst our largest bovine, the European bison is isolated to pockets of forest on the Polish border. Europe's wilderness areas are small but exceptionally important habitats that we welcome you to explore
Our wildlife holidays in Europe range from the far north, close to the Russian border and Arctic Circle in Finland where bears, wolves, wolverine, elk and birds such as capercaillie, black grouse and cranes can be observed. Bear watching has certainly been one of our favourite wildlife activities in Europe and we are looking to extend our mammal watching holidays and tailor-made natural history tours throughout the continent.
In Iceland, just below the Arctic Circle in Skjalfandi Bay whales come to feed in the rich waters and from Husavik, Europe's whale watching capital, a good number of cetacean species have been recorded. Here seeing a whale from a whale watching boat is 98% guaranteed, and you will receive a free second trip if you do not see any. Of whale watching trips from Husavik in 2011 humpback whales were seen on 72% of tours and this increased to 85% of sailings in 2012; minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, harbour porpoises, blue, fin and sei whales as well as occasional orcas were also recorded. This grand wilderness island in the North Atlantic also has a good array of bird species and at the right time of year, there are good chances of seeing a puffin, gannet, guillemots, Arctic tern, gyrfalcon, Merlin, Barrow's goldeneye, harlequin duck and with luck snowy owl. Whooper swans also spend the summer months here.
The great plains and waterways of Eastern Hungary provide some exciting bird watching with many species that are infrequent visitors or rarely seen in Western Europe encountered in Hungary on a more regular basis. There is almost no wrong time of the year to travel with Imperial eagles and other raptors visiting hides in the winter, mass migrations in the spring and autumn and long hot summers for perhaps going to the hills and enjoying the vineyards at the same time. For bird photographers, we have a series of hides in key locations that will help you photograph many species from waterfowl, bee-eaters and hoopoe through woodpeckers to red-footed falcons and Imperial eagles.
The proximity of some great wildlife experiences in Europe means it is possible to take short break holidays, flying out of the UK to return, from perhaps a weekend break, with a completely different perspective of the wildlife and natural history of Europe as well as of some countries perhaps less likely to be frequented. On a greener issue, these wildlife holidays in Europe are also often possible travelling by train for those with more time.
If you are considering a wildlife holiday in Europe or perhaps a short break with a natural history angle, you may even have a special interest such as bird watching or dragonflies, then do make contact with us and we can help design your trip and bring the guiding and logistics altogether.
