The Azores
The Dolomites
Wildlife at Leisure
Tours that take the strain out of enjoying Europe’s flora and fauna! Tours under this banner will be based in a single good quality hotel, and will have direct flights, and these at kind times of day! And most importantly field trips will be kept to a maximum of six or so hours giving you plenty of time to relax before and after. Direct flights are available from some regional airports.
Our comfortable family-run hotel, just a forty minute drive from wealthy Cortina, has been chosen for its proximity to some glorious flowers and butterflies as well as classic alpine wildlife such as Nutcracker, Golden Eagle, Chamois and the entrancing Alpine Marmot. Reckoned by many to be unsurpassed in Europe for its wealth of wild flowers, the Dolomites also have some of the finest mountain scenery. The great pinnacles and buttresses which rise high above idyllic hay meadows and forests are truly spectacular. At sunset, the many-hued cliffs of crystalline magnesian limestone from which the region takes its name are a photographer’s dream, and during the day a botanist’s heaven!
Black Vanilla Orchid, Globe Orchid, Bearded Bellflower and Dwarf Alpenrose adorn fragrant meadows, while abundant Gentians decorate splendid alpine turf. It is peak season for these lovely flowers. Amongst ten or so species there’s the sky-blue trumpets of Clusius’s Gentian, the dark-spotted yellow Gentiana punctata, and Gentiana verna tergestina’s stars mirror the sky. Cliffs are festooned with gorgeous Potentilla nitida, a variety of pretty Saxifrages, Androsaces and Bellflowers, while wooded glades hold Rampions, Wolfsbane and Monkshoods. Butterflies feature beautiful Scarce Coppers and Alpine Blues as well as localised species such as Titania’s and Cynthia’s Fritillaries.
Dates and Prices
19th June - 26th June 2025 (8 days)
* doesn't apply if you're willing to share and a room-mate can be arranged
Please note; dates and prices are provisional and will be confirmed by August 2024
Alpine and Meadow Flowers. Also Butterflies and Mountain Landscapes.
Stefano Doglio , Ian Bennallick
One leader for a group of up to 6, two leaders up to the maximum group size of 12.
All flights. Transport, accommodation and meals in Italy. Services of your leaders. Drinks, tips, and items of a personal nature including travel insurance, are not included.
Flower, bird and butterfly checklists are available.
The Hotel Albe, a small friendly family run establishment close to pretty Caprile and in the Val Pettorina at the base of the Marmolada, will be your home for a week. Superbly situated for the sites we visit, the Albe has marvellous mountain views and the restaurant serves great home-cooked food traditional dishes. All rooms have en suite facilities.
No more than two or three miles in any one day, and always at a slow pace, ideally suited to photography.
UK direct return flights are from various London airports, Edinburgh* or Manchester* to Venice Marco Polo. Indirect routes from regional UK Airports* are available.
*These routes may incur a supplement.
Generally warm and sunny with occasional cooler rainy weather.
Contact us to check if there is availability for the number of places you require. Click on the ‘Book this Tour’ button on this page to be taken to the online booking form or contact us and we will send one to you which you can complete and send back to us. You will receive confirmation of your place, and then a detailed information pack will be dispatched to you about twelve weeks before departure. This will contain up-to-date health information.
