Status | Starts | Group size | Leader | Duration/price Inc. flights from/to UK | Duration/price Exc. international flights | Single supp. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full | Max. 8 | István Bártol | 9 days: £1,995 pp. | 9 days: £1,775 pp. | £320 | |||
Available | Max. 8 | TBC | 9 days: £2,295 pp. | 9 days: £2,095 pp. | £320 |
An imaginative itinerary visiting Europe’s newest nation, Montenegro, and one of its most mysterious: Albania. We’ll birdwatch amongst the area’s rich wetlands, its conifer-clad mountains, the fjords of the Adriatic coast and islands, starting and ending the tour in the wonderful old walled city of Dubrovnik.
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- Fly from London to Dubrovnik and transfer to our hotel. We will have time to explore this historic city and have dinner in a seaside restaurant.
- Accommodation: Dubrovnik, 1-night on full board basis
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- Leaving Dubrovnik, we cross the border into Montenegro and soon reach the scenic Bay of Kotor, the southernmost fjord in Europe. We spend four nights in Virpazar, a sleepy town on the lakeside, in a guesthouse overlooking the lake where scops owls call during the evenings.
- Accommodation: Virpazar, 4-nights on full board basis
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- We take a boat ride on Lake Skadar, one of the largest freshwater lakes of Europe, to search for the last surviving Dalmatian pelicans of the lake.
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- We visit the Ulcinj salt pans along the coast, where we walk along a dyke to view the pools. This is the best place for waders in Montenegro, especially during migration. Levant sparrowhawk and roller also occur in the area.
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- We cross into Albania and explore floodplain meadows, lagoons and the coast near the border town of Shkoder. The hilly countryside is home to classic open country birds and a variety of egrets and waders. On the way back to Virpazar we drive along the Albanian shore of Lake Skadar enjoying the views of the lake and the surrounding mountains, with the possibility of seeing Dalmatian pelicans.
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- Today we drive further northwest into the mountains, where we spend two nights in a hotel located on the edge of town, looking onto the surrounding forests and mountains. We spend the next day exploring the pristine forests of Durmitor National Park.
- Accommodation: Zabljak, 2-nights on full board basis
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- We drive back to Dubrovnik birdwatching on the way, stopping at the Tivat saltpans among other places. In the afternoon we arrive at our accommodation in Dubrovnik.
- Accommodation: Dubrovnik, 1-night on full board basis
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- After a final morning birding around our accommodation we drive to Dubrovnik airport to take our flight back to London.
All prices are per person and include:
- Services of the naturalist leader
- Flights
- Transfers
- Accommodation
- All meals
- Guided activities
Accommodation
We stay at comfortable hotels and guesthouses. All rooms are en suite.
Meals
All meals are included.
Birds
This trip visits saltpans, sand dunes and the delta of River Bojana, all important migration stopovers. Further inland lies Lake Skadar, home to thousands of pygmy cormorants and is the westernmost nesting place of the endangered Dalmatian pelican.
- Dalmatian pelican
- Three-toed woodpecker
- Squacco heron
- Blue rock thrush
Durmitor National Park offers unspoilt mountains with huge coniferous forests, home to three-toed woodpecker, nutcracker and alpine species.
Flights
Price includes return scheduled flights London – Dubrovnik – London.