Butterfly Holidays in Bulgaria | Western Rodopi Butterfly Monitoring Tour

This unique 8-day butterfly holiday in Bulgaria has been organized in conjunction with the NGO 'Wild Rodopi', a specialist wildlife research and conservation organization operating in the Rodopi (Rhodope) Mountains. During the course of this butterfly monitoring holiday, you will not only visit some of the most outstanding Prime Butterfly Areas in Bulgaria's Western Rodopi (Rhodope) Mountains, but also experience the excitement of exploring and surveying potential new butterfly habitats where important as yet unknown populations of rare butterfly species may be discovered. Unlike other standard butterfly holidays, on our specialized butterfly monitoring holidays you will not only enjoy the chance to observe and photograph some of the rarest and most interesting butterflies in Bulgaria, but also have an opportunity to contribute directly to butterfly conservation in Bulgaria by taking part in important butterfly surveying and monitoring projects which will help improve knowledge about the distribution and conservation of butterfly species in Bulgaria's Western Rodopi (Rhodope) Mountains.

Key Target Species: Southern Festoon (Zerynthia polyxena), Eastern Festoon (Allancastria cerisyi), False Apollo (Archon apollinus), Clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne), Apollo (Parnassius apollo), Southern Small White (Pieris mannii), Mountain Small White (Pieris ergane), Balkan Copper (Lycaena candens), Alcon Blue (Phengaris alcon), Zephyr Blue (Kretania pylaon sephirus), Grecian Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus aroaniensis), Orphic Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus orphicus), Chestnut Heath (Coenonympha glycerion), Russian Heath (Coenonympha leander), Eastern Large Heath (Coenonympha rhodopensis), Ottoman Brassy Ringlet (Erebia ottomana), Purple Emperor (Apatura iris), Freyer's Purple Emperor (Apatura metis), White Admiral (Limenitis camilla), Poplar Admiral (Limenitis populi), Common Glider (Neptis sappho), Hungarian Glider (Neptis rivularis).

Best Months

The most rewarding months for this butterfly holiday are:

May, June, July

Land Only Prices

1 person = 1795 Euros

2 people = 995 Euros per person

3-4 people = 795 Euros per person

5-6 people = 595 Euros per person

Single supplement = 90 Euros

Inclusions

* 7 nights B&B accommodation in twin rooms with en suite toilet/shower

* Services of English-speaking wildlife guide and conservationist

* Services of licensed private vehicle and professional driver

NB: Unlike many other wildlife holiday companies who attempt to cut costs by making their guides have to double up as drivers, we employ separate dedicated drivers for all our trips as we believe this is not only safer but also allows our guides to concentrate fully on looking after you and finding you the wildlife!

Itinerary

Day 1: From the airport at Sofia, we transfer south-east into the Western Rodopi (Rhodope) Mountains, where on route to our first hotel, we can stop off to begin our butterfly recording on the spectacular rock outcrops of a limestone gorge.

Day 2: After breakfast we penetrate a little deeper into the gorge, before making our first butterfly survey of the day in a picturesque valley that is likely to harbour a good range of butterfly species. Moving on into the heart of the Rodopi (Rhodope) Mountains, we will then focus on another rocky limestone region. Preliminary butterfly research suggests that this remote region is likely to hold a wide range of interesting butterfly species.

Day 3: A complete change of scene today as we focus our explorations on investigating the butterfly fauna of the Perelik Massif, the highest part of the Rodopi (Rhodope) Mountains. The varied patchwork of habitats, higher altitude and more boreal climate mean ere we should find an interesting mix of species.

Day 4: The focus of today's butterfly explorations is the butterfly fauna of two beautiful, narrow and deeply cut river valleys that preliminary research suggests will offer up many unusual and interesting butterfly species.

Day 5: Today we spend a full day exploring the butterfly habitats of the 'Trigrad Karst region. Officially designated a Prime Butterfly Area, this region is known to hold a great variety of butterfly species, including many interesting and rare butterflies. Although the region in general is often visited by lepidopterists and butterfly enthusiasts, they all tend to revisit a handful of standard sites. Our explorations today will take us into more remote corners of the region which as yet have not been surveyed for their butterflies and where we may make interesting new discoveries.

Day 6: Moving on into the far western part of the Rodopi (Rhodope) Mountains, we will spend the day exploring another remote picturesque region that is yet to be surveyed for butterflies, but where a preliminary reconnaissance suggests we are like to find a great variety of butterflies, including some rare and interesting species.

Day 7: Before commencing the transfer back to Sofia, we will spend the morning exploring another stunningly beautiful valley. Once again, this region has not been properly surveyed for butterflies, but our previous visits here have show it to be very rewarding in terms of butterfly species, and deserving of more research.

Day 8: The tour finishes after breakfast at the hotel in Sofia.

Responsible Tourism Promise

This butterfly holiday in Bulgaria is being operated in conjunction with the wildlife research and conservation NGO 'Wild Rodopi'. Not only will the butterfly monitoring and research data gathered during the course of this butterfly holiday in Bulgaria contribute directly to butterfly research and conservation efforts in the the Rodopi (Rhodope) Mountains, but all profits from this butterfly holiday in Bulgaria will be donated to the NGO 'Wild Rodopi' to help fund their butterfly research and monitoring projects.

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