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Dates: 15th – 19th May 2027 Confirmed departure
Price: £1,450* 3 places
Single Room Supplement: £TBA
Deposit: £150 per person
*price to be confirmed end of Aug 2026
Price Includes: All meals, accommodation with private facilities, ground transport, services of guides, holiday report
Not Included: Flights, travel insurance, drinks and any other personal items.
Leader: Sean Cole & Mike Waller
Group Size: Minimum of 3 and a maximum of 7 guests plus 2 leaders.
Conservation donation: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI)
Grade: Gentle paced walks in a variety of terrains. Ideally suited to photography.
Holiday Highlights
- Led by the authors of the highly acclaimed Britain’s Orchids: A Field Guide to the Orchids of Great Britain and Ireland
- See the endemic Irish Marsh Orchid, which will be in its prime
- The hard-to-see Dense-flowered Orchid, restricted to Ireland, in good numbers at several locations. This species has a range restricted to the Mediterranean, and Ireland, and is not found in Britain.
- Spectacular displays of thousands of Early Purple Orchids
- Beautiful Sword-leaved Helleborines and Bird’s Nest Orchids in an enchanting Atlantic Rainforest next to a beautiful lake
- A remote site in a beautiful forest, containing thousands of Lesser Twayblades – tiny, but superb close up!
- Hundreds of Pugsley’s Marsh and other Marsh Orchids at a fantastic site close to the stunning St John’s Point Beach, as well as more at a gorgeous lake in Co Mayo
- Birds including Corncrake, White-tailed Eagle, Great Northern Diver & summer-plumaged Black Guillemots
- Insects including early season dragonflies and possibly Marsh Fritillary & Cryptic Wood White butterflies
Enjoy a bonanza of orchids in Ireland on this new & exclusive botanical tour!
Mike Waller is a professional ecologist and botanist, having dedicated his career to wildlife conservation and scientific outreach – working for organisations such as the Natural History Museum, Plantlife, London Wildlife Trust and the RSPB. Beyond his passion for wildlife, he is a habitats and vegetation communities specialist, underpinned by his physical geography background. Mike is a passionate tour leader and derives great enjoyment from showing people new and exciting wildlife. His lifelong interest in European wild orchids led him to co-author “Britain’s Orchids” for WildGuides, published in 2020.
Sean Cole has had a passion for wildlife since he was young, and has travelled extensively in the last 45 years to seek out, study and enjoy watching birds, butterflies, dragonflies, reptiles & amphibians, as well as his main passion – orchids. He has been studying them for over twenty years and has published many articles about them. He is co-author of “Britain’s Orchids” for WildGuides, the result of his passion for sharing his enthusiasm for wildlife and conservation.
We will experience the beautiful scenery of the Wild Atlantic Way, including some stunning beaches and Loughs, enjoy the friendly relaxed atmosphere and famously welcoming people of Ireland, both in the Republic and the North. As if thousands of orchids, including some very special ones, are not enough, we should see some exciting birds and butterflies too! We strongly believe in the care and protection of the habitats and species we’ll be there to see. This is why we’re keeping the group size small, with 2 leaders. Through our partnership with BSBI you’ll also be contributing towards the study & conservation of plants and habitats on this tour as well. Our base will be the town of Sligo, which straddles the Garavogue River where it meets Sligo Bay. It’s famed for fine seafood, traditional Irish music, and the iconic flat-topped Benbulben mountain, which has dominated the landscape in the west of Sligo for over 300 million years. We will stay in a comfortable & stylish three-star Hotel in the heart of Sligo. The comfortable theme continues as this is a genuine small group tour, limited to six guests, travelling in two SUV vehicles throughout the tour. This will also allow access to some special, wildlife-rich sites in stunning countryside. We will visit rare Machair and Atlantic Rainforest habitats as well as mountains, loughs and extensive dune systems – plus there will be some stunning beaches along the way. The pace will be relaxed, but we will make the days fit with the amount of things to see – which is a lot! As well as allowing plenty of time to soak up the experience or take photographs, there will be identification advice offered on the trickier orchid species we might encounter. Apart from the orchid fest, we will also enjoy other wildlife during the trip. Corncrake is very likely at several sites in Co Mayo – including a very reliable one with 8+ singing males. We may see White-tailed Eagle at one of its few reintroduction sites. Great Northern Diver is possible at some of the coastal location and summer-plumaged Black Guillemots come in close at the harbour in Killybegs. There should also be some early season dragonflies to enjoy, such as Scarce Chaser. And depending on the season we may be lucky enough to see Cryptic Wood White and Marsh Fritillary butterflies too. On the trip last year there were also some super cetaceans seen, including Minke Whales, Dolphins, and even a Basking Shark. We will visit the same locations again so although no promises can be made, there is a possibility of sightings and our guides will have spotting scopes with them, to help make the most of any opportunities as they occur. A final thought. If you have a partner, friend, or other companion, who would like to travel with you but not take part in the daily excursions, then this trip is ideally suited to that, and we can offer a reduced rate for them to stay with you at the hotel (on a room sharing basis) and share some of the meals we’ll have in the local vicinity. This promises to be a very popular holiday so we recommend booking soon!
Day 1: Meet & depart from Knock Airport and head to a hillside a short drive to the north where we should see our first main orchid target – Dense-flowered Orchid. We will also have a spectacular view west to the coast from here. Then, time permitting north to cross the border into Northern Ireland to Navar Forest Park. This is a popular wildlife destination in the area with lakes, forests and bogs, and we should see hundreds, or even thousands, of Lesser Twayblade, which will be coming into flower and look lovely and fresh. Uniquely, they grow side-by-side with Common Twayblade giving an excellent opportunity to compare the two.
Then on to our excellent Hotel in Donegal Town, back in the ROI, where we can eat and relax in the bar afterwards to catch up on the day’s events.
Day 2: After breakfast we will head north to visit an ancient Atlantic rainforest – one of the top 5 most biodiverse woodlands in whole of Ireland – where we will see some beautiful Sword-leaved Helleborines. Common Spotted, Bird’s-nest Orchids and Common Twayblade are also present. This is also a site for Tree Lungwort – a specialized species of lichen that is an indicator of pristine habitat. Here, we may also see Pied Flycatcher, Grebes and possibly Red squirrel and White-tailed Eagle, which has been reintroduced to the region. We will move on to St John’s Point, a short drive away, and have lunch overlooking the beach, checking for Divers, Auks and Cetaceans in the beautiful bay. St John’s Point has a colony of Marsh Orchids, including Britain and Ireland’s largest population of Pugsley’s Marsh Orchid. Among spectacular scenery near the lighthouse and beaches we’ll explore the series of fens where we should see hundreds of individuals of this species along with Early Marsh, Heath Spotted, and get some practice on the various hybrid combinations. The limestone grassland may produce Marsh Fritillary Butterfly, and also has numerous Early Purple Orchids, offering fantastic photographic opportunities.
After these delights we head to the famous fishing town of Killybegs for a dinner of fish and chips – it would be rude not to here! The harbour also has birds such as auks, including Black Guillemot, that can show so close you can see their bright red feet when they are underwater! If the weather is fine we can eat our meal overlooking the harbour, otherwise we will sit in.
Then back to the hotel for evening drinks and social.
Day 3: Today we head south then west into County Mayo, where we are guaranteed a lot of Irish Marsh Orchids, many in their prime, at several sites. We will visit Cross Lough which has a multitude of orchid species and some interesting hybrids, and have lunch overlooking the Lough. Nearby we will visit another site for Pugsley’s Marsh Orchid and enjoy the displays of breeding Snipe and see Lapwings with chicks on the pristine machair grassland of this Birdwatch Ireland reserve.
The Belmullet peninsular is also home to Conrcrakes, and we have a good chance of hearing them, and maybe even catching a glimpse of one. The sea may produce terns, auks, divers, otters and cetaceans. The Mullet Peninsular is an extremely good place to see Irish Hares, and we expect to see a number of these gorgeous mammals.
Day4: We will first explore more local sites for Irish Marsh Orchid to really get a feel for its variability, and seek out some hybrids – the species grows in gardens and on industrial estates here, so we won’t have to try too hard! Then we head south east to explore a magnificent Loughside site filled with many orchids, including Dense-flowered and many Early Purple, Early Marsh and Common Spotted alongside Lesser Butterfly and hundreds of Fly Orchids.
Back to our Hotel in Belmullet for evening meal and drinks.
Day 5: Our last day, so we will have an earlier breakfast to enable us to check out a site on the way back down to the airport. If flights or travel allow it, we will head to another orchid site to see if we can add anything to our haul for the trip so far.
Dropoff at the airport and say our farewells!
To follow
