Dates & Prices

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Dates: 25th – 27th June 2027

Price: £845* places available

Single Supplement: £TBC

Deposit: £150 per person

* Price will be confirmed end of August 2026

Price Includes: All meals, accommodation, local transport, services of the guides, tour report

Not Included: International travel, travel insurance, drinks & any other personal items

Conservation Donation: Butterfly Conservation Europe

Leader: Patrick Barkham (co-leader TBC)

Group Size: Minimum of 4 and a maximum of 12 guests plus 1-2 leaders

Grade: Gentle pace. Ideally suited to photography

Holiday Highlights

A unique trip aiming to see 2 premier UK butterflies at the same time – Purple Emperor & British Swallowtail!
Led by Patrick Barkham, author of The Butterfly Isles
Other butterfly highlights may include Silver-studded Blue, Silver-washed Fritillary, White Admiral, and more!
Visit numerous nature reserves, woodlands, heathland and broads to get a real taste of the areas unique and wonderful habitats
Other great wildlife to enjoy such as Norfolk Hawker dragonfly, Fen & other Orchids, Milk Parsley, Marsh Harrier, Bittern, Bearded Tit and much more
In support of Butterfly Conservation Europe

Holiday Guide

Patrick Barkham is Natural History Writer for the Guardian and the author of The Butterfly Isles.

An enthusiastic amateur naturalist, Patrick was born in Norfolk and was educated at Cambridge University. He developed a passion for butterflies as an eight-year-old searching for the Brown Argus but only completed his boyhood mission in 2009, when he saw all 59 species of British butterfly in one summer and wrote a book about it.

His second book, Badgerlands, was hailed by Chris Packham as “a must read for all Britain’s naturalists”. His recent book, Coastlines, a history of coastal conservation, was praised by Blake Morrison as “an informative, enthusiastic and at times rapturous celebration of our shores”. His latest book, Islander, is about the human and non-human residents of Britain’s small isles.

He lives in the land of the Swallowtail with his three young children and is very proud of his four-year-old twins for being able to distinguish a Peacock from a Painted Lady at 100 yards. In 2012 he received The Marsh Christian Trust Award for the Promotion of Lepidoptera Conservation from Butterfly Conservation.

We’re delighted to invite you for another exclusive & exciting short break in Norfolk with Patrick Barkham!

Do you want to be part of a world-first? Until now, it has been nigh impossible to see Britain’s two largest and most charismatic native butterflies at the same.

The Swallowtail – a unique British subspecies – only flies on the Norfolk Broads and is on the wing in early June. Until recently, the Purple Emperor was extinct in Norfolk. When it returned to the county in 2019, it tended to emerge in July – later than the southerly populations.

Now, thanks to climatic changes and thriving local populations, it may be possible to see both together. In 2026, both species were on the wing at the same time, at the end of June.

If anyone can find them both in a single weekend, Norfolk resident and butterfly obsessive Patrick Barkham can!

Join him, in 2027, for a fun weekend of butterflying in some of the most beautiful places in East Anglia.

With the beautiful historic city of Norwich as our base, we will spend one day in the Broads hunting for the Swallowtail. We will then spend one day in Norfolk’s ancient woodlands and best Purple Emperor hotspots looking for the elusive Emperor. We will also visit at least one heathland site to search for the Silver-Studded Blue.

Late June is the “new July” peak for butterfly species in Britain, and if the weather is kind, we should enjoy encounters with White Admiral, Silver-Washed Fritillary and other lovely species including the increasingly rare Small Tortoiseshell. We will also enjoy the best dragonflies and birds that Norfolk’s unique wetlands and woodlands have to offer.

Day 1: Arrival and meeting at the hotel. Evening meal & introduction to the days ahead.

Day 2: A full day in the beautiful Norfolk Broads, looking for the iconic Swallowtail!

Day 3: Ancient woodlands, heathlands, & other Purple Emperor patches!

Please note: The running order of the days will need to be flexible to take into account weather conditions and flight season of our target butterfly species.