Dates & Prices

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Dates: 27th May – 3rd June 2026

Price: £1,645 Places available

Single Room Supplement: £195

Deposit: £150 per person

Price Includes: Accommodation, all meals, ground transport, services of guides, holiday report

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

Conservation Donation: Butterfly Conservation Europe

Leaders: Jason Mitchell & Graham Hart

Group Size: Minimum of 4 and a maximum of 10 guests plus 1-2 leaders

Grade: Gentle pace in meadows & mountain terrain

Holiday Highlights

  • Visit one of the best areas in the whole of France (and indeed Europe!) for butterflies & flowers
  • One centre tour, staying in a picturesque village in the Pyrénées-Orientales – the perfect base for exploring the area!
  • See 75+ species of spring butterflies 
  • Special species – Violet Copper, Spanish Fritillary, Provencal Fritillary, Spanish Festoon, Apollo, Chequered Blue, Spanish Swallowtail and lots more!
  • Led by locals! Both of our guides are long-term residents in France with a deep understanding & knowledge of the country, it’s language, and its impressive nature!
  • Some great flowers & other wildlife to enjoy too!
  • Relaxed pace ideally suited to photography & full enjoyment of the wildlife & scenery
  • Contribute to Butterfly Conservation Europe

Join us in the eastern French Pyrenees for Violet Copper, Spanish Fritillary, and a feast of other spring butterflies!

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The eastern French Pyrénées (Les Pyrénées Orientales in French) lie along the French border with Spain and Andorra. They are the eastern part of the chain of mountains linking the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean Sea and were once part of Spain.  The dominant climatic influence of the Eastern Pyrenees is the Mediterranean; the climate is warmer and the days sunnier than elsewhere in the Pyrenees.

The butterflies that we can find are a beautiful mix of interesting and colourful species. Because of the proximity to Spain (and we shall also enter Spain on at least one of our days), we will find many of the species more commonly associated there like Spanish Fritillary and Spanish Festoon, Spanish Gatekeeper and Spanish Marbled White and many spring time butterflies. We also have a particular target species that we’ll focus on finding and showing you – the stunning Violet Copper! Our guide is an expert on this species and has been studying and helping with its conservation for 30+ years. Under his guidance you will not only see this beautiful butterfly, but you will learn all about its ecology as well (including an illustrated talk given at the hotel at some point during the week).

There are many other butterflies we can find and these include Apollo, Clouded Apollo, Southern Scarce Swallowtail, Marsh Fritillary (subspecies beckeri), Provençal Fritillary, Weaver’s Fritillary, Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary, False Heath Fritillary, Provence Orange Tip, Mountain Small White, Western Dappled White, Mountain Dappled White, Map Butterfly, Duke of Burgundy Fritillary, Cardinal, Southern White Admiral, Chequered Blue, Osiris Blue, Chapman’s Blue, Amanda’s Blue, Provençal Short-tailed Blue, Provence Chalkhill Blue, Green Underside Blue, Turquoise Blue,Geranium Argus, Sooty Copper, Pearly Heath, De Prunner’s Ringlet, Bright-eyed Ringlet, Red-underwing Skipper and Olive Skipper, are just a few of the other butterflies we will see.

Our base for the week will be in a charming village hotel with a family atmosphere.. The area boasts a wide variety of habitats, from Mediterranean garigue and maquis, through holm (Quercus ilex) and downy oak (Q. pubescens), beech woods, calcareous grasslands and alpine screes. The Mediterranean area will host orchids and other typical plants such as Galactites tomentosa, Aphyllanthes monspeliensis, Helianthemum, Salvia and other Labiates. The woods higher up host a different set of orchids such as Epipactis, Limodorum abortivum, Cephalanthera longifolia, Corallorhiza trifida, Platanthera and Orchis militaris. The subalpine areas are natural rock gardens festooned with Saxifrages, Sempervivums, Globularias, Saponaria ocymoides, Dianthus, Gentians, rampions, Aster alpinus and  Rhododendron ferrugineu.

We look forward to welcoming you on what promises to be a fantastic tour!

Male Violet Copper           

Day 1: Arrival and meet at Perpignan Airport, followed by a transfer to our comfortable hotel, which is situated in a picturesque village, nestled in the majestic mountains of the Pyrénées-Orientales.

Depending on flight arrival times, we will have the possibility of stopping on route for a stretch of the legs and a first taste of some butterflies, before getting into the mountains proper. If not, once we are at the hotel and checked in, we will take a walk out from there.

Day 2: Today we will have our first taste of one of the main target species of the trip, the stunning Violet Copper! Our site also provides other great species, including Purple-edged Copper, Amanda’s Blue, Marsh Fritillary (sub species beckeri), Bright Eyed Ringlet, Geranium Argus, Chequered Skipper. There are also other more common butterflies including Green Hairstreak, Duke of Burgundy, Small Copper, Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Meadow Fritillary, Heath Fritillary, Grizzled, Red underwing, and Dingy Skippers.

We will also take a wander in the local area to some other hot spots – for the Violet Copper in particular. One such spot features fabulous meadows and some super colonies of Violet Copper, set against breathtaking views up the valley to the high peaks.

Day 3: We will head over the border into Spain today, to explore Cadi National Park, with some fantastic scenery, reminiscent of Gavarnie in the Haute Pyrenees. Target Species of the day include Osiris Blue, Chequered Blue, Lesser-spotted Fritillary, Iberian Scarce Swallowtail, Spanish Festoon, Cleopatra, and Provence Orange-tip, with many other species also present.

Last year we also found a Wryneck’s nest in an old wall so fingers crossed it will be there again. We will wander along on a good track on a steep and rocky hillside sometimes through light woodland and in other areas open and rocky habitat and one very damp place that attracts lots of mud puddling blue butterflies.

Day 4: In contrast to yesterday, today we will stay fairly local and head to Eyne and into the Reserve Naturel. Here we should see Clouded Apollos, Black-veined Whites, various small Fritillaries blues and Skippers. Then we will move on to another site about 20 minutes away where we will walk up a rough track in mostly open habitat, where there are many grassland and rocky terrain species, such as Chequered Blue, Amanda’s Blue, Turquoise Blue. and we may well be lucky enough so see an Apollo or two.

Day 5: We will take a longer journey today, but it should be very worthwhile as we aim to show you the Spanish Fritillary! Due to the extreme rareness of this species now, and the sad ever present menace of collectors, the name of where we are going is not disclosed, but our guides Graham and Jason visited it this year and saw lots of the target species as well as the  beckeri subspecies of the Marsh Fritillary, a lot of Chequered Blues, Spanish Festoons, Cleopatras, Provence Orange-tip, several species of small Fritillaries and many other species. It truly is a fantastic site!

Day 6: Reserve Naturelle de Py. We will take a walk through woodland glades and rocky areas where Graham and Jason have an “Apollo spot”. On their last visit they were serenaded by no less that 8 Apollos flying down from cliffs above and flying within a metre of them. There were also a good number of small Fritillaries and Duke of Burgundy was spotted which set Graham off on an egg hunt, finding several Duke eggs on Cowslip leaves, but not where you might expect them if you know the species in the UK.

Day 7: Our last full day and we will take you to another Violet Copper site to finish off the week.

We will spend half the day with the Violet Coppers and all the other species that accompany them, then we will go to the south facing side of a valley where the habitat is completely different, dry and rocky. We will go to a gulley with a stream in it which usually attracts a lot of butterflies. Sitting down here you can look down the valley to the breathtaking high mountain on the other side. If the weather is very good, we could go up to the Col where debilis, the mountain subspecies of Marsh Fritillary might just have hatched and where Graham also knows a spot for some beautiful Vanilla Orchids.

Day 8: Departure day with a transfer back to Perpignan airport. As usual, we will make wildlife stops on route as appropriate and as time allows.

 

Allan F, 2017…I had such an enjoyable trip to the Pyrenees with splendid guides that made us all feel so comfortable and packed so much in that we made it an unforgettable experience.

This was the first time I had been on an organised wildlife holiday and was a little unsure what to expect, but I must say that I was completely delighted with the whole trip. From day 1 our friendly and enthusiastic guides whisked the twelve who made up our party off to selected sights teeming with butterflies and carpeted with colourful meadow flowers. We had ample time to explore each area and photograph the plants and insects encountered.

Our accommodation was in a comfortable small hotel, where the staff couldn’t do enough to make us feel welcome and in the evening provided us with the most delicious three course meals all in the most charming of settings with a mountain backdrop.

We visited numerous differing habits through the week, from shady valleys to alpine pastures and higher peaks which enabled us to see more than 90 different species of butterfly including some rarities like violet copper, marbled fritillaries and Spanish festoon as well as innumerable orchids, alpines and other beautiful and interesting plants and flowers.

I can’t wait to book my next trip with Greenwings, will it be Greece, the Alps or perhaps Bulgaria, I’m spoilt for choice.

Stuart H, 2017…My expectations were exceeded in nearly every respect. It was undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable trips I have ever been on. The hotel, the food, the guides, the locations, the participants, the vehicles and even the weather were all nigh on perfect and combined to make it an outstanding and memorable holiday. In addition, I would like to commend the guides especially. Exceptionally knowledgeable and hard-working, they did their utmost to ensure we both saw and enjoyed everything we could possibly hope to see. The whole trip was an absolute delight.

Barrie & Anita S, 2017…We had a fantastic holiday with Greenwings again. We could relax and enjoy the area, the scenery, the butterflies and the flowers without having to worry about anything, because the whole holiday was well organised. We enjoyed the company of the other guests and the guides were very helpful, extremely knowledgeable and friendly.

Michael…Great butterflies, great scenery, great food, great driver! The French Pyrenees trip was well planned to visit all butterfly sites at optimal times. A great holiday with dramatic scenery and a profusion of butterflies and flowers. A very enjoyable trip.