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Dates: 29th June – 6th July 2025 Confirmed departure
Price: £1,795 Full
Single Room Supplement: £195
Deposit: £150 per person
Price Includes: All meals, accommodation, ground transport, services of guides, holiday report
Not Included: International travel, travel insurance, cable car tickets, drinks & any other personal items.
Conservation Donation: Butterfly Conservation Europe
Leader: Patrick Barkham & local guide
Group Size & Travel: Minimum of 6 and a maximum of 12 guests plus 2 leaders
Grade: Gentle paced and generally easy
Holiday Highlights
- Explore the heart of the Cantabrian Mountains with lofty peaks of limestone, a land rich in lepidoptera!
- Led by Patrick Barkham, writer & naturalist who has been visiting the Picos for 25+ years
- Patrick will be joined by a local Spanish guide, for birds, mammals, general nature & culture
- Enjoy 80-100+ butterfly species from the 150+ that reside in the Picos (100 seen in 2019 & 2022)
- Star species we’ll look for include Apollo, Dusky Large Blue, Large Chequered Skipper, Scarce Copper, Purple-edged Copper, Gavarnie Blue, Lefèbvre’s & Chapman’s Ringlet, Woodland Brown, & many more!
- Some fine birds possible too, including Griffon Vulture, Bonelli’s Eagle, Short-toed Eagle & Booted Eagle, Alpine Accentor, Alpine Chough, Snow Finch & maybe even Wallcreeper or Lammergeier
- Stay in a high quality hotel, with stunning views & a large garden & pool to relax in
- A relaxed pace one centre tour, designed to enjoy maximum time in the field & soak up the sense of ‘being there’!
- Possible to travel direct to Santander by ferry from Plymouth or Portsmouth
- Tour supports Butterfly Conservation Europe
The Picos is at the core of The Cantabrian Mountain range, which stretches along the north coast of Spain for about 300 kilometres. It is one of the most beautiful and beguiling parts of the whole region. On this tour you can explore this beautiful, unspoilt and verdant region, with its stunning high-altitude wildflower meadows and historic villages Our base for the week in the Liébana Valley is a high quality and charming mountain hotel, built in the traditional stone-and-timber style, typical of the area. It is set in its own gardens and with a pool for guests to enjoy – the perfect place to relax in after a day in the field. The town of Potes is close. The town sits at the convergence of two rivers of Liébana. It is one of the most attractive towns in Cantabria & the old town, a historical monument, is a fascinating maze of alleys and streets with a medieval atmosphere. Plenty of butterflies will be found during our leisurely days out, on peaceful rural tracks and meadows. It is also possible to see rare high-altitude species without a strenuous ascent thanks to the Fuente Dé cable car, which takes visitors up an 800 metre high cliff-face into the heart of the Picos peaks. The Fuente Dé cable car is also only a few miles away from the hotel. It will take us up to the El Cable lookout point with spectacular views from a height of 1847 meters. Over 150 butterfly species reside among the spectacular and rugged range of limestone mountains. Our daily excursions from the attractive and unspoilt village which is our base, will take in a variety of habitats and scenery, including flower rich meadows fizzing with a range of fritillaries and other goodies, woodlands and sunlit glades and then up into the mountains themselves for alpine treasures, hidden among rocky pastures and limestone pavement! We won’t be rushing around to a build tick list on this holiday and we want to slow down and focus on the ecology of the butterflies, as well as on simply enjoying being in beautiful and wildlife rich locations. That said, we should still see a very good number of different butterfly species, with 90-100+ recorded on our previous visits in 2019, 2022 & 2023. These included stars such as the Apollo and Gavarnie Blue, Bog Fritillary, dusky large blue, Camberwell Beauty, Chapman’s Ringlet and Large Chequered Skipper. This promises to be a very popular tour – we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment!
This itinerary is subject to change as we react to changing weather conditions – we will adjust plans to maximise our chances of seeing as many butterflies as we can, and enjoy the best of the sunshine in the best places.
More details will follow in due course.
Ken & Gillian E, 2022: We thoroughly enjoyed the holiday in the beautiful and unspoilt Picos de Europa. Our leaders took us to varied sites, each with its own flora and fauna: beautiful meadows, mountain villages, and the high mountains of Fuente Dé. Managing to see a 100 different species of butterfly was a testament to the knowledge and patience of our leaders when we were out in the field and then going through photos at the end of each day.
Emma & Aidan W, 2023: Our guide was very knowledgeable and took us to some great locations. His knowledge of the different species, not only butterflies, was excellent. The hotel was very comfortable and well located for the sites. We enjoyed not spending too much time in the minibus.
Leon A, 2023: We had an excellent guide, the second time I have been with him this year. With only 7 people on the tour I think we did remarkably well to record 115 butterfly species. All in all a brilliant holiday.
Clive B, 2023: Excellent holiday. The position of the hotel and nearby localities helped spend plenty of time in field. Group size was ideal with numbers and the perfect weather also helped greatly. The leader was also excellent.
Picos De Europa 3 – 10 July 2022 Holiday Report
Butterflies of Picos de Europa Holiday Report 2019
Butterflies of Picos De Europa holiday report 2018
