[StuartDH]

What are your top ten favourite places in Europe that you have either visited or would like to visit? Your top 10 should only include wildlife/rural/natural places like forests, canyons, beaches, mountain ranges, valleys, lakes etc and not the cities or urban areas. It'll be great to hear everyone's ideas so get posting...if you can only think of a few, add them in and come back to add some more to your list when you've thought of them

[John]

1. Lesvos. Truly a magical place to visit. The birdlife is incredible where east meets west bringing with it a few birds you would struggle to see in the usual European locations.

2. Coto Donana Parque national. A totally unspoilt area of a multitude of habitats that is located not too far from the Portugese Border and is situated more or less between Huelva and Seville. It is stuffed with birds. Star bird here is the Spanish Imperial Eagle.

3. The mountainous are around Ronda on the Costa del Sol. Stronghold of many birds of prey including Griffon Vulture, Short toed Eagle plus the odd Egyptian and Black Vulture, Booted and Bonellie's Eagle for good measure.

4. Portugal, the Algarve. Some excellent reserves along this long strip of land running along the southern area of Portugal from Spain to Cabo de sao Vicente. Also just over the Northern Algarve boundary you have the Castro Verde where Great and Little Bustards roam together with large numbers of Montague Harriers, the odd Roller plus many more birds.

5. The NW corner of the Greek Mainland, bordering Albania. You fly into Parga to get there. A hugely underwatched area of Greece with some amazing wetlands with anything from Flamingoes, White and Dalmation Pelicans, Slender billed Gulls and much much more.

6. Mallorca. A smashing birdwatching island with plenty of places to visit. Well worth going to the Albufeira Marshes & waterworks (Depudora), Boquer Valley, Cuber Reservoir, Selina de Levanti and many more.

7. Kefalonia. Not as good as Lesvos as it only has one wetland area but it is a stunning island with many mountains, valleys and plains. Some excellent birds here that can be quite easily found if you look hard enough.

8. Scilly Isles in Autumn. Awesome place to visit if it's rare birds you are after.

9. Norfolk / Suffolk. An anytime of the year area to visit with enough reserves and bird rich habitats to last you a lifetime.

10. Scotland. Based anywhere near Loch Garten (near Aviemore). Use it as a start point to visit the Cairngorms and surrounding area plus venturing throughout the whole of the North of Scotland, perhaps calling into the Isle of Skye as well. What can you see. Capercaillie, Ptarmigan, Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Black Grouse, Red Grouse, Crested Tit, Scottish Crossbill plus many more.

John

[Flora]

Just returned from Norway! What a magical place! Fjords that are endless and mountains so high they take your breath away!The air is clean and pure in the Ulvik and Vradal regions. Can't wait to return.

[Earth Hart]

If I could live in the Bialowieskiej Forest in Poland I wouldn't want the other nine places. With Wisent, Wolf, Tarpan, Bear & Boar and the last major stand of primeval boreal forest, I would be closer to the gods.

[Owl-Light]

Originally Posted by Earth Hart

If I could live in the Bialowieskiej Forest in Poland I wouldn't want the other nine places. With Wisent, Wolf, Tarpan, Bear & Boar and the last major stand of primeval boreal forest, I would be closer to the gods.

Sounds wonderful, Will.

I'd go for Transilvania, the ancient forests of the Carpathian Mountains in central Romania, one of the last remaining true wilderness areas in Europe is found amongst the peaks. The remote mountains and forests of the Carpathian contain the highest population of bears, lynx and wolves in Europe.

I guess I could come up with another 9 with some thought but that would be no. 1 for me.

[Earth Hart]

Originally Posted by Sheryl La Bouchardiere

Sounds wonderful, Will.

I'd go for Transilvania, the ancient forests of the Carpathian Mountains in central Romania, one of the last remaining true wilderness areas in Europe is found amongst the peaks. The remote mountains and forests of the Carpathian contain the highest population of bears, lynx and wolves in Europe.

I guess I could come up with another 9 with some thought but that would be no. 1 for me.

A friend of mine works for the Carpathian Large Carnivore Trust & keeps on trying to get me over there, just wish I could afford it. If I get a few gigs over the winter then, come Spring I may go.

[paul m]

Yes, Bialowieska is *the* place I would like to go to - shall try and arrange it for next year. Lots of links at http://www.hum.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/pnp/bial.htm
Unfortunately the national park is only part of the wider forest which is being exploited shamefully.
One correction, Earth Hart, it's a mixed forest (rather than boreal one) which is what makes it unique.

Originally Posted by Earth Hart

If I could live in the Bialowieskiej Forest in Poland I wouldn't want the other nine places. With Wisent, Wolf, Tarpan, Bear & Boar and the last major stand of primeval boreal forest, I would be closer to the gods.

[paul m]

Sorry, should have added this - one of the great threats is building a road through it! You can add your voices to protests at:
http://www.viabalticainfo.org/spip.php?rubrique20
or
http://passport.panda.org/campaigns/...ampaignId=1341

Good thread this - could be very helpful for anyone planning wild wanderings. I'll add some of my favourites: they'll mainly be in the sunnier south and interesting for their insects!

[quote=paul m] Unfortunately the national park is only part of the wider forest which is being exploited shamefully.
QUOTE]

[paul m]

My second suggestion - where I've actually been!
Incidentally, I've started a thread for 'how to get there, where to stay' Where to go, how to get there? which might be useful for planning trips. This suggestion actually comes with built-in travel suggestion!
The Pyrenees are interesting all over - flowery meadows in the spring, birds of prey, good variety of insects. The Spanish side seems to me to be a bit bleaker, because hotter in the summer than the French side; and I prefer the eastern end to the western (the foothills go right down to pretty undisturbed coast), but that's personal.
A great way to get about the eastern French Pyrenees is on the petit train jaune - http://www.countrycousins.co.uk/yelltren.htm or
http://www.villafrench.com/whattodo.htm The railway travels high above deep valleys (see raptors from above) and every stop has something interesting to see and somewhere to stay.

[paul m]

John has 3 out of 10 of his sites in Greece. I would agree with somewhere in Greece, almost anywhere in Greece ... but I can't decide which are the best!
If you think Lesvos/Lesbos is good then you should also consider Chios (half a day's boat ride away) which is much more craggy, wooded and has some eccentric things like the petrified forest.

Islands are all a bit limited, in some ways if you don't get them at the right time you're stuck! - most seem to have a place where butterflies aggregate for one week a year (a famous valley on Rhodes/Rhodos, for instance); but my favourite is Thasos/Thassos to the north which is not spectacular (for mountains &c) but is nicely walkable and has some interesting insects (including at least one endemic beetle).

Still can't decide - all sorts of big animals towards the mountains in the north. The southern mainland tends to be pretty barren in the summer but in the spring the Mani is a great for flowers. Almost anywhere on the Pelopennese is good for insects - beetles, bugs, mantids, butterflies ... The archaeological sites are often havens for wildlife - at Delphi you can see big raptors flying down the canyon and smaller birds nesting in the ruins.

So, can't make my mind up on *one* place so I'll go for Greece as a whole! I've even found interesting insects in the depth of Athens ....

Originally Posted by John

1. Lesvos. Truly a magical place to visit. The birdlife is incredible where east meets west bringing with it a few birds you would struggle to see in the usual European locations.

5. The NW corner of the Greek Mainland, bordering Albania. You fly into Parga to get there. A hugely underwatched area of Greece with some amazing wetlands with anything from Flamingoes, White and Dalmation Pelicans, Slender billed Gulls and much much more.

7. Kefalonia. Not as good as Lesvos as it only has one wetland area but it is a stunning island with many mountains, valleys and plains. Some excellent birds here that can be quite easily found if you look hard enough.
John

[paul m]

Continuing my personal tour of Europe:
http://www.wildabouttheworld.com/gal...to/343/cat/511

I don't know Italy very well - beautiful up in the mountains, of course - but my favourite place is the regional park of the Maremma ( http://www.parco-maremma.it/Inglese/index1.htm ) on the coast of Tuscany. It is large and has a range of natural and semi-natural habitats including pine woods, maquis, orchards, grazing land, river, sand dunes and beach (with virtually no one bathing ... ). Access is very restricted (thus the empty beach) in some parts only in small groups with a guide. Could take days to explore ....

[paul m]

Good to see more new(ish) members turning up on the site - I'd particularly welcome more contributions to this thread..... I have holidays to plan!
One country I like is Hungary but I've only spent a few days there, mostly in Budapest - have always wanted to see the beetle around Lake Balaton, not to mention the mountains and forests. Colin runs holidays in the Matra mountains - he's presumably not allowed to advertise here but there's no reason why I can't mention his operations? Sounds good: www.matrawildlife.com although if I were going I'd travel by train rather than air .....

[paul m]

For we (relatively) short-distance travellers, this is a very interesting thread - and perhaps useful for people coming from other continents. Probably some people are missing it because it doesn't appear under 'Europe' but under 'Africa' (computers, who'd have 'em?).
I'm always on the look-out for places to go in Europe - we tend to hear or talk about distant, exotic places but ignore the wonderful places in Europe .... more suggestions?

[Guy F]

Well, my number 1 is definetely the Camargue and surrounding area. Despite going at what is supposedly not a very good time it was still brilliant for birds, mammals, reptiles & amphibians and insects. Everything seemed exotic, from Tree frogs to Flamingos, and the wildlife was all around you. Thinking about it, I'm not sure I'd want to visit at other times of year because the shooting would be difficult to handle.
Second would probably be the Northern Spanish Mountains. I went there not expecting much but found it to be completely unspoilt with loads of interesting wildlife, I visited in May and didn't meet a single British person there!
3rd would probably be The Balearics, I've seen both Mallorca and Minorca but probably haven't got the best out of them wildlife wise. However, the snorkelling is really great and there are lots of interesting insects around. Now that I've travelled a bit more then the birds that I saw there don't seem so impressive, but Minorca was the first place that I'd visited in the Mediterranean area so back then the birds were very new and exciting to me.
4th would be the Greek Islands, of which I've only visited Kefalonia and Crete so I still got a lot of them to explore. The time of year that I visited wasn't the best for wildlife, birds especially, but they are both meant to be great at other times of year. I did still see some nice birds, and again the snorkelling was great. The insects on both of these islands were fantastic, all very exotic and interesting.
That's pretty much the extent of my travelling. I've visited the Atlantic coast of France a few times, the rockpooling there is great and there are some nice birds and other things of interest. Also England is where I spend most of my time and I see lots of nice things here as well!
Places I'd like to visit are Iceland (but only once they stop whaling), Finland, Southern Spain, the Danube delta in Romania, The Alps and Pyrenees and mainland Greece.
Guy

[paul m]

I can now add a Spanish one to my slowly growing list of 'must-see's! I would recommend the Picos de Europa - not quite as magnificent as the Pyrenees but with the advantage of a network of good walkable tracks.
Lots of raptors but I was mainly struck by the numbers of plants in flower in the middle of August.
I've put some pictures of a good walk from Puente De e.g. http://www.wildabouttheworld.com/gal...1/limit/recent
Potes would make a good centre although we stayed on the coast at Commillas - nice town.

Originally Posted by Guy F

..............
Second would probably be the Northern Spanish Mountains. I went there not expecting much but found it to be completely unspoilt with loads of interesting wildlife, I visited in May and didn't meet a single British person there!
3rd would probably be The Balearics, I've seen both Mallorca and Minorca but probably haven't got the best out of them wildlife wise. However, the snorkelling is really great and there are lots of interesting insects around. Now that I've travelled a bit more then the birds that I saw there don't seem so impressive, but Minorca was the first place that I'd visited in the Mediterranean area so back then the birds were very new and exciting to me.
4th would be the Greek Islands, of which I've only visited Kefalonia and Crete so I still got a lot of them to explore. The time of year that I visited wasn't the best for wildlife, birds especially, but they are both meant to be great at other times of year. I did still see some nice birds, and again the snorkelling was great. The insects on both of these islands were fantastic, all very exotic and interesting.
...............
Guy

[Guy F]

I hope you had a good time in Spain. The Picos de Europa look amazing, I'd love to visit there. What I noticed about Spain is how unspoilt large areas of the country are, you can travel for miles only seeing a few small farm houses.
I look forward to seeing some more of your photos and hearing about your sightings.
Guy

[caernerch]

1 -10. outside! the world's greatest freeshow starts outside your front door (sometime's it's even inside as well) - enjoy!
caernerch

[paul m]

Welcome. You're right - it's the back door in my case. I never get tired of our woods or the dales and moors close by .... but then there are other habitats that I'd like to see as well ....

Originally Posted by caernerch

1 -10. outside! the world's greatest freeshow starts outside your front door (sometime's it's even inside as well) - enjoy!
caernerch

[Paul64]

Originally Posted by Owl-Light

Sounds wonderful, Will.

I'd go for Transilvania, the ancient forests of the Carpathian Mountains in central Romania, one of the last remaining true wilderness areas in Europe is found amongst the peaks. The remote mountains and forests of the Carpathian contain the highest population of bears, lynx and wolves in Europe.

I guess I could come up with another 9 with some thought but that would be no. 1 for me.

I'll second this vote of confidence in the Carpathians!