Day 1: The tour starts in Poprad, the main town in the area. Drive from Poprad to Liptovsky Mikulas for overnight at the beautiful Grand Castle hotel.
Day 2: Leave for the mountains after a leisurely breakfast, and drive the length of both the key valleys we explore in the Western Tatras accompanied by a Project Bear guide. Lunch at our ranger cottage in the mountains (unavailable to any other tourists). Afternoon walk looking for bear prints, and tree markings in the forest, and scouring the hill tops for the animals themselves.
Take an evening drive through the valleys to catch animals still out feeding. Dinner in our cottage, and a chance to talk about Project Bear with your member of the team (b,l,d).
Day 3: Take an early morning drive through the valleys in search of bears. If we spot one not too far away, we will walk to get closer and study its behaviour. Breakfast at the cottage.
After breakfast we will take a walk through breathtaking scenery, accompanied by a park ranger, in areas forbidden to tourists. These are the most wildlife sensitive areas and we hope to find the rare Tatra chamois, and Tatra marmot, as well as deer, foxes and, of course, bears. We will almost certainly find tracks of wolves and lucky participants may see them.
At the end of the walk we will once again explore the valleys by car, and take the chance to check our special movement sensitive camera traps to see which animals have been traversing the forest in recent days. At the end of a long, fruitful (we hope), but strenuous day of walking, we drive to the Hotel Permon with one of the nicest wellness centres in Slovakia. Dinner and overnight at the Permon (b,pl).
Day 4: A leisurely day offering the chance of more wellness treatment before heading off to Tatranska Lomnica, and the impressive Grand Hotel. A fantastic cable car starts from outside the hotel and climbs to the top of Slovakia’s second highest peak which offers amazing views across the mountains (b).
Day 5: Early morning start to a special lake with a beaver colony, and some beautiful bird life. Return to the hotel for breakfast. Set off late morning to the Belianske Tatras, driving to a special spot away from tourist trails to continue our walks in search of the wildlife of the Tatras. We finish at another special rangers cottage where we take dinner and spend the night (b,pl,d).
Day 6: The following morning, we start early again carrying a packed breakfast, and follow more special trails used extensively by bears, wolves and other wildlife. We return to the cottage in time for a late lunch before driving back to Tatranska Lomnica and the Grand Hotel (pb,l).
Day 7: Drive to Poprad with the chance to take optional excursions to explore castles and medieval towns in the area. Overnight at the Alzbetka hotel (b).
Day 8: Tour ends in Poprad (b).
Price: € 1095 per person. Minimum: 2 people. Includes all accommodation, local transport, expert wildlife guide and meals as shown. Price does not include international flights, spa treatments, drinks, meals not highlighted and gratuities.
Dates: 13th June, 05th September, 03rd October 2010
Cultural Extension
Day 1: Visit the beautiful old Spis capital of Levoca with its delightful architecture and the mighty Spis castle, which dominates the surrounding countryside. Spis castle is also a great place to see the European Souslik, a ground squirrel classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. Both Levoca and Spis castle form part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Overnight at SV Juraj Pension, Spisska Sobota. (b)
Day 2: Visit the historic open-air museum in Pribylina. This is based around a traditional Liptov village with rebuilt houses here ranging from peasant dwellings to manor houses. There is also the Virgin Mary's Early Gothic Church which dates back to the 13th century. There is opportunity to see how people lived and also to see traditional craftwork such as wood carving, metal work and weaving. Overnight at SV Juraj Pension, Spisska Sobota. (b,l)
Day 3: Tour ends in Poprad (b).
Please contact us for prices and availability.
Key: (p)b = (packed) Breakfast (p)l = (packed) Lunch d = Dinner
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