Naturetrek Traveller Reviews

Short break to Wells with naturetrek birdwatching. Excellent hotel and food, the 2 guides were very helpful and informative and made sure we went to the best sites for seeing the birds.

the tour operator was Naturetrek, i have travelled with them before, always very helpful and efficient.

The holiday was a combination of birdwatching outings, generally in the mornings, and free time in the afternoons to relax and enjoy the hotel, it's beach, snorkelling and water sports facilities or to use it as a base to visit Soufriere. The hotel (Anse Chastenet) was very comfortable with good food and friendly service.

Naturetrek is an established operator specialising in trips with a focus on natural history and we have travelled with them a lot now. They produce a good brochure and have an excellent, informative and easy to navigate website. They offer a range of well planned and interesting trips. We have travelled with them as loyal customers for some 30 years now, participating in about 20 different holidays, all of which have had the best local guides, good itineraries and best available accommodation. Not the cheapest operator, but worth every penny

A wonderful trip to see the Starling Murmuration in the Somerset Levels. Seen not once, but three times. We were also fortunate enough to see a Wildfowl Murmuration as well. It was one of the 'must see' wildlife sights.

This was my 7th Naturetrek trip and all seven have been superbly organised. From the staff at Naturetrek itself, to the Tour Guides, everything has been first class.

I did both these holidays with Nature Trek last year. The accommodation selected was excellent as were the team leaders and botanists who lead, advised and assisted all of us during the duration of the holiday.

I think that Nature Trek have a variety of holidays covering all interests and budgets and I shall certainly use them again.

We had a wonderful visit to Extremadura at Christmas. The accommodation was in a rural hotel. It was very comfortable in an impressive building with a great atmosphere. The family made us very welcome and looked after us well. During our stay we saw great flocks of birds such as cranes, great & little bustards, pin-tailed sand grouse and stone curlews. We also saw many birds that are difficult to see at home such as firecrest, crested tit, little bittern, bearded tit, and hawfinch.

We have travelled with naturetrek several times. On this trip our leaders were very expert and helpful. They were adept at adjusting to changing conditions. They had well organised picnics in well chosen places, and sensible coffee / loo stops during each day out. All the information provided was reliable and the arrangements all went according to plan. We would be happy to travel with them again.

A small group of Birdwatchers were conveyed by minibus to the best birdwatching areas of Extremadura, Spain. We stayed in a very comfortable country hotel where we enjoyed excellent breakfasts and evening meals with wine. Ample picnic lunches were provided by our hard working guides. The holiday was well organised, varied and our two guides were extremely knowledgeable and helpful. It was altogether a very enjoyable experience.

Naturetrek was very well organised. Documentation before departure was excellent. They were flexible about travel arrangements and diet. Their staff were helpful and friendly at all times.

A lovely birdwatching holiday over Christmas in Extremadura Spain. Loads of wonderful birds, some terrific, wild scenery and a great escape from the commercial business of Christmas in England.

Not the cheapest wildlife tour operator, I guess, but everything was handled so professionally, yet with that precious personal touch. I felt very well cared for and in expert hands from start to finish. Wonderful guides, who appeared totally committed to the task at hand, with genuine enthusiasm for birdwatching and making the most of each opportunity. They were also very pleasant people to be with! If this is typical of Naturetrek (which I gather it is), then I am looking forward to another trip with them, when I can afford it.

Algarve birdwatching holiday with Naturetrek 22-8/12/2015

tickets and travel arrangements worked efficiently

I have Multiple Sclerosis & can't walk far, so can't do groups. We met our guide at the local RSPB reserve & he took us round the reserves in his car, pointing out birds on the way and we walked short distances.The weather was sunny the whole 3 days. He showed us so many birds and pointed out descriptions,flight patterns & calls. He had excellent hearing & taught us how to wait & look,but also attracted birds closer. Dave carried a superb scope, through which we could see birds in detail. We saw a reed warbler and coal tits plus glimpsed a Cetti's warbler. We visited hides and saw stonechat and lots of water fowl. Plumage alters from male to female & summer/winter and he was good at pointing out the variations. At dusk on the first 2 days we headed for the reed beds to watch the half million starlings streaming across to roost, forming and re-forming before noisily settling down for the night. Fantastic sight! We spent the third day at Slimbridge with magnificent views from Holden Hide over fields and water, spotting peregrines, European cranes, golden plover, smew, wigeon etc. The highlight of our trip was a buzzard perched 3 feet from the road. (The above description is a drop in the ocean.)

Naturetrek tailored the trip to my needs with an accessible room and walk-in shower, evening meals included, as we were tired at the end of each day. The company also got the price down to a reasonable level for us and we were delighted to have the guide to ourselves for the three days. We had a detailed description for each day,good directions for travel to locations and satnav codes of the car parks. Naturetrek selected an excellent, experienced guide who was very well organised and planned for all eventualities : he adapted to my loss of concentration (due to the MS) after midday. He even came up with the telephone number for Slimbridge so that I could book a mobility scooter - something I had forgotten to do before travelling. He was good at teaching us how to describe birds and their location to others, so we got a lot out of our holiday and it was worth every penny.

We flew to Seville with a Naturetrek guide, then were met at the airport by 2 more with the minibuses. We were taken to a pleasant little hotel in El Rocio where we spent 2 days driving round, primarily looking for lynx but also for anything else, and saw plenty of birds, several of which were raptors. On the third morning, we were told we would have another "go" at looking for a lynx before we left after lunch for the mountains and the other viable lynx territory, near Anducar. This time we were lucky to see a young male lynx, who had just caught a rabbit. We drove round for about half an hour so he could eat his meal in peace, then we looked for him again. He was sitting at the edge of a wood, by some meadowland. We watched him washing his face for about 5 minutes, then he slowly rose and walked off left. It was magical; we had such good views. The guides were really dedicated to providing us with the best experiences. We then had a 3-4 hour drive to the mountains and settled into the next hotel. The food there was outstanding, although they had not managed to procure soya milk for me. The next days were spent looking for, and finding, ibex, mouflon an otter, Spanish Imperial eagle, plus lots of other birds. The weather was a real bonus as it was blue skies and pleasant temperatures all the time. When we returned to Seville at the end of the holiday, it was 24C!

Naturetrek is a very caring and efficient company. Whenever you have a question, you can phone them and it will be dealt with. The guides are well trained and have excellent skills, both in animal observation and people-management. They visit many destinations and I am looking forward to travelling with them again.