Orkney Island Holidays
Special Holidays
Romania Special
A multi interest Holiday in Romania, looking at birds, wild flowers, insects, other wildlife and local culture. We explore the Danube Delta, Black Sea Coast, Lowland Steppes of Dobrogea, and Carpathian Mountains. This Holiday is ideal for all levels of bird watchers and wildlife enthusiasts keen to learn more, with many easily seen birds, flowers and wonderful scenery. The pace is relaxed and the varied itinerary makes the Holiday enjoyable for everyone.
Our tour is organised with Daniel Petrescu and Ibis Tours, a local family-run Wildlife Tour Company in Romania. Daniel was born and brought up in the Danube Delta and has extensive knowledge of the country's wildlife.
His experience of boats and life in the Delta is second to none.
He is a professional photographer and helps all guests get good photo opportunities.
The Holiday is co-led by Orkney Island Holidays and Ibis Tours staff. The emphasis will be on birds, but as usual we will take a close look at the flowering plants and insects, and some of Romania's culture, history, rural way of life and wonderful scenery, with a glimpse of Dracula's Castle!
Download your illustrated Romania Brochure for full details.
Costs include
Full board ensuite accommodation, Transfers and transport within Romania, Daily excursions as per itinerary, Comprehensive Guiding, Entrance fees.
Extra costs
Return scheduled flights to Bucharest, which can be arranged through Ridgway Travel, Kirkwall, or method of your choice.
Tips to Ibis Tours staff at your discretion, Personal insurance,
Things of a purely personal nature.
Romania highlights
Mountain, Lowland & Delta scenery, close up views of many birds and flowers, Romanian culture & History, local music, travelling on the Floating Hotel, Dracula's Bran Castle, Brown Bears in the City, and an impression of the huge scale of the country.
Romania holiday
We will explore the Danube Delta by floating Hotel and attendant craft. These craft are all owned and run by Ibis Tours. They will allow us to maximise our time in the Delta, and enable us to get really close views of the wildlife and enjoy the peace and serenity of the area. The floating hotel provides us with a comfortable mobile home, from which to explore the twisting channels in specially converted lifeboats for wildlife viewing. The food on board is excellent, and the view from the restaurant panoramic.
The Carpathian mountains, Black Sea coastal areas and the Lowland Steppes of Dobrogea will be explored using Ibis Tours own mini coach, with some easy paced walking excursions to search for wildlife. A comfortable Hotel with en-suite rooms will be used in the Carpathian Mountains.
The Danube Delta is not just the world's largest reed bed, but has dense woodlands of ash, willow, oak and poplar, plus grazing marshes, man-made fish ponds, orchards and small fishing and reed gathering villages. Bird specialities include both white and Dalmatian pelicans, ibises, egrets, pygmy cormorant, ferruginous duck, red-crested pochard, red-necked grebe, Savi's warbler and white-tailed eagle. The sheer numbers and quality of birds and the vastness of the area is spectacular.
The Lowland Steppes of Dobrogea is a dry lowland region between the River Danube, as it flows from south to north before forming the delta, and the lagoons and Black Sea to the east. The landscape is typically rolling steppe and agricultural country, dotted with woodlands and brackish and freshwater lakes. Many birds can be seen here, including such specialities as collared pratincole, pied wheatear, calandra lark, lesser spotted eagle, hawfinch, black woodpecker, Saker falcon and numerous wetland species.
The Black Sea Coast area has a series of shallow, brackish lakes and salt marsh containing scattered pools, which are extremely rich in birds. On our previous visits this area has been stuffed full with a bewildering number of bird species, so take your time and absorb the spectacle. Herons, egrets, terns and ducks can be seen in large numbers, as well as passage warblers, shrikes, hoopoes and rollers. Other birds possible are bluethroat, Balkan yellow wagtail, numerous waders, and pratincoles etc. This is also the main feeding area for the small population of Dalmatian Pelicans in the Delta.
The Carpathian Mountains are the backbone of Central and Eastern Europe and are famed for their wildlife, which lies hidden in vast ancient forests, in particular large carnivores like Brown Bears. Bears are quite easy to observe especially when they approach towns in search of scraps. We will make an evening excursion to try to see Bears. The birds in the mountains and forests might include ring ouzels, alpine accentors, raptors, woodpeckers, wagtails, buntings and pipits. There will be a wealth of alpine flowers and butterflies to test our identification skills too.
Specimen Itinerary
(Please note that this itinerary may change to make the most of new circumstances & weather).| Day 1 | - | Morning flight to Romania from London Heathrow. Arrive Otopeni Airport in Bucharest mid afternoon and travel in to the Carpathian Mountains. Night at Hotel in Carpathians. |
| Day 2-3 | - | Explore Carpathians for montane and forest birds such as woodpeckers, owls, ring ouzels, pipits, raptors, buntings and wonderful scenery. A cable car ride to the top of one of the mountains and a visit to the area of Dracula's Castle will be included. Brown Bear excursion one evening. Nights in Carpathians. |
| Day 4 | - | Drive through the mountains of Transylvania to the lowlands of Dobrogea and Black Sea region of eastern Romania with stops to look at scenery and wildlife along the way. During our journey we will get a feel for the vastness of Romania. Night on board the Floating Hotel in Tulcea. |
| Day 5-7 | - | Aboard our Floating Hotel we explore the Famous Danube Delta. We will cruise amongst the channels between the reed beds and woodlands of the Delta for a myriad of waterbirds and woodland species, and see the way people live and work in the Delta. Nights afloat in the Delta. |
| Day 8 | - | Our fourth and final day exploring the Danube Delta, before our return cruise through the channels of the Delta to Tulcea. Night on board the Floating hotel in Tulcea. |
| Day 9-10 | - | Explore the lowland plains of Dobrogea, hills, woodlands, lakes, reed beds and coastal Black Sea lagoons for raptors, waterfowl, songbirds and waders. Nights at Ibis Tours Hotel in Tulcea. |
| Day 11 | - | Travel to Bucharest for afternoon flight back to London Heathrow. |
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