The Pyrenees 2019 (Greentours)

The Pyrenean Mountains are one of the last great wildness areas left in Europe. The high craggy peaks and the steep-sided forested valleys harbour an amazing variety of wildlife that has endured the long presence of man in this timeless landscape.

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Highlights

The magnificent ‘enchanted mountains’ of Aiques Tortes, one of Spain’s most beautiful National Parks.

See carpets of blue gentians, pink primulas and elegant snowbells.

Exceptional butterfly fauna: see hundred or more species including Apollos, Twin-spot Fritillary, Spanish Purple Hairstreak, Turquoise Blue, Marbled Fritillary and Pygmy Skippe.

More fantastic wildlife: Pyrenean Brook Salamanders, Chamois, Golden Eagles, Alpine Accentors, all overseen by the majestic Lammergeier.

See Nigritella austriaca, Small White Orchid, Dactylorhiza caramulensis, Marsh Felwort, Gouan’s Buttercup, green-flowered Tofield’s Asphodel, Pedicularis mixta and purple Iris latifolia, all alongside a marvellous display of Viola cornuta on the Pic d’Aneto slopes.

Aromatic meadows and woodlands full of an altogether different flora including Leuzea conifera, blue Catananche caerulea and the strange Coris monspeliensis.