June 22nd – July 1st 2012

FRANCE: The southern French Alps

Price: £ 1575 inc flights, £1395 ex. flights for a 10-day tour

Leaders: Bob Gibbons

The southern French Alps are both spectacularly beautiful and exceptionally rich in flowers and butterflies. Our 10-day tour takes us to the remote Queyras Natural Park, and the northern parts of the Maritime Alps, at a perfect time for alpine flowers and butterflies.

We leave Heathrow in the morning to arrive in Lyon soon afterwards, from where we transfer via the Col de Lautaret to a hotel in the Queyras Natural Park, our base for the next few days. After 4 nights here, we travel southwards to the pleasant little town of Barcelonette, a perfect centre for exploring the northern parts of the Maritime Alps and parts of the Mercantour National Park. After 5 nights here, we drive to Nice for the flight home, arriving at Heathrow in the late afternoon.

Male Black-veined White butterflies Aporia crataegi, with one Glanville Fritillary, gathering en masse to acquire mineral salts from damp soil; french alps, France.

This marvellous area is one of the richest parts of France for flowers, butterflies and other wildlife. For example, both Queyras and the Mercantour National Park have over 2000 species of flowers recorded, and each has its own specialities. The Queyras Natural Regional Park is a remote and peaceful area, with no major through roads, extending eastwards to the high peaks on the Italian border. There is a lovely matrix of flowery pastures and meadows amongst woods, partly on limestone and partly on more acid soils. Depending on the season, and the altitude we reach, we may reasonably expect to see masses of gentians, rock-jasmines, saxifrages, orchids, rampions, alpine clematis and specialities such as the locally-celebrated ‘Queyras milk-vetch’ amongst many other flowers. Butterflies and other insects are abundant, including apollos, mountain clouded yellows, and, of course, masses of blues, fritillaries and ringlets, as well as other spectacular insects such as the Spanish moon moth. Birds of interest here include nutcrackers, crossbills, crested tits, black woodpeckers, black grouse, several species of owl (including the delightful pigmy owl, which can sometimes be seen during the day), and birds of prey such as golden eagles.

Flowery species-rich pastures with masses of trumpet gentians Gentiana acaulis on the Col d'Agnel, Queyras Natural Regional Park, french Alps, France.

The Col d’Izoard (which we cross over on the way into Queyras) is a strikingly beautiful place, with flowers such as the special vanilla orchid Nigritella corneliana, Monte Baldo anemones, louseworts, avens, alpine cabbage and many others. Both species of choughs are here, together with rock sparrows, rock buntings, citril finches and many other montane birds, in addition to butterflies such as peak white. From Barcelonette, we can easily reach the higher parts of the Maritime Alps via five passes, which gives us access to an unrivalled mixture of mountain habitats including the high pastures around the Cime de Bonette, on one of the highest passes in France. Butterflies are abundant and diverse; in good weather, damp patches can be alive with literally hundreds of blues, skippers, swallowtails and black-veined whites. The flowers are as good as those in the Queyras, though slightly more mediterranean in character and with a few specialities. The Maritime Alps are also good for larger mammals such as ibex, chamois and marmots, and birds of prey such as golden and short-toed eagles, and a few re-established lammergeiers. In 2002, we recorded 111 species of butterflies, and a huge range of flowers on this tour, though we had exceptionally good weather, and can’t guarantee to repeat it!

The tour price includes return flights Heathrow-Lyon and Nice-Heathrow, accommodation with private facilities throughout on half-board basis, transport throughout, and services of leaders, including pre-tour information and post-tour lists.

Tour code: NHT/12/07

Price: £ 1575 inc flights, £ 1395 ex flights

Single room supplement: £100

Deposit: £300 plus insurance

Bookings to Sunvil

® Alternative travel: It is possible to travel to Lyon by train easily.