Wildlife and Nature in the Pyrenees

We'll create an itinerary focusing on the highlights of a specific area and/or your particular interests that is personally adapted to suit your available dates and preferences in terms of difficulty, type of accommodations etc.

 

We can also combine these excursions with other hikes in nearby spectacular mountain terrain to make a unique and interesting trip of a lifetime.

​

Put yourselves in the hands of our expert specialist nature guides, who’ve been leading excursions into the wilds of the mountains for years. We work with the finest and most knowledgeable professionals in each field, who know the Pyrenees inside and out, forwards and backwards.

​

​

Flora

The Pyrenees is a world-class destination for "flower-hiking". In the Pyrenees as a whole, there are approximately 4500 species of flora, including 160 endemics and 70 species of orchids! Alpine flora, those growing at elevation are especially delicate and beautiful. Botanists have documented an incredible 632 species growing above 2300 meters elevation, flowering from mid-July until the end of August when the snows have melted.  At lower elevations, a greater number of lovely flowers can be seen from April onwards. The Pyrenees is home to numerous examples of endemic and unusual flora

 

By way of testimony to the richness of this environment for flowers, Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei, the 1st women to scale Mt. Everest and complete the 7 Summits wrote that she had never seen such variety of beautiful alpine flowers as she saw in Spain's Ordesa National Park.

​

Fauna

The Pyrenees is a world-class destination for birding in general, but in particular for observing raptors - or birds of prey. It's practically impossible to go on a hike and not see several species. Depending on where we go, typical examples of these spectacular birds one can see include the griffon vulture,  Egyptian vulture, lammergaier (one of Europe's rarest raptors) golden eagle, red kite and peregrine falcon.

​

On excursions to the high mountains it is common to see the nimble chamoix (known as isard in the French Pyrenees or sarrio on the Spanish side of the range).

​

Geology

Thanks to the complex and powerful processes that took place over millions of years in the creation of the  Pyrenees, these mountains are a geologist's dream, with an incredible variety of Impressive and characteristic geological and topographical features. The Sobrarbe UNESCO Geopark headquartered in Ainsa at the doorstep of Ordesa National Park is testament to the educational possibilities of the area.