WILDLIFE WATCHING AND NATURE JOURNALING ACROSS BRITAIN'S NATIONAL PARKS AND COAST
Britain is bursting with all manner of wildlife thriving in some of the most spectacular coast and countryside settings. Located in the heart of the UK’s best-loved national parks and National Landscapes, our characterful country houses put nature’s wonders right on your doorstep.
Join one of our Explore Nature holidays and discover the sights and sounds of the UK's most stunning wildlife destinations. From spotting puffins in Northumberland, hearing the dawn chorus in the Yorkshire Dales, to exploring the Shropshire Hills, these expert-led breaks showcase British wildlife at its best.
Birdwatching
Birds are at the heart of what we do here, with more birdwatching holidays than any other kind of nature break. On a guided trip you head out each day with an expert ornithologist.
The holidays are based in some of the finest birding country in Britain, from the seabird coasts and tidal estuaries of the north to the chalk downland and wetland reserves of the south, with the sites chosen for what they hold through the season.
If you'd rather go at your own pace, self-guided breaks give you the same country and the same comfortable base, with maps and local knowledge to find the birds in your own time. Beginner or seasoned birder, there's a holiday and a habitat to match, and the evenings back at the house tend to turn to the day's sightings.
Wildlife watching
If your interest runs wider than birds, our wildlife watching holidays open up the full mix of British wildlife in the company of an expert naturalist. In the Shropshire Hills you spend your days at some of the region's richest sites, from Carding Mill Valley and the Stiperstones to the limestone country of Wenlock Edge, watching for red kite and red grouse overhead, woodpeckers and pied flycatchers in the woods, and, in summer, the delicate wood white butterfly.
Your leader knows where to look and what you're hearing as well as seeing, so the calls and the tapping in the trees start to make sense.
Nature journaling
Nature journaling is about slowing down and noticing the details you'd usually walk past, the markings on a feather, the shape of a leaf, the way a stretch of shoreline changes through the day. On these breaks you head outside with an expert to look closely at the natural world and record what you find, building your own journal as you go. They're set where the looking is good, on the Northumberland coast and on the shores of Derwentwater in the Lake District, and they suit anyone with an eye for nature and a bit of curiosity, whatever your experience.
