South Transdanubia, Duna Drava National Park

This one-week tour visits more than a dozen extraordinary ornithological, zoological and/or botanical spots mainly in the forests and marshes along the banks of the Danube and Drava Rivers. Most of the habitats are protected by the Danube-Drava National Park. The flora and fauna of this area are very diverse due to the different climatic conditions (humid-continental in the West, mediterranean in the South and arid-continental in the East) and soils.

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Arrival in Budapest, sightseeing and accommodation. Special alternative programs are available depending on the arrival time and interest of the group: try one of the different great birding, hiking and cave-visiting possibilities in the city or visit a medieval Turkish spa! There are some who fall in love with the place after the first glimpse, others become devotees of the city only after a long acquaintance, but there is one thing they all agreed with: this is one of the most beautifully situated capital cities in the World. The broad Danube runs through the middle of this metropolis of two million people, separating the hilly Buda side from Pest, which is a perfect plain. The Danube panorama with the Castle District is a World Cultural Heritage site listed by the UNESCO. To know why, you just have to look at it and visit the area full with beautiful medieval buildings and churches. It is just hard to forget the beautifully illuminated bridges and buildings alongside the river.

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Depending on the season, we can see special vegetation and animal species in an area covered with the thickest loess layers in Europe. There are some marshes, meadows and fishponds as well. We finish our day at Szekszárd, a city in the center of one of Hungary's wine region.

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We will visit the Gemenc Forest area by narrow-gauge train. This forest has become world famous for its Red Deer trophies, but there is much more to see in this forest which is the largest and widest flood plain in Hungary. Optional: a canoe or boat trip into the intact world of the oxbow lakes.

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Excursion in the flood plain's forests where the world champion Red Deer trophy was shot. This is also a bird-paradise: there is a chance to see Raven, White-tailed Eagle, Saker, Black Kite, Black Stork, etc. and more than a 100 Purple Herons, Little Egret, Night Heron, Red-crested Pochard, Grey-leg Goose, etc. at Lake Riha. Villanyi-Mountain, our southernmost peak is rich in unique mediterranean animal and plant species on its southern limestone slopes. This region is also famous for its grapes viniculture wines.

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Visit the European Award winning part of Siklos. Travel along the Drava River, visit the Cormorant Forest. Spend a few hours in the city of the mediterranean Pecs. Enjoy a "Juniper-forest", wooded pastures and other flood-plain forests along the Drava River.

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Tour the bird and buffalo reservations at Kis-Balaton Landscape Protection Reserve. Explore the vast reed and wet meadows at Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe, also known as the "Hungarian Sea".

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Visit a European-Award winning, typical Hungarian farm center. Cross Lake Balaton, the "Hungarian Sea" by a ferry-boat to the Tihany Peninsula. The little, ancient town of Tihany and its surroundings are full of interesting sights: an abbey from the 11th century, hermit caves, Golden House geyser-cone, 2 lakes which are perfect birdwatching sites. Optional: a short walk in the forest, a cave tour, a swim in Lake Balaton, or birdwatch at Kerekedi Bay. After "checking out" an interesting habitat with special plants and birds, we arrive at the former Coronation Town of Hungary, historical Székesfehérvár.

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Sightseeing in Székesfehérvár: another European Award winning city-center. Visit 2 special Bird Sanctuaries at Lake Velence. Tour the granite rock formations or visit the Bee-eater colony in the Velencei Mt. or enjoy a park by a lake with Swamp Cypresses, castle and Beethoven Museum. Return to Budapest.

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Prepare for departure, shopping, leaving Budapest from Ferihegy Airport.

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