Tour information
Tour starting and ending time: It is important to book your flight according to the official starting and ending times of the tour! Our bus and guide will be waiting all participants in the Otopeni Airport at Bucharest. Please make sure you can reach the starting point in time at 14:00 on the tour starting date! If you wish to arrive earlier to Bucharest our office can help you to book accommodation and logistics. However if you arrive early you need to make your way to the airport for the meeting time. In some cases we can pick up clients from the nearby airport hotels (please check with our office). Also very important that the tour only ends at 15:00 on the last day so please do not book flights out of Bucharest earlier than 17:00 on the last day!
ESSENTIAL TO BRING WINTER GEAR, IT CAN BE STILL COLD IN EARLY MARCH!
The tour: A seven day ‘holiday’ (some would say hard working tour) to the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, focusing on finding the difficult-to-see Eurasian Lynx. We will be spending as much time in known Lynx territotires as possible both in day and night. Certainly early spring is the best chance to come across this shy mammal in daytime.
Logistics: This is a mammal watching tour, and we will be regularly out at night. Almost every night we will have excursions but the schedule will change, sometime evening, sometime the hours before dawn. We will have a late breakfast on most days (cc. 10:00).
Locations to be visited: Hargita and Gheorgeni (Görgény) Mountains of the Eastern Carpathians (6 nts)
Group Size: The tour is guaranteed departure from 3 participants upwards with a maximum group size of 6 participants plus Sakertour leader(s).
Accommodation: We will use the Hargita Bear Lodge throughout the tour (6 nts). All rooms are en suite.
Meals: All included in the price. Substantial brunch, snacks and dinner.
Walking and clothing: Normally we will have short walking sessions on the tour but on occasions we might cover longer distance on foot if necessary. However sturdy waterproof walking shoes advised as usual but some clients would say padded winter rubber boots would be essential (in snow or melting snow). In March the weather can be mixed, but normally still cold and wintery. Pack plenty of winter gear, gloves, waterproof and windproof clothing as you probably will need it!
Recommended: padded winter rubber boots, warm gloves (with additional heaters) and hat, winter clothing.
Travel: Bucharest to Bucharest. Ground Transport is depending on the number of participants. Small van and/or coach/minibus for longer trasnfers and small van pluis 4×4 cars on the excursion days.
Expected mammal list: 5-10 species
Price and Date
| Tour date: | March 2 ‒ March 8, 2025 |
Guaranteed departure | |
| Price from: | 1550 €/person |
| Deposit: | 400 €/person |
| Single room suplement: | 180 €/person |
| Availability: | 6 places available |
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BookingGuaranteed departure
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Booking deposit: As soon as you fill out a booking form we will send you a deposit invoice and information of the final payment.
Cost includes: All accommodation, all meals, all transport by car/coach/minibus Bucharest/Bucharest, entrance fees to national parks, bird checklist and services of the leaders and local guides.
Cost excludes: Air ticket, insurance, drinks & other items of a personal nature.
Trip reports
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1. The journey time from Bucharest airport to our hotel In Hargita is around four hours. We shall arrive in time for dinner and start our first mammal watching session.
Day 2-6. Our prime focus will be spending as much time in known Lynx territories as possible each day both day and night in the hope to see one! Daily logistics will change. We have a great network of foresters, hunters and wildlife enthusiast who will supply us with up-to-date informations of any recent Lynx sightings. We also have a network of cameras located at various Lynx territories and the entire Sakertour team who are based in Hargita area (4 person) will help us throughout the tour. There are several factors that can help us, and eventually lead us to a Lynx sighting and we will explore all possibilities. Our very best chance is to find a Lynx with a fresh kill. This would increase our chance enormously. But for this we will also need luck on our side regardless how many of us will be working on locating the ‘ghost’. We will also likely to spend several hours at one given location (viewpoint) where we believe there is a good chance for a Lynx to show up. So clients must be prepared for longer waits in cold circumstances. We will supply resting equipment (portable chairs) and/or portable blinds when needed.
We will have a chance to come across other mammals too but unless we see a Lynx early on the tour our focus will be to see Eurasian Lynx. However other likely species can include Roe Deer, Red Deer, Red Fox, Wildcat or even Brown Bear and a little chance of Grey Wolf.
Day 7. After our last breakfast on the tour we will drive back to Bucharest airport.
