The south of France is acclaimed for its sunny Mediterranean beaches, ancient Roman ruins, fine Provencal cuisine, and internationally famous movie festival. But birders know of other reasons to visit this lovely area--the Camargue, a 210,000-acre national park situated in the very heart of the vast Rhone delta, and the Pyrenees, brooding mountains that form a towering wall between France and Spain.

Teeming with shorebirds, herons, and gulls, the Camargue is not only a major breeding area for Greater Flamingo but also a vital rest and refueling stop for millions of migrating birds. From our convenient base at a small, family-run hotel on the outskirts of Arles, we'll have plenty of time to explore this wonderful wetland; marshes and lagoons should yield Little and Great Crested grebes, Gray and Purple herons, Slender-billed and Mediterranean gulls, and a variety of shorebirds, and the cross section of landbirds should be equally diverse.

For the second part of the tour, we'll move west to the High Pyrenees. Here, with the picturesque village of Gedre as our base, we'll combine first-rate birding with a series of walks amid stunning mountain scenery, watching for the endangered Bearded Vulture (Lammergeier), Short-toed Snake-Eagle, European Honey-Buzzard, Yellow-billed Chough, Alpine Accentor, Rock Bunting, and Citril Finch, among others. Come and see what awaits us this year!

Select the KEY INFO tab or click here for our itinerary plus space requests, status, fees, limits, and guides for any departure.

Client comment
"We chose this particular tour because it covered an area of France that we wanted to explore. Field Guides tours are always exceptional--and this tour exceeded our expectations. It was outstanding! From the lodging, to the food, to the area birded, this is a great tour! Megan Edwards Crewe and Willy Perez are exceptional guides and work well together. They handle the group's different personalities and needs superbly. We have traveled with Megan and Willy before on different tours and are looking forward to using their superb skill again in the near future. They make it easy to relax and enjoy the tour and truly experience the birds and culture of a new area. We can't say enough good things about Megan and Willy!" R.S., FRANCE: CAMARGUE & PYRENEES 2023

Combo Tours
If you would like a longer birding holiday, some departures of this tour may be combined with:
MOROCCO