Bats day and night
Bat watching holiday in Hungary and Slovakia, 7 days

Join us for this unique bat watching holiday that provides an exciting programme for anybody enthusiastic about these special creatures! The tour offers the chance to see not less than 15-20 species of the European bat fauna, and with a little extension of 2-3 days you can add another 6. The basic tour visits one of the richest and bat-wise most explored areas of Europe. We will be based at two locations; 3 nights in Aggtelek and 3 nights in the Bükk Hills. Our local guides are National Park rangers with expert knowledge and many years of experiences of monitoring and protecting bats and their habitats. We will make sure you don’t miss the most exciting sites of this scenic area. In addition you will taste the best local wines and enjoy the famous Hungarian cuisine.
Aggtelek National Park is situated in the North-Eastern part of Hungary. It was one of the first national parks in the country and it was primarily created for protecting geomorphological formations such as surface karst phenomena and caves. The karst landscape is dominated by extensive plateaus with an average altitude of only 600m that is unique in Europe. They are dotted with hundreds of shallow depressions, karst valleys with rows of dolines. Other characteristic landscape features are the blind valleys with permanent or temporary water courses disappearing in sinkholes, called "sly" holes or devil´s holes by local people. The water that goes under the surface hollows the underground world. Around 262 caves are registered in the national park. Baradla Cave is the most significant with its length of over 18km, and together with the other caves it is part of Unesco World Heritage. The Bükk National Park is situated in the North-East of Hungary. The warm climate and the caves provide a perfect habitat, so the excellent combination of food sources, roost sites and climate results in a high abundance of bat species. It must be mentioned, however, that the diversity of birds, butterflies and wildlife in general is also exceptional, and though the holiday focuses on bats, there will be opportunities to see for example Imperial Eagle, Saker, Black Woodpecker, or Camberwell Beauty, Pallas’s Fritillary and Hungarian Glider to mention just a few. Wild Boar occurs here in good numbers, and even Wolf and Lynx are present, but of course it is very difficult to see them.
As bats usually use old, often abandoned houses, buildings and churches we will select places with small risk of injury and the necessary protective helmets will be provided. On some occasions we will visit the colonies in shifts of 4-5 of us at the same time in order to secure the peace of the animals.

Days 1-3
After arriving to Budapest we meet our English speaking guide, and we drive to Aggtelek National Park where we occupy our rooms in the hotel nicely located in the heart of the park. Depending on time we might relax for a while or walk around the hotel and then we drive to the areas close to the village of Jósvafő to visit 2-4 bat colonies roosting in buildings. At the first sites we hope to see Geoffroy's Bat, which reaches up to 2000-2500 specimens in some colonies, as well as Greater Horseshoe and Lesser Horseshoe Bat in good numbers. The places we will visit are often inhabited by Barn Owls as well, usually having different colouration (dark-breasted variation) to the ones found in the UK. We will surely be able to see this nice bird and learn about its “relation” to bats.
End of summer is an important time for bats as this is their mating season. Evenings will be spent with mist netting around the fly-out paths of some caves or drinking areas and it will surely bring us several interesting species such as Greater and Lesser Mouse-eared, Serotine and Grey Long-eared Bat, while we will be amazed by the huge numbers of bats flying around us.
On the second day in the Aggtelek region we will visit one of the oldest vineyards and have a typical Hungarian goulash prepared by the owner and served in his garden where we can enjoy the views of the wonderful scenery. Before dinner we can visit a small bat colony the owner protects in one of the old buildings above the cellar. Later we will try another site for catching bats with nets and expect to see some if not all of the following species: Bechstein`s, Mediterranean Horseshoe, Brandt's, Pond and Natterer’s Bat. Not far from our hotel is the site of the first monitoring programme of the European Butterfly Conservation and BC (UK) and it will be obvious why the area has been chosen. The number of butterfly species and specimens is often breathtaking along the crystal clear stream in the village of Jósvafő already. Pallas’s Fritillary, Large Blue, Large Copper and Poplar Admiral are just a few examples from the superb butterfly fauna of the region.
Visiting some of the famous caves will be an optional programme for those interested, while others can take an easy walk in the forest around the hotel or just relax by the beautiful little lake nearby. Baradla Cave is the most significant, most studied and richest cave not only in the region but in Hungary itself. Its length, its stalactites and stalagmites make it the most prominent cave in the temperate zone, no wonder it has become a World Heritage Site.
Accommodation: hotel in Jósvafő

Days 4-6
We travel to the Bükk National Park. On our way we might stop to visit a valuable Lesser-horseshoe Bat colony in the Cistercian Abbey in Bélapátfalva. We can also visit a very significant building dweller colony of Geoffroy’s, Greater Horseshoe, Mediterranean Horseshoe and Lesser Mouse-eared Bats. In the evening we will observe and catch bats at one of the most diverse swarming caves in Hungary were with a little luck 14 bat species can be noted on a single night (Alcathoe’s, Greater, Lesser and Mediterranean Horseshoe, Daubenton’s, Pond, Bechstein’s, Brandt’s, Whiskered, Greater and Lesser Mouse-eared, Geoffroy’s, Natterer’s, Barbastelle and Brown Long-eared Bats).
Eger is a wonderful baroque town, which also holds several bat species in various locations. A visit will bring us with good chances to see (and hear) the northward spreading Mediterranian species such as Kuhl’s and Savi’s Pipistrelles, while we can observe a Noctule Bat colony underneath a motorway.
If time permits we can visit a site, where Schreiber’s Long-winged Bats are leaving ther roost in good numbers.
Accommodation: hotel at the foot of the Bükk Hills

Day 7
We travel to Budapest to catch our afternoon flight back home. If time permits we can have a short sightseeing in the city.