Discover one of Europe’s most interesting birding sites with an expert nature guide on this Kerkini Birding escape! Stunning Lake Kerkini is located just an hours drive from Thessaloniki, Northern Greece. It is a true birding paradise. During this all-inclusive birding escape, you can marvel at:
- the magical Lake Kerkini and its surroundings with a bird list of over 300 species (!)
- pelicans, egrets, and herons, as well as other waders and waterfowl in close range
- the Nightingale, Golden Oriole and Great Reed Warbler, Penduline Tit, and Black Kite.
- six Woodpecker species present on the slopes of Mount Belles
Encircled by a river, marshes, riparian forest, flooded fields as well as cultivations and montane habitats, the Kerkini lake has a rich avifauna all year round. During this trip, you can enjoy birdwatching all day long, and discover many different species year-round.
Check out the trip report for Kerkini Lake on the 10.000 Birds blog and the bird list of that trip by bird blogger Dragan Simic.
An expert bird guide will make all the difference on this trip.
Contact us to learn more.
| DEPARTURE/RETURN LOCATION | Thessaloniki, Greece |
| TOUR DURATION | 4-days |
| PRICE |
Contact us for updates on availability and pricing |
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Other Information:
Link to the website of the Management Authority of Lake Kerkini
A Photographer’s Dream: Lake Kerkini in Winter
Link to the free e-book Birding in Greece
Day 1
Arrival at Thessaloniki airport. Transfer to Kerkini Lake and spend the night at your Hotel near the stunning Kerkini Lake. First opportunity to discover the lake with your knowledgeable and friendly local bird guide! Your guide will show you the best bird-spotting spots and will share with you myths and stories that link Greek history with your surroundings.
Day 2
Birdwatching at the lake and the surrounding area. The Kerkini area is home to some 300 bird species and offers wonderful opportunities in spring to view breeding Dalmatian Pelican, Great White Pelican and Pygmy Cormorant. This day, you will have a boat tour through the lake in order to view the Pelican colonies from up close and get amazing shots of their contrasting colours. Such amazing colours are also offered by the Bee-eaters flying about, the Rollers, the Kingfishers and many more..
Day 3
Last day of birding with your expert local bird guide at the Lake Kerkini and the surrounding area (mountains near Bulgarian border) with a wonderful diversity of Warblers, including Eastern Orphean, Sardinian, Subalpine, Olivaceous, and Eastern Bonelli’s, as well as Common and Lesser Whitethroats. Common Nightingale and Common Cuckoo are never too far away. The surrounding forest is home to six Woodpecker species, including Syrian, Grey-headed, and Middle-Spotted.
Day 4
Unfortunately, your holiday has come to an end. But you leave full of beautiful images and many new species on your list. Transfer to the airport (1 hour drive).
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Tour Reviews
Overall rating (out of 5): 5
Guides rating (out of 5): 10 the best people
Accommodation rating (out of 5): 4
Food rating (out of 5): 5
Captain rating (out of 5)
Thank you so much for organizing the trip, it all went off immaculately.
Christos was brilliant. We covered a lot of ground and on one day saw 71 species of birds! He’s very quick with his camera, and managed to get images of several I wasn’t quick enough to catch.
It was a lovely day with Nikos. He was fantastic! 🙏🏼
Thank you.
A great trip. Very well organized from initial planning and booking through pickup at the airport, the birding days and drop off in Thessaloniki. Chris Kotselis was an excellent guide. Very knowledgeable on birds and much more, friendly, caring and hard working. The lodging and dining arrangements were all excellent. And the boat trip on the lake with Nikos and Chris was a highlight of the trip. Amazing scenery and a celebration of bird life. We highly recommend this trip to birders at any level of interest.
Thank you very much
It was lovely!!!!
Georgeous was such a good guide and explained not just the birds but also the history of the environment, which was so interesting for us. Fluent in Greek and English it was a pleasure for my Greek husband and me as a German to listen his knowledgeable explanations. I also appreciate your flexible service because you offered us a day tour instead of a whole week. For sure I will book an other tour with Natural Greece.
I’m happy to say that we have all arrived back home safely after a really excellent trip. We thought all of the arrangements worked very smoothly and that we had been looked after extremely well. We all thought Maria was a fantastic guide and leader. She was great company, a knowledgeable birder who looked after us and made sure that we were happy with what we were finding and altogether a really nice person.
I spent an entire day birding Lake Kerkini and the surrounding area with my guide, Maria. She is one of the most pleasant and knowledgeable guides I have ever hired. Her knowledge of local birdlife and their habitats was impressive. She made a diligent effort to track down nearly every one of my target species and even added some unexpected bonus birds. A rewarding day of birding was only improved by the most delicious local Greek lunch, shared at a shady, scenic location. I will certainly be using these services in the future and highly recommend to others!
We spent 5 days at Kerkini with a guide for 4 of the days and stayed in the family run guesthouse at Limnochori. Our guide Maria had a lot of local knowledge and contacts who were able to give up to date information. Nikos and his family were very welcoming and he went out of his way to make guests welcome. The boat trip on Lake Kerkini provided wonderful views of Pelicans, Spoonbills, Glossy Ibis, Squacco and Night Herons and Pygmy Cormorants . Maria met us at the airport and took us to a village to watch Lesser Kestrels. Another day out was to the Axios delta which offered a contrasting environment of salt marshes and lagoons. 17 species of wader that day with excellent views of Avocets and Black Winged Stilt. A Purple Heron and Spur Winged Plover stayed for good views and photographs. We’d not seen any Stone Curlew despite a lot of scanning but a short stop as we crossed a bridge allowed Maria to pick some out in the distance and were able to get much closer. Also great views of Hoopoe, Penduline Tit, Little Crake a Nightingale, Greater Reed Warbler, Woodchat Shrike. A wonderful few days in a great setting with a helpful and knowledgeable guide and a welcoming host. Couldn’t ask for much more. Thank you Maria, Nikos and Chantel.
I spent 2 (much too short) days at Kalochori and Lake Kerkini with birding guides Lavrentis and Eli and had a wonderful time. Even though March is probably one of the less productive times to visit we did see 50 species at Kalochori (including star birds like Flamingos and Spoonbills) and 72 around Lake Kerkini. The Dalmatian Pelicans were just wonderful, and we had good close viewings of Grey-Headed Woodpecker, Cirl Bunting Rock Bunting, Sombre Tit, Little Owl and many other interesting species. The B&B at Limnochori was very nice. Everything was organised perfectly by Natural Greece´s Chantel, thank you everybody involved. Would love to return for a proper trip during peak migration some day.
“Thank you Natural Greece for organizing this wonderful trip around Lake Kerkini! The hotel was good and has very friendly owners (Nikos and parents). The breakfast as well as the lunch package was tasteful and had a nice touch of the local cuisine. The Kerkini lake offers diverse landscapes and a extensive scale of birds (bearing in mind it was not even the high-season for bird watching). The birding guide George was knowledgeable and very good company. The boat trip on the lake was perfect for shooting pictures of the pelicans. I can recommend this trip to all bird – and nature lovers to this not so touristy area but with having huge potential! ”
Wilco Veldhuizen
The Netherlands
Thanks again for the fabulous days! Greetings! / Nogmaals dank voor de geweldige paar dagen! Groet!
Niels Bronsgeest, Stichting Natuurreizen
Netherlands
Thank you once again for a great trip to Lake Kerkini.
Phil Knott, Heatherlea
UK
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