Safari

Europe is experiencing a quiet revolution. After centuries of habitat destruction and hunting that eliminated large carnivores and megafauna from most of the continent, a combination of legal protection, rewilding projects, and changing attitudes is bringing the wild back. Wolves have returned to Germany, France, and the Netherlands. Lynx prowl the forests of Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Brown bears are expanding from their Carpathian strongholds into the Alps. And the European Bison — once extinct in the wild — now numbers over 7,000 animals in free-ranging herds across Central Europe.

At Red Fox Trails, our safari programme is built around this extraordinary conservation success story. We take our guests to the places where Europe's wildlife is most concentrated and most visible — and we do so with guides whose knowledge of animal behaviour and ecology transforms a wildlife encounter from a simple sighting into a profound understanding of the web of life.

The Bison Safari (Białowieża)

Our flagship safari is the Białowieża Bison Expedition — 4 days in the last primeval forest of Europe, tracking the continent's largest land animal. We work exclusively with licensed forest guides who have spent decades learning the rhythms of the forest and its inhabitants. Bison are most active at dawn and dusk, and we organize early morning excursions (departure at 5am) to the meadows at the forest's edge where the herds gather to graze.

The approach is on foot, moving slowly and quietly through the forest undergrowth. The guide reads the signs: fresh hoof prints in the mud, trampled vegetation, the distinctive musky smell of the herd. And then — often without warning — the forest opens and there they are: a group of 10, 15, 20 bison, grazing peacefully in the early light, completely indifferent to our presence.

The Carnivore Expedition (Carpathians)

In the mountains of Romania and Slovakia, we go in search of Europe's most elusive predators. The Carpathian forests shelter the highest density of brown bears, wolves, and lynx in Europe outside Russia. We work with local conservation biologists who monitor these populations using camera traps, GPS collars, and track surveys.

For brown bear watching, we use professionally constructed observation hides near known activity areas in the Piatra Craiului and Bucegi regions of Romania. Sightings from the hides are virtually guaranteed — in season, we see bears on 90% of our observation evenings. For wolves and lynx, we focus on tracking and interpretation: reading the landscape for signs of predator activity, understanding territorial behaviour, and reviewing camera trap footage with the scientists who maintain the monitoring network.

Birding & Photography Workshops

For guests with specific interests in birds or nature photography, we offer specialist safari extensions. The Carpathians are home to globally significant populations of Imperial Eagles, Lesser Spotted Eagles, and White-tailed Eagles. The Biebrza Marshes in northeast Poland — just two hours from Białowieża — host extraordinary concentrations of wetland birds including the Great Snipe and the Aquatic Warbler.

Our photography workshops are led by professional wildlife photographers who work alongside the Red Fox Trails guiding team. Participants learn fieldcraft — how to approach wildlife without disturbing it — as well as the technical skills of working in low light, at long focal lengths, and in unpredictable conditions.