The Wildlife of Delphi - Mount Parnassos & Mount Oiti

Delphi sits on the lower slopes of Apollo’s mountain, Mount Parnassos, and overlooks the blue waters of the Gulf of Corinth and the Peloponnese beyond. It is a stunning setting for one of Europe’s finest Classical sites. During its heyday, Delphi was not only considered the centre of the known world — the place on Earth where man was closest to the Gods — but was the home of the high priestess Pythia, the ‘Oracle of Delphi’, who spoke for Apollo and foretold the future. Today, the predictions of Pythia have been replaced by the whistles of Western Rock Nuthatches, the scratchy song of Rüppell’s Warblers and the trill of Cirl Buntings. Around the ruins grow Campanula topaliana and orchids such as the Naked Man Orchid, whilst a colourful mix of butterflies, including Zephyr Blue and Cleopatra, dance overhead. Delphi is just one of the highlights of this new holiday that will take you on a journey through some of central Greece’s most beautiful landscapes, from the hot coastal plains up to the cool alpine slopes of Mount Parnassos and Mount Oiti, two of the highest peaks in the country. This new tour will run in early June, at a time when the snowy caps to the mountains have largely thawed and the high alpine meadows burst into life. We start with a flight to Athens and then transfer to the village of Delphi for four nights, from where we will explore the archaeological site itself and the higher slopes of Parnassos National Park. Snow permitting, we hope to reach a height of 2,400 metres. Here we will be able to enjoy the alpine meadows in search of Campanula rupicola and Draba parnassica, plus such butterflies as the Balkan Marbled White and birds such as Rock Thrush and Alpine Chough. To the north lies Mount Oiti, which reaches a height of 2,150 metres. Oiti is known locally as the ‘Mountain of Flowers’ and is home to over 1,250 plant species. For our final three nights we will be based in the village of Ypati on Oiti’s lower slopes, from where we will explore the forests and high alpine meadows in search of Cerastium candidissimum and Daphne oleoides, plus an interesting mix of butterflies and birds. At the end of the tour we return to Athens.