Short breaks to see Brown Bears in Finland - wildlife expert lead tours & small groups.

Travel With Jules are specialists in wildlife holidays worldwide - contact us to find the perfect tour for you to see Brown Bears! 

Other brown bear destinations for holidays include Slovenia, Sweden & Canada - contact us for options. 

CALL 01728 748209 or send an enquiry. 

We work with several specialist wildlife tour operators to offer a range of short holidays to the wilds of Finland - this is a great opportunity to get up close to brown bears in the company of expert guides. Once the ice of the Polar winters melt, summer in Finland reveals stunning vistas of landscapes full of pine forests and crystal clear lakes. These forests are full of wildlife emerging from the clutches of the icy winter. Staying in the far reaches of eastern Finland provides one of the best opportunities to see bears, beavers, wolves and one of the most difficult to see mammals, the wolverine. With expert guides you can track these creatures on foot, watch from canoes or spend time (including an evening) in a comfortable bear hide on the remote Russian border.

Departures are between May and August and they always fill fast!

TOUR 1

4 day expert lead bear watching tour prices from £1,195 per person May to early August 2019

This exciting 4-day expert lead wildlife tour travels throughout Finland’s high summer months, includes a 3-night stay at the wonderful Martinselkosen Wilds Centre. This comfortable wilderness lodge is tucked within Scandinavia's vast taiga forest close to the Russian border, home a full assemblage of Europe’s top predators: Brown Bears, Wolves, Eurasian Lynx and Wolverine. Here you can spend a full night, and a further evening should you so wish, in one of the centre's specially constructed log cabins that have been designed as comfortable bear-watching hides. Ever since our first visit to this region back in 2001 we have been amazed by the number of Brown Bears visiting the sites each night. Up to 20 individuals have been seen over the course of a single night at Martinselkosen Wilds Centre, sometimes with 10 or more present at one time!

Being just south of the Arctic Circle, this region enjoys virtually continuous, 24-hour daylight during the summer months and it is certainly light enough to view the Bears throughout the night, should you choose to do so. Watching the interaction and social hierarchy of the Bears is fascinating. Huge stern males wander through from time to time scattering the smaller animals as they go. By mid to late June the first mothers appear with their cubs (the cubs are born during the winter months and stay close to their mothers for over a year), whilst playful independent youngsters come and go throughout the night and single females forage timidly. During the course of the night, all forage, scratch, climb, sniff, scrap and play — displaying all the endearing characteristics which make Bears and their cubs so universally popular with humans! For most of the period of observation the Bears are likely to be at 10 to 30 metres’ range from the hide. However, at times they approach much nearer and a closeup view of an adult Brown Bear is a never to be forgotten highlight of the tour. Although nothing is guaranteed in the world of wildlife-viewing, we have an excellent chance of seeing these magnificent creatures, provided that silence is observed within the hide. As well as afternoon and night-time Bear watching from the hide, you will have the chance to walk amongst and enjoy the forests, mires, small lakes and brooks of this peaceful and remote region.  Extensions to this tour are available. Min age 18 yrs

Brown bear cubs, Finland

TOUR 2 

6 day wildlife tour prices from £1,899 per person July - August 2019

Spend a week in the magical Finnish wilderness searching for Brown bears. As if impatient from the tortuously cold winter months, far Eastern Finland emerges from hibernation in full bloom, its fauna keen to redress the balance. Delve into the wilderness to unravel and illuminate its remarkable wildlife, watching eagerly from a hide for the arrival of Brown bears. Bears aren't the only highlight as we get to experience the Finnish wilderness of Oulanka National Park, with its whitewater rivers, spruce forest and scotch pine.

Nature rafting and a husky walk are also part of the adventure. Highlights include two evenings spent in a hide observing Brown bears, Nature rafting, husky walk and follow the 'Little Bear' trail. Soak up the tranquility and stillness of Oulanka National Park in summer with bright nights of up to 22 hours of daylight. Includes 5 nights at Basecamp Oulanka, travel by private minibus, on foot and by raft. Group size normally 4 to 14 with local leader. Min age 18 yrs. 

If you would like us to look for different dates or other locations to see Bears in the wild or extend this trip with more travels in Finland, get in touch and we can put together a bespoke wildlife holiday for you.