Finnish Autumn Bears, Wolves and Wolverines
Dates - 12th September to 18th September 2025
Group Size - 7
5 days immersive photography
Full mentoring throughout
£4395 per person fully inclusive except flights, hotel single supplement £175
Available - 7 / 7
Our 3rd year of running this incredible tour. For the past two years we have had incredible encounters with wolves, yes that is right, wild wolves and they were simply amazing! Wolves are extremely tough animals to work with, they are very very elusive and to have any encounter with them is an honour. We saw a lot of bears in a variety of habitats, with autumn colour backgrounds and in perfect condition before their hibernation. Plus we might get wolverines too! Now this tour is going to be a multi centre flexible one, we have booked three different locations for the trip. Two of these have great bears and a chance of wolves. The third is a gamble for wolves that we think is worth taking and if not we will probably get our wolverines there (we did there this year).
You need to be a realist with the wolves, ANY encounter is a good one!!!! The bears are everywhere don't worry.
Now this will be a hide based tour, you will spend between 3 to 4 hours in a hide each afternoon (they all have toilets too!). Each hide takes 2 people and so you will either stay in couples of be paired with someone of the same sex (if possible). There are a mixture of habitats and we have booked the ones we have think have the best chances of seeing the wildlife.
TTA Membership - as a member of the Travel Trust Association our trips are fully protected and insured too, so you can travel with us in confidence. Your money is safe in an independently managed trust account, with full protection against supplier failure and insolvency. You must still take out adequate personal travel insurance to cover any eventuality that arises and stops you travelling, but our TTA membership gives you peace of mind that we have your back.
Interested?? Read on!
Extra bits
Kit - Since we are dealing with shy species the hides are specifically placed for a 500mm lens reach. A zoom is always better of course for composition. A 100-400mm works well to shoot a slightly wider image that can be cropped, so does a 200-500mm etc. You will support your lens either on one of our supplied beanbags or better still attach a tripod head to the shelf using the supplied bolts. I use my Flexshooter heads as they are small, lightweight, support anything upto a big 600mm and hold the lens in position without locking. If you are interested in getting one of these amazing heads then let me know. A tripod just will not work. Please note however that the animals can come very close indeed so having a zoom is a good idea! Note you cannot change lens once it is out!
Hides - all hides that you will use are comfortable with plenty of space. All have chairs for you. Note they are unheated. At no time can you leave the hide until you are given the all clear. For toilet considerations there are private chemical toilets in each! Yes it's basic but you are not in them for long. It's not boring at all in the hide as the wildlife can arrive at anytime so you will always be occupied!
Accomodation - We will be staying in a modern Finnish style hotel that is an hour drive from each location. Everyone loved the hotel, the food was ace, so was the bar and all rooms are comfortable with great showers and facilities.
Transfers - you will be driven either in a comfortable 4WD minibus or our car, we will rotate every day. The only difference is that my car has dodgy 80's music!!!
Food - Finnish food is hearty and plentiful. We can cope with basic dietary requirements if we know well in advance but please check for more specific requirements before booking. Good beers, wines and gin are available as extras.
Weather - impossible to predict, it could be warm sunshine or snow! Inside the hides you will be sheltered completely from the elements. We will give you a heads up on the expected weather a week before the trip.
Group Size - we are taking a group of 7-8 people plus myself and our guides. You will be briefed thoroughly beforehand on what to take and how to behave, we will have a silent whatsapp group to communicate between us anyway. All accommodation is quoted on a sharing basis in a twin room, a single supplement is available for those who wish to have their own rooms.
Travel Trust Association
The TTA is an independently trade organisation of tour operators that we are proud members of. The TTA provides guarantees for your booking with us in two forms. The first is that all monies are deposited to a trustee managed trust bank account and any payments to / from them have to be authorised at several levels. Secondly your booking is protected by the TTA Safe Seat Plan and Supplier Failure Cover, both of which are insurance policies to protect your money from fraud and supplier failure. We include the costs of these policies automatically in your booking fee, so that you can book with us as a trusted and reputable tour operator. Further details of our TTA membership can be found by clicking here (use your browser back button to return).
Itinerary
Here is the itinerary for the workshop, it is assumed that we will get the early Finnair flight from Heathrow. Our day plan will be adapted when we are there as we may need to enter the hides by 11am and will vary our days:
Friday 12th September 2025
Arrival to Oulu (Finland) late afternoon / evening. Pickup and transfer to our airport hotel
13th September
Early morning minibus transfer (4 hours) to hotel, packed lunch into hides for first session
14th - 17th September
Days will follow the same plan. Breakfast, morning briefing, early lunch, drive to hide, session 2-630pm, dinner, overnight hotel
18th September 2025
Drive to Oulu and afternoon flight home
A word about fitness and attitude
This is a very easy tour with little physical activity. There is not a lot of walking to the hides perhaps 100m at the most.
To come on this tour you must be easy going, days in the hides are long with periods of zero action. So if you are intense with your photography and come with a lot of expectations then perhaps this is not the tour for you. Please do not expect to get hundreds of pictures of wolves, you will not, any sighting is classed as a good one. Bears will be your main staple for your photography, they are always present!
You will need to be silent in the hides, any excessive noise will frighten the wolves off. If however you are willing to learn from the pros, take the rough with the smooth and understand that this will be an adventure then please come!!
Flights
The tour will start / finish Oulu in Finland. There are regular flights daily via Helsinki from London, other airports are available. After booking we will send you our recommended flights to get and the ones NOT to get!!!
Booking
The price of the workshop is £4395 on a shared twin basis.
This includes everything except your international flight, insurance, alcohol and personal items such as a stuffed troll and a viking helmet. It's a good price for the time and the exclusivity we are giving, plus the standard of the hotel and the guiding expertise.
The single room supplement is £175
All transport will be via a Volkswagen 4WD minibus and a hired SUV.
You must take out adequate travel insurance in case something unforeseen comes up.
To book your place - if you are 100% good to go then click here to email us, include how many places you want and any dietary considerations. We will then reply with full BACS details for the transfer, deposits will be paid to the TTA Trust Account, you will be sent full details, a booking confirmation and an invoice with payment details and due dates. Payment will be a £500 deposit and a balance 2 months before the tour.
Refund / Cancellation policy - Things come up we know that and sometimes you may have to cancel a trip even though you want to go. So we have this simple policy for this trip. Please only sign on if you are sure you want to go. If you cancel then we will only refund your money if we can replace you with another client. We will do our best to do this and if we can do it we will do it, but of course you have to understand that we have to protect the tour first and foremost so a refund might not be possible. By booking this tour you understand these policies, no discussion will be entered in to and there will be NO exceptions.
Three months before departure we will send you full pre-departure info on what to bring,
After booking we will send you a confirmation and further details including flight recommendations.
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We, us or our is a reference to ARWP LtdYou or your is a reference to the person to whom we are providing our services and who is required to pay for the services we provide. Services means the trips ( including abroad ), tours, tuition or workshops we will organise. The precise services we will be providing to you will be stated in the literature including website(s) and newsletters advertising the services on offer and as we may agree from time to time.
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