Wildlife watching in Danube Delta

The Danube Delta is where Europe's second-longest river fans out into the Black Sea across a vast maze of reeds, channels and floating islands — a UNESCO biosphere reserve and one of the great bird sanctuaries of the continent. Over three hundred species pass through, and it holds Europe's biggest colonies of pelicans, both great white and the rarer Dalmatian, wheeling over the water in numbers that stop you talking.

You explore it by boat from Tulcea, threading narrow channels between walls of reed with a guide who knows where the colonies gather, and the sheer density of birdlife — herons, egrets, cormorants, terns, and the pelicans above all — is unlike anywhere else in Europe. It's a slow, quiet, watchful kind of trip, all glide and drift.

Spring migration, around April and May, is the peak, though the delta rewards a visit right through summer. Go with a good local guide and a decent pair of binoculars, and let the boat set an unhurried pace.

Everything happens from a boat with a local guide; no walking, no equipment, no expertise required to enjoy it.

Book a small-boat tour with a local guide from Tulcea. Spring migration in April–May is the peak for pelicans; villages here are reached by water and nothing else.