Soweczka Arek Szymura - Private Nature Tours

Soweczka Arek Szymura - Private Nature Tours

Soweczka Arek Szymura - Private Nature Tours
4.5
About
Białowieża Forest is one of the best places in Europe for birdwatching, and our experienced guides-ornithologists will help you to see interesting species (woodpeckers, owls, and many others). We also offer trips to meet with the wild bison, beavers, otters, wolves ... We will also explain inter species relationships which form this unusual place.
Bialowieza, Poland
Meets animal welfare guidelines

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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.


4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles56 reviews
Excellent
41
Very good
4
Average
5
Poor
2
Terrible
4

Sophia E
2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023 • Couples
We did a tour of the strictly protected area with Basia (Barbara), who was absolutely lovely and informative. We were able to take our time (3-4 hours), ask all our questions and as an added bonus, learn specifically more about the birds of Bialowieza (she's a trained ornithologist). Although we did not see any of the bigger mammals during our 2-day trip in Bialowieza, it is a magical place to experience and witness the richness of nature, big and small. During our tour with Basia, we spotted the rare three-toed woodpecker, a tawny owl, a red squirrel and many other birds. We also learnt a lot about trees and other natural processes. We 100% recommend a tour with Basia and are looking forward to returning to Bialowieza during other seasons :) Thanks again!
Written July 8, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

NeilDonaghy
Bridgend, UK15 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2013 • Business
I've worked with Arek and his son Mateusz for seven years no and they are a fantastic team. Punctual, reliable, always helpful and good company, as well as being extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of the Bialowieza National Park. Both speak excellent English and the prices are very reasonable - I thoroughly recommend their service to anyone who wishes to get the very best from their experience in this beautiful part of the world.
Written March 21, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

papillonColchester
Colchester80 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2013 • Friends
We visited Bialowieza in September to see the Fungi of the Forest. We had Arek Szymura from Pygmy Owl Tours as our guide for a six hour tour. It was a wonderful experience made all the better by Arek who seems to know just about everything there is to know about the Forest and its Bio Diversity his knowledge was endless and extremely interesting. He explained the History of the Forest and his love of it was obvious. He explained about the trees pointed out birds found us Fungi, we could not have asked for more.
The Forest is magical place to visit a must if in the area.
Arek is a great guy and a wonderful tour guide, I would highly recommend him to anyone who wants to visit the forest.
We are planning to return in the Spring and will definitely use Arek again.
Written November 22, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

monktonman
Merseyside, UK146 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2015 • Couples
We booked a 6 hour tour of the "primeval" forest. A tired Mateusz picked us up from our hotel at 5am. Maybe we were naive, but other than vegetation, on the 5hr 30min tour we saw precious little animal life, it really was just forest on forest. Yes, old forest with amazingly high trees and some of great age and girth. In reality 3 hours would have sufficed had we known the repetitive nature of the excursion.
Written July 11, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Zubr46
Rennes, France3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2014 • Friends
Mr Szymuta is a fascinating guide; this scientific, professor of botany today retired, knows perfectly this beautifull forest where he lives for a long time : history as well flora and fauna. Mr Szymura is very friendly and has lots of humor.. He is an excellent "nature teacher" for both beginners and experts.
JF Birckel (France)
Written February 21, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Robert T
Westcliff-on-Sea, UK130 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2019 • Couples
Pygmy Owl Tours helped us choose from a range of tours and come up with an itinerary that gave the best chance to see what we most wanted to see. We took three tours: Pygmy owls and bison with Mateusz and Strict Forest Reserve with Mikhail. Both men are great ambassadors for the Bialowieza Forest and speak English fluently. They were well equipped including a telescope which provided great viewing. We had an amazing time wildlife watching with them. We suggest that the company looks to buy a vehicle as most visitors will not want to provide their own car. We recommend this company to all nature lovers from beginner to expert.
Written March 15, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Cathryn S
London13 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2017 • Solo
I was staying in Bialowieza on my own, and wanted to see the strictly protected area and Bison. I contacted this company because they were mentioned in a site guide, and I'm glad I did.

For the bison tour, Mateus picked me up at an ungodly hour (4.30am) and we drove around looking for the bison. On the way we saw a racoon dog, traditional haystacks, and a lot of the countryside while I was treated to a fascinating education in how bison live, their history in the forest, and the way the forest is managed. I was just starting to think it wasn't my day when he spotted a group of about 10, and a few minutes later,
about 20. I got some great pictures, and was able to watch them first while they looked warily at us, then went back to feeding and finally one decided it was time to head back into the forest, and they all traipsed off in a line.

Earlier in the week, Barbara guided me through the forest, telling me a lot about forest ecology though not talking too much. She was knowledgeable, friendly, a really good walking companion. The forest is amazing, and I'm fascinated by the way it all fits together - trees supporting whole ecosystems long after they're dead, all the creatures playing their part

Many thanks to both of you - you were the highlight of my trip
Written September 17, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

aga989
Wrzesnia, Poland1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2017 • Couples
The point is, bisons feed grass in open fields "in front of the forest" early in the morning.
You can spot them from road, it is all the trip is offering :D
The greater chance to spot them is between around 4 am and 6 am, later the bisons hide in the forest so that even the guides don't know where to find them :D
Try to ask local people or even other tourist where the bisons have been seen recently, we have seen them close to Narewka. Try to go on small roads close to forest and the chances are you will find them.
Written May 10, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

124sylwia
Wroclaw, Poland1 contribution
2.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2017 • Couples
We've decided to pay for a guide to show us wild żubr and ...if we lucky (so the explanation on the website) ryś, the lynx in the morning. A day before the trip, I was worrying a lot, because I forgot to take waterproof shoes with me. I was imagining we will be walking in the forest for 3hours and I will get completely wet. We did not meet the owners, just had contact on phone with Ms Szymura. We got a guide, which is probably working also for any other agency in town. She did her best to find the żubrs, but I was surprised that it was not really a trip to the forest but just driving along the nearby villages roads. We've stepped out of the car twice, and walked few meters from the road to see the spot better, but basically I could go even in high heals... If I knew that this trip is actually just driving through the villages, I would never decide to pay for it. I've asked the guide how many times did she see the lynx.... never was the answer (although she is working as guide for several years). The information on the website, that with some luck you will be able to see lynx during the trip sounds as a lie. Especially that it was the biggest motivation for me, I was actually more interested in seeing the ryś than żubr.
In the end, after few hours of driving we were able to see two żubrs from far... the guide seemed to be relieved, that we managed to see just anything.
I thought, we can do it by ourselves! And two days later we woke up at 4in the morning again, and went for the drive. Because we did not pay too much attention where were we going with the guide, we were not able to find the same spot :) so we were driving just randomly around and... we saw three żubrs from about as close as it can get. When we made some noise one of them noticed us and was looking for a while towards us... Well, I guess we were lucky... but if meeting a wild żubr is a matter of luck anyway, you do not have to pay 250PLN +a car + a driver for your luck.
Written May 3, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jenny_wren_2689
Aviemore, UK79 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2015 • Friends
My friend and I booked onto Arek's 6 hr tour of the Strict Reserve, such a treat - my first view of a red breasted flycatcher and views of middle spotted & black woodpecker. We saw lots of mammal signs, boar, bison and a wolf kill. Seas of wild garlic - the photos will not do this justice but I will never forget. If you are going to explore the forest, book on a tour with Arek! I still regret not going on another of his tours!
Written January 26, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Soweczka Arek Szymura - Private Nature Tours - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2025)

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