All activities / Wildlife Safaris / Bialowieza Forest
Wildlife Safaris in Bialowieza Forest
A vast primeval woodland on Poland's eastern border with Belarus, the last large fragment of the lowland forest that once covered Europe. A UNESCO World Heritage site and home to the continent's largest free-roaming herd of European bison, it mixes strict-reserve old growth, glades and river marshes rich in deer, wolves and woodpeckers.
Why here
Bialowieza is the best place in the world to see wild European bison, the continent's heaviest land mammal, brought back from extinction in the wild after the last free-roaming animal was shot here in 1919. More than 800 now range the Polish side of the forest, and dawn and dusk drives through the glades and meadows put you on their trail in open country rather than an enclosure. This is also the last stand of Europe's primeval lowland forest, a UNESCO World Heritage site whose strict reserve of towering oak, hornbeam and spruce can only be entered with a licensed guide. Alongside bison you may find red deer, elk, wild boar, cranes, nine woodpecker species and, with real luck, wolf or lynx.
Best months
Bison can be found year-round, but winter, roughly December to March, is the classic season, when the animals gather at forest edges and feeding sites and tracks show in snow. Spring brings birdsong and the marshes of the nearby Biebrza; late autumn is the rut and roaring. Sightings happen at dawn and dusk and are never guaranteed, so a knowledgeable local guide who knows current movements makes the difference.
Getting there & around
Bialowieza village sits about three to four hours east of Warsaw by road, the usual base for the forest. Safaris run at dawn or dusk by minibus with short walks to lookout points, and the UNESCO strict reserve requires a licensed guide booked ahead. Bring warm, quiet, layered clothing for cold pre-dawn starts, binoculars, and patience; combine with the Biebrza Marshes for birding on a longer trip.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (2)
Wild Poland
OutfitterWild Poland is a Polish wildlife-watching operator running since 2006, a registered tour operator (licence no. 2709, Tourist Guarantee Fund member) based in Warsaw. Its Bialowieza bison safaris go out at dawn and dusk by minibus with short walks to lookout sites, drawing on local trackers' knowledge of where the forest's 800-plus wild bison move. It runs naturalist-led mammal and birding trips across Poland in small groups of six to twelve.
Wildlife Guide Oliwier Myka
GuideWildlife Guide is the one-man birdwatching and wildlife-guiding service of Oliwier Myka, based at Bialowieza Forest. His bison safari is a three-to-four-hour trip that starts before dawn, or an afternoon alternative, driving the glades and meadows in search of European bison with short walks totalling no more than four kilometres. Along the way he tracks red and roe deer, red fox and, at times, elk and wolf, guiding one small group at a time.