Possibly the best Spanish butterfly hotspot in August
A plethora of Graylings, Blues, Fritillaries and Skippers
Good numbers of endemic and scarce Spanish butterflies
or request a private tour
Butterflies of the Montes Universales
The Montes Universales is undoubtedly one of the best places to watch butterflies in Spain. Located well hidden in the hinterland of Eastern Spain, this great mosaic of mountains and ravines offer great habitat to sheer numbers of butterflies. Join us on this highly rewarding summer tour with easy access, nice scenery and a wide array of butterflies!
Tour highlights
This is a perfect tour for those willing to explore a not so much known corner of inner Spain. The low populated area around Albarracín is made up by a set of corrugated hills, ravines and fresh valleys. Butterflies are plentiful and the area reflects stillness in every corner of it.
Tour itinerary
We will meet in Valencia in the late morning and head towards the Montes Universales (2h transfer).
We'll allow some time for butterfly exploration of the very productive Guadalaviar river en route to our base in Albarracín.
By rambla we name the dry riverbeds, usually real magnets for butterflies. There's a nearby one that is particularly productive and we'll explore it well into detail, driving from spot to spot. Butterflies of the day may include Oberthürs Anomalous Blue, Spanish Chalkhill Blue, Southern Hermit and Cinquefoil Skipper.
A very convenient itinerary with too little driving will take us to nice valleys, meadows, fountains and also high mountain in order to maximize the variety of butterflies. Today we will have good chances on the local endemic Zapater's Ringlet, definitely one of the tour's highlights!
Today we'll head south towards the beautiful Cabriel river. The variety of riverside habitats should produce a wide array of species, including Spanish Purple Hairstreak and Esper's Marbled White.
Today we will travel a bit futher West in search of some new butterfly species. There'll be nice little stopovers along the Júcar river including some waterfalls.
A fantastic set of meadows near the village of El Moscardón should produce a nice set of Fritillaries and sheer numbers of other species.
After a relaxed breakfast we'll head back to Valencia for departure. If all trippers' flight schedules allow for it, we can plan some butterflying in a new location near Valencia.
We will be back in Valencia by 15:00, where the tour ends. Please keep this timings in mind in case you plan to fly back home on the same day!
What wildlife to expect
Butterflies
This butterfly tour should produce good numbers of butterflies daily.
We'll aim to get the two regional endemics: Zapater's Ringlet and Azure Chalkhill Blue.
We'll have good chances to get some highly localized species, such as Spanish Chalkhill Blue, Spanish Zephir Blue and Mother-of-Pearl Blue.
Other possible species: Hermit, Apollo, Oberthür's Anomalous Blue, Ripart's Blue, Chapman's Blue, Southern White Admiral, Cinquefoil Skipper and Esper's Marbled White.
Only small chances on Southern Hermit.
The dates for this 2026 tour are chosen in order to prioritize abundance of species and comfort while avoiding the crowds due to the upcoming solar eclipse. We will still aim to get the endemic Zapater's Ringlet.
This tour should produce around 90 species of butterflies, with a daily average of +30 species.
Other invertebrates
Even though moths or dragonflies will not be covered on this tour, we should encounter a few iconic species. A variety of antlions and shieldbugs very likely.
Birds
Among the birdlife, we will have chances to see pure rock-dwelling species, such as Griffon Vulture, Common Rock Thrush, Alpine Swift, Black Redstart and Red-billed Chough.
We guide this butterfly tour in Spain by means of Andalucía Slow Tours, S.L., a local travel agency accredited by the Spanish Tourist Board with number CIAN 297083-2.
SHARED TOUR
26 July - 1 August 2026
* You can also book this as a private tour with guaranteed departure or on different dates (read below)
PRICES
Price per person: TBA €.
TOUR PARTY
Min. 4 - max. 7 fellow travellers (1 guide)
Tour leader: Álvaro Peral
PRIVATE TOUR
Flexible dates.
(Best from mid June till late August).
FARES (2026)
Private tour for a solo traveler: TBA €.
Private tour for 2 pax: TBA €.
Private tour for 3 pax: TBA €.
Private tour for 4-7 pax: TBA €.
All prices are per person.
PICK UP
In private tours you may consider either Valencia or Madrid as meeting point.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
- Transfers from/to Valencia
- Ground transport
- Professional guiding services (in English)
- Guidebooks and daily butterfly checklist
- Accidents insurance
- All taxes
- Trip report
WHAT'S NOT INCLUDED
- Flights
- Accomodation (around 60 eur/night in single occupancy). We prebook and you pay at arrival
- Food or drinks (around 40 eur/full day)
- Personal costs
- Travel insurance
ACCOMODATION
Single-based in or near the picturesque village of Albarracín.
PACE
This tour is quite accessible for the most part. We'll walk along dry ravines, rocky ground, pastures and scrub. Most of the walks are easy and not long. Daily average driving time: 2 h.
WEATHER
Generally sunny, warm and nice temperatures with chances of small showers. Daily maximum temperatures can reach the 35 ºC (95 ºF). Early morning temperatures could go down to 5 ºC (41 ºF). We'll look for shaded spots by riverbeds when possible.
FOOD
We'll enjoy breakfast at the hotel at 8am. Packed lunch or light snack at roadside restaurants for lunch. We usually fill up our checklists while enjoying dinner around 8pm.
What your guide says
Again, inner Spain has a lot to offer in terms of wildlife. From all our tours, this is defnitely the one for numbers of butterflies.
Álvaro Peral, 2025
