Programmes By Date - Aigas Field Centre

Sir John and Lady Lister-Kaye must be congratulated on creating this unique brand of comfort and wildlife in such a glorious setting. From the moment we arrived and opened the impressive front door to find a sitting room with a blazing fire, no immediate reception staff but guests quietly chatting in the sitting room we realised just how special this is. Almost everyone we met had stayed before, which tells its own tale. Tea arrived quickly, with a warm formal welcome giving us an overwhelming feeling of comfort and anticipation. Our lodge was warm too, all facilities present, surrounded by gardens, huge trees, and at night in October the sound of close-by roaring red deer stags. There were three week-long courses running at once, and for breakfast and supper all of them intermingled. This also works brilliantly as everyone swaps experiences. The food is fantastic, high quality, local, varied. The rangers are outstanding and the planning of the tours impeccable and well-varied according to weather conditions. Not all the set-pieces worked, we failed to see otters and some groups missed out on dolphins. That's wildlife, and this isn't in any sense a zoo. Sightings have to be worked for, and every effort is made to find the desired species. The pine martens performed magnificently. Sheer attention to detail in all aspects makes for a brilliant overall experience and we shall be back when we can. In terms of value-for-money it is just amazing. It is not usually available to the general public on a day basis but book on one of the courses for an unforgettable experience.
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Daphne W

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Daphne W

Sir John and Lady Lister-Kaye must be congratulated on creating this unique brand of comfort and wildlife in such a glorious setting. From the moment we arrived and opened the impressive front door to find a sitting room with a blazing fire, no immediate reception staff but guests quietly chatting in the sitting room we realised just how special this is. Almost everyone we met had stayed before, which tells its own tale. Tea arrived quickly, with a warm formal welcome giving us an overwhelming feeling of comfort and anticipation. Our lodge was warm too, all facilities present, surrounded by gardens, huge trees, and at night in October the sound of close-by roaring red deer stags. There were three week-long courses running at once, and for breakfast and supper all of them intermingled. This also works brilliantly as everyone swaps experiences. The food is fantastic, high quality, local, varied. The rangers are outstanding and the planning of the tours impeccable and well-varied according to weather conditions. Not all the set-pieces worked, we failed to see otters and some groups missed out on dolphins. That's wildlife, and this isn't in any sense a zoo. Sightings have to be worked for, and every effort is made to find the desired species. The pine martens performed magnificently. Sheer attention to detail in all aspects makes for a brilliant overall experience and we shall be back when we can. In terms of value-for-money it is just amazing. It is not usually available to the general public on a day basis but book on one of the courses for an unforgettable experience.
It's taken me a while to get round to writing this, as I wasn't reviewing on Tripadvisor in 2010 when we did the Nature's Child week at Aigas. Three years later, I can still say it was the best holiday we've had. Our boys were 9 and 7 at the time and they still talk about that week. The highlight for the boys was the visit to the pine marten and badger hide - the pine marten did everything but tap dance for us. The rangers were fantastic with the children (and the adults!) and were great role models - my now 12 year old is still determined to work as a ranger at Aigas. The boys really learned to notice things around them during that week, and the effect of that has lasted. We will take them back when they're a bit older for one of the other programmes. Oh, and Lady Lucy's food is delicious......
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SYYL68

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SYYL68

It's taken me a while to get round to writing this, as I wasn't reviewing on Tripadvisor in 2010 when we did the Nature's Child week at Aigas. Three years later, I can still say it was the best holiday we've had. Our boys were 9 and 7 at the time and they still talk about that week. The highlight for the boys was the visit to the pine marten and badger hide - the pine marten did everything but tap dance for us. The rangers were fantastic with the children (and the adults!) and were great role models - my now 12 year old is still determined to work as a ranger at Aigas. The boys really learned to notice things around them during that week, and the effect of that has lasted. We will take them back when they're a bit older for one of the other programmes. Oh, and Lady Lucy's food is delicious......
Just returned from our first trip to Aigas, and it certainly won't be our last! Thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and are so grateful for all that we saw and shared. We were unbelievably fortunate to see so much wildlife; certainly set a very high standard for future trips! Loved being so close to dolphins, pine marten, badger, woodpeckers and too many other birds to mention. Beautiful countryside too. The wonderful welcome extended by our hosts, Sir John, Lady Lucy, and Warwick was beyond expectation and made the experience extra special. The food was amazing. Particularly grateful to Lucy for catering so well for my dietary needs and for the wonderful birthday surprise she created for my husband James - special & heartfelt thanks for that. All the staff were lovely and couldn't do enough to help, and in terms of the rangers/education staff, they were so incredibly knowledgable and eager to ensure all the trips/etc were maximised. We enjoyed our little cabin too and the tranquility of the whole place; also, for the most part being away from emails, TV, Internet, etc, it was lovely escapism. It's hard to find suitable words to adequately express just how much we loved our time at Aigas, suffice to say that we miss it, and can't wait to return. Huge thanks again to everyone who helped give us such a fabulous time.
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PatteMC

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PatteMC

Just returned from our first trip to Aigas, and it certainly won't be our last! Thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and are so grateful for all that we saw and shared. We were unbelievably fortunate to see so much wildlife; certainly set a very high standard for future trips! Loved being so close to dolphins, pine marten, badger, woodpeckers and too many other birds to mention. Beautiful countryside too. The wonderful welcome extended by our hosts, Sir John, Lady Lucy, and Warwick was beyond expectation and made the experience extra special. The food was amazing. Particularly grateful to Lucy for catering so well for my dietary needs and for the wonderful birthday surprise she created for my husband James - special & heartfelt thanks for that. All the staff were lovely and couldn't do enough to help, and in terms of the rangers/education staff, they were so incredibly knowledgable and eager to ensure all the trips/etc were maximised. We enjoyed our little cabin too and the tranquility of the whole place; also, for the most part being away from emails, TV, Internet, etc, it was lovely escapism. It's hard to find suitable words to adequately express just how much we loved our time at Aigas, suffice to say that we miss it, and can't wait to return. Huge thanks again to everyone who helped give us such a fabulous time.