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Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve

Getty Images/Gallo Images

Sight seeing tour boat on Sulina channel lined with silver willow trees, Tulcea, Danube Delta, Dobrudgea region, Romania

The lion's share of the marshy, bird-laden Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, Europe's largest wetlands, lies in Romania. Few tourists enter from the Ukrainian side, but those who do are rewarded with extremely affordable half- to full-day boat tours through the delta's unique waterways. You can visit the Danube's terminus – dubbed the '0km mark' – or take a bird-watching tour.

Guides can drop you off on small islands populated by thousands of terns and their just-hatched chicks. On other islands, flocks of cormorants and white pelicans roost (the reserve is home to 70% of the world's white pelicans).

In the centre of the town of Vylkove you'll find the Biosphere Reserve office, with an on-site museum and informational videos (in German and Russian). The staff speaks some English and can set you up with a local tour operator to take you into the reserve by boat.

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Must-see attractions

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