5 little-known European parks to discover this spring: there’s even an Italian paradise (with deer and waterfalls)

The European Parks Week returns from 19 to 24 May, the annual event promoted by the EUROPARC Federation to celebrate the protected areas of the continent. The slogan chosen for 2026 is “United by nature”, a clear reference to ecological connections, biological corridors, interconnected habitats and landscapes that allow species to move and adapt, which often cross the boundaries of individual reserves. The key day will be May 24th, the date chosen in memory of the first European national park, established in Sweden in 1909.

Here are five parks to keep an eye on, one Italian, four European, all quite far from the radar of mass tourism.

Casentinesi Forest National Park

Established in 1993 on the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines, the Foreste Casentinesi National Park extends over approximately 36,000 hectares between the provinces of Arezzo, Forlì-Cesena and Florence, recognized since 2021 in the IUCN Green List as a protected area managed in an exemplary manner on a global level. The heart of the park is the Sasso Fratino Integral Reserve, the first integral reserve established in Italy in 1959, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017 as part of the serial site of European old-growth beech forests.

In spring the beech trees are dressed in an almost fluorescent light green, the streams are full of water and the fauna is very active. Over 600 kilometers of paths cross beech, fir and chestnut forests, medieval hermitages such as Camaldoli and La Verna, waterfalls and valleys sculpted by the Arno in its youngest course. Those who arrive in this period have a good chance of spotting deer, roe deer and, with patience, even the wolf.
Official site

Triglav National Park

Triglav is Slovenia’s only national park. It takes its name from the peak of the same name which with its 2,864 meters dominates the heart of the park, it extends over 840 square kilometers in the Julian Alps and the first protection of the area dates back to 1924, making it one of the oldest parks in Europe.

The landscape is a succession of glacial valleys, emerald alpine lakes, gorges and waterfalls, including Peričnik, a 52 meter drop. Over 7,000 animal species live in the park, including chamois, ibex, red deer, brown bear and lynx; 84 species of birds, with the golden eagle being the most coveted sighting. The Soča, the Isonzo River, flows here with turquoise water that seems unreal. In spring, with the alpine meadows still clear of tourists, the paths in the valleys are practicable without technical difficulties even for non-experts. From Tarvisio you can reach the park in less than an hour.
Official site

Bavarian Forest National Park

Opened on October 7, 1970, the Bavarian Forest National Park was Germany’s first national park. It extends along the Bavarian-Czech border over 24,000 hectares of forest and, together with the neighboring Czech Šumava Park, forms the largest contiguous forest protection area in Central Europe. The philosophy that governs it, “Let nature be nature”, has transformed entire portions of forest into wild ecosystems in which spruce, beech and birch trees grow and fall at their own pace, without human intervention.

In spring the clearings open up to blooms that anticipate the full green of summer. With almost 25,000 hectares and the presence of native fauna in large environments, it is one of the European places most appreciated by naturalists and wildlife photographers. From Munich you can arrive in about two hours.
Official site

Camargue Regional Natural Park

The Camargue area, protected by a Regional Natural Park which extends for 85,000 hectares, is located between the two arms of the Rhône delta. An area of ​​vast wild plains, unique in Europe, where rice fields, swamps, marshes and lagoons alternate with salicornia moors crossed by white horses and wild bulls.

Spring is the ideal time: the climate is mild, the paths are easy to follow and the skies are populated with migratory birds. In this period the stork, the kite, the hoopoe and the white spoonbill pass by to nest. The Pont de Gau Ornithological Park, sixty hectares of ponds and reeds crossed by seven kilometers of walkways, is the most effective place to spot flamingos up close. Marseille is about an hour and a half away.
Official site

Peneda-Gerês National Park

Peneda-Gerês has been Portugal’s only national park for over fifty years. A protected area of ​​over seven hundred square kilometers surrounded by four mountain ranges, the Serre di Peneda, Amarela, Gerês and Soajo, which preserves a mountain landscape of lush forests, rivers, waterfalls and lagoons with emerald waters.

The vegetation includes a nationally unique holly forest and endemic species such as the Gerês lily. The park is home to the Iberian wolf, the roe deer and the golden eagle, as well as the wild horses of the Garrano breed and the native Barrosão cattle breed, which graze freely among remote villages where time seems to have stopped. The territory preserves megalithic remains, hermitages, mills and a stretch of the ancient Roman road Geira. The region is still almost ignored by international tourism. Porto is about an hour and a half away.
Official site