The latest tours from New Scientist incorporate everything from wolf-watching and rewilding to the great monarch butterfly migration, accompanied by experts such as Richard Dawkins. Olivia Palamountain reports
New Scientist Discovery Tours, has announced 15 new science-inspired tours for 2025, as well as three new eclipse tours already planned for 2026 and 2027.
Guided by a leading expert, academic or custodian in their respective field, every unique tour is designed for curious minds. Guest speakers for 2025 include Richard Dawkins, author and editor Dr Martin Cohen and science and travel writer, Jamie Carter.
From wolf-watching in Yellowstone’s Lamar valley and witnessing the magnificent monarch butterfly migration in Mexico, to experiencing the wonders of rewilding first-hand in Portugal’s Greater Côa valley and uncovering mysteries of the night sky at Aurora Sky Station in Sweden, expect a fascinating journey of discovery.
All New Scientist tours include the full touring itinerary – think internal transport, entry to sites, museums, attractions, talks and walking seminars.
Guests travel with a like-minded group who “enjoy the discovery of science”, which leads to better interaction with tour experts and deep organic conversation.
Tour highlights are as follows:
The great monarch butterfly migration: Mexico
January 14, 2025 – 6 days from US$5,195
Witness one of the world’s most astounding wildlife events, the monarch butterfly migration, which occurs each year in the forested Central Highlands of Mexico and features the most delicate of creatures. This all-encompassing itinerary offers extensive time among the butterflies, as well as a chance to enjoy authentic cultural encounters.
Travellers will be accompanied by experts throughout, who will be on hand to explain the origins of the migration through a series of talks, walking seminars and fireside chats, covering the topics of migration biology, complete natural history of the monarch butterfly, the effects of, and adaptations to, climate change in the monarchs’ winter home, conservation strategies to protect summer breeding grounds for monarchs in North America and the origins of their migration in connection with the last glacial period during the Pleistocene Epoch.
Science of astronomy and ice: Sweden
March 23, 2025 – 4 days from £3,299
During this tour, spend time exploring Abisko National Park, an area preserved by scientists since the 1900s. Travel to the Aurora Sky Station, known as one of the best places to view the Aurora Borealis where you can meet with experts who will teach you more about the northern lights. From here, stay at the unique Ice Hotel. Every year, when the river Torne freezes, blocks of ice are harvested to create this luxurious igloo hotel, which is the world’s largest hotel made of snow and ice. Stay in one of the hotels unique “ice rooms”, with temperature of -5 to -8 degrees Celsius.
Accompanied throughout by Jamie Carter, a freelance science and travel writer with 25 years’ experience writing about the night sky, eclipses and astronomy.
Yellowstone wolf & wildlife winter safari: USA
February 8, 2025 – 7 days from US$8,095
Enjoy a wonderful wildlife odyssey through Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, with extended wolf-watching time in Yellowstone’s Lamar valley. Accompanied throughout by New Scientist wildlife reporter Corryn Wetzel, you will take a deeper look at the science of Yellowstone’s geology, wildlife and extreme thermophiles.
Guests will be accompanied by a tour leader who will further reveal the natural history and geology of Yellowstone through a series of talks, walking seminars and fireside chats covering the geology of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and geothermal features and their volcanic origins, the life and natural history of the grey wolf, predator and prey interactions between wolves, bison and elk, the scientific process of wolf conservation and reintroduction into Yellowstone, and how wolves restored Yellowstone’s balance.
Conservation in the Côa valley: Portugal
April 11, 2025 – 4 days from £2,180
Discover the unique, unspoiled landscapes of the Greater Côa valley. Learn how, through rewilding, wildlife’s natural rhythms are creating wilder, more biodiverse habitats that encourage nature to flourish.
Guests will spend two days exploring the region accompanied by Fernando Romão from the Rewilding Portugal team who will introduce you to the Rewilding projects in the area. Rewilding Portugal is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to promote nature conservation through rewilding measures. Its aim is for the Greater Côa valley to be a wilder place, with fully functioning ecosystems and abundant wildlife, where natural processes and complete food chains play key roles in the regeneration of the landscape. The area is home to vultures, eagles, otters, pond turtles and the Iberian wolf, a strictly protected species in Portugal.
The science of primary rainforests and wetlands: Malaysian Borneo
August 11, 2025 – 10 days from £5,399
Explore Malaysia’s primary rainforests and wetlands teeming with rare and endangered species as Alfred Wallace did before writing his 1869 book The Malay Archipelago. Expect to see orangutans, sun bears, civet cats, langurs, gibbons, proboscis monkeys, rhinoceros hornbills and many more. The tour will be accompanied by author and editor Dr Martin Cohen, who has led and guided expedition cruises and overland safaris for over 25 years and has also conducted numerous wildlife surveys and biodiversity monitoring programs.
Arctic expedition cruise with Richard Dawkins, Svalbard, Norway
June 22, 2025 – 12 days from £14,395
Explore the northernmost region of Earth, the realm of the polar bear and the midnight sun, while travelling aboard the Greg Mortimer, which is at the cutting edge of nautical technology. This cruise will be a truly enriching trip of a lifetime.
Enjoy a full programme of talks, shore visits and Zodiac boat safaris covering topics including glaciology, botany, marine biology, astronomy and the history of polar exploration, deepening your connection to this remote and rugged archipelago. Accompanied by and with talks from Richard Dawkins and speakers from New Scientist, including Leah Crane and Russell Arnott, along with the highly knowledgeable and supportive expedition team, experts in exploration, science and wildlife.
Richard Dawkins is perhaps the world’s most famous atheist; he rose to fame following the publication of his 1976 book ‘The Selfish Gene’ which popularised the gene-centred view of evolution, and criticised views of creationism, as well as coining the term meme.
The science of the Amazon expedition cruise: Brazil
August 19, 2025 – 9 days from £4,999
Discover the Amazon’s untouched native forest, which is the habitat of exotic birds such as parrots and toucans, howler monkeys, three toed sloths, frogs, snakes, peccaries and tapirs. While sailing, look out for giant river otters, piranhas, various species of caiman and pink river dolphins. Spread over 42 million acres, the Pantanal is the world’s largest tropical wetland and one of the most pristine, sprawling Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.
Begin in the charming city of Manaus where you will board the small and comfortable motor yacht Desafio, chartered exclusively for this venture to travel up the Rio Negro, the least inhabited river in the Amazon river basin.