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For
this trip we've put the accent on the nature
reservations from the West Carpathians (Vladeasa- and
Bihor Mountains) and the South Carpathians (Bucegi-,
Piatra Craiului- and Fagaras Mountains).
Each
day you can make a longer or shorter hike in these
reservations. You make the transfers with private or
rental car.
You
stay overnight in comfortable guestrooms and pensions,
all rooms have private bathrooms. You'll enjoy each
night a typical regional dish, mostly cooked
with homegrown vegetables and products, in the morning
is a large breakfast and you have the possibility to
prepare your lunch packet for noon. The Romanian
kitchen is a typical country kitchen where almost all
products
come from the farm or the village. In Cluj Napoca
(first and last night) and in Sibiu you have room with
breakfast. In both towns you can choose from dozens of
restaurants to find a special meal.
You
can access the place where the hikes start with a
normal family car. Here and there you will have to
negotiate the potholes a little on the forestry roads
(especially when you go over the mountain pass between
Vladeasa and Bihor Mountains, but for the rest you
drive on goods asphalted roads. You
can safely park your car where you start the hikes..
The
short hikes are made for everybody with a normal
physical condition. The longer hikes demand a little
more effort are made for a more sportive public.
Generally the short trips are 3-4 hours hiking, the
longer trips 6-8 hours hiking.
Besides
the hikes in the nature reserves there is also time
for cultural and historical interest.
The
nature: The biodiversity of the different mountain
regions is really special. You will discover dozens of
endemic plants, birdwatchers can see eagles and other predator birds, blue jay's, song
birds, woodpeckers, grouse, pheasant and much more. There is
still brown bear, wolf and lynx in the mountains, but there is
little chance that you will meet one. They are wild, except
the bears near the resorts around Brasov that roam the garbage
bins at night. Culture:
You travel through different mountain regions in
Transylvania. There are big differences in
architecture, customs and folklore. In the West
Carpathians you come along typical Romanian mountain
villages, in the Bihor mountains, you'll meet the
"Moti", a kind of highlanders that descend
form the Celts. In the Piatra Craiului and Bucegi
Mountains you'll notice the influence from the Saxon
settlers. You can visit the historical medieval towns Brasov, Sibiu
and
Sighisoara. Besides that there are the fascinating
fortified churches, (World Heritage list) fortresses
and castles. Practical: You'll
receive an extensive documentation package with road
descriptions, tourist information, maps and addresses
from the guesthouses. We'll update you and keep and
eye on things during your trip. The
rental car: The car will be brought to the pension in
Cluj Napoca at 9 am on day 2. You're supposed to bring
the car back to the pension on day 10 at 18 hours.
(makes a total of 9 days) The warranty of the rental
car can be paid with credit card.
A
short description of the trip: Day
1 Arrival in Cluj Napoca. You will be picked up from the airport or train
station and brought to a downtown pension. You can
visit the town center of Cluj Napoca. It is a
provincial town and the largest university center
besides Bucharest) There are some interesting
museums, especially art, ethnographic and history
museums, many historical buildings, restaurants and
terraces.
Day 2 You'll receive your rental car and drive to the village Scrind (70km)
at the base of the Vladeasa Mountain. The Western Carpathians offer a very varied landscape. Crystalline
and volcanic mountain ridges interchange with limestone massifs. The
region is a large plateau where rivers and tectonic forces cut
deep canyons. The altitude is generally between 600 and 1850m.
The mountains are very green. Enormous deciduous and evergreen
forests cover the ridges and valleys. This autochthon varied
landscape where the trails once go through the forest, then
along open meadow is much loved by the hikers.
You'll make a hiking trip between the wedding veil
waterfall and the white rocks, one of the highest lime
stone ridges of the West Carpathians. You'll discover
all kind of endemic plants but also lizards, vipers
and salamanders. You stay overnight in a brand new
pension in Scrind.
We've
included a special page about the Apuseni Mountains:
click
here
Day
3 Hike on the slopes of the Vladeasa Mountain. You drive to the
village Rogojel on the eastern slope. (about 20 min.
driving) You come along a small lake on the Hent river
where for years a pair of black storks make nest.
During
the hike you walk along small farms, small patches of
forest, meadows and hay land. You walk at an attitude
of about 1000m. Night in guestrooms in Scrind
Day
4 Transfer from the Vladeasa tot the Bihor
Mountains. You enter the Nature Park Apuseni. You
drive along the settlements Doda Pilii, Giurcuta de Sus, Poiana
Horea, Matisesti, Horea, Albac to Girda de Sus where
you stay overnight in guestrooms. Transfer of about
90km. Along the road you can make a hike to the
interesting Somesu Cald Canyon. The hike takes about 3
hours. The canyon is often till half May still covered
with snow and even with a temperature of 20
degree C, you might find crocus or snowbells till end
of May, early June.
Day
5 You make the hike to
the famous ice cave Scarisoara. Hike of about 4 hours.
The cave lies at an altitude of about 1.100m and the
ground is covered with an enormous layer of ice that
didn't disappear since the last ice age. This cold
mass and the fact that the airflow of the tunnel cave
got blocked because of a collapse makes that you can
enjoy splendid stalactites, stalagmites and other ice
formations. You can make a longer hike as
well and walk to the village "Casa de
Piatra" where you find several caves; the Coiba
Mare with an entrance of more then 70m wide and the
splendid cave Ghetarul de Virtop cramped with
stalactites, stalagmites. There is further the
impressive karst spring Tauz.
Day
6 Transfer to Bran in the Southern Carpathians by
Sighisoara. Total transfer about 6-7 hours
driving. You follow the Aries River downstream
till the little town Turda. Then it goes over the
Transylvanian plains to Sighisoara, one of the best
preserved medieval towns of Europe. There is time to
visit most of the town. From Sighisoara you have about
3 hours to Bran. Bran is especially known for its
famous castle. The communist declared it Dracula
castle, but it doesn't has anything to do with
Dracula. The Saxon merchants built it to protect the
rich colonized region from invading Tartars and Turks.
On the base of the big rock on which the castle is
built is a permanent artisan market and a small
ethnographic museum. The castle itself was restored
and partially rebuilt by queen Mary of Romania in the
beginning of the 20th c. You can visit the castle and
see how the queen lived. You stay in guestrooms at a
few minutes walking from the
castle.
Day
7 Short transfer to Moieciu de Sus and hike in the Bucegi Mountains. The
Bucegi Mountains are known for their colorful diversity in plants and it's
strange erosions. They are the most visited mountains in Romania. You
make a hike at the southern slopes. Most foreign
visitors are amazed about the enormous variety of wild plants
and flowers all over Romania. You will find all kind of
orchids, gentians, campanulas and 12% of the plants are
endemic to the Carpathian Mountains. You have a good chance to
make nice pictures of the wild chamois. You stay
overnight again in Bran
Day 8 Short transfer and hike in the Piatra Craiului
Mountains. Piatra Craiului Mountains are Romania's most loved
mountains, a small but beautiful limestone ridge from where
you have superb views over the surrounding country. The
mountain ridge has the biggest bio-diversity of the country. Special
plants are Dianthus
callizonus, Saxifraga
demissa and Dianthus henteri. The always fascinating “Edelweiss”
you find mainly at the western slopes. The
hike brings you in and around the Zarnesti canyon. You
stay overnight again in Bran
Optional
you can visit the historic town Brasov, Peles Castle (the
former Royal residence and the nicest castle of the
country with an enormous art treasure. Risnov
fortress, built on a huge rock on top of the village,
a former Teutonic Knights fortress, restored in it's
original style. If you choose for the short hikes on
day 7 and 8, there is time to visit these places,
otherwise you might opt for an additional night in
Bran.
You can visit a special page about
Brasov:
Click
here
Dag
9 You travel by the town Fagaras to the trans
Fagaras highway that crosses the Fagaras ridge at
2000m. From the highest point, you can make a hike to
the alpine lake Capra. (at 2.249m) From there it goes
to Sibiu, that was in 2007 cultural capital of Europe.
There are dozens of interesting museums, (especially
the art museum Brukenthal), lots of historical sites
and the largest and most famous open air museum of
Romania. You stay overnight in Sibiu in a cozy very
comfortable guesthouse just outside the city
walls.
Fagaras
Ridge: is about 70km long and the highest ridge in the
country. The main ridge (about 50km) lies above the
2.000m. The highest peak, the Moldoveanu measures
2.544m. The crystalline mountain ridge was formed by
tectonic movement and was later shaped by numerous
glaciers, witness the more then 50 alpine lakes. There
is a large colony chamois.
More
info about Sibiu:
Click
here
Day 10 Transfer Cluj Napoca + nature reserve
Turda Canyon. Back
over Cluj Napoca by Sebes and Alba Iulia to
Aiud. It goes further to Turda where you can make a
hike in the interesting nature reserve. (about 3-4
hours hiking) From Turda it goes to Cluj Napoca,
another 45 minutes driving. You stay overnight in Cluj
Napoca.
The Turda Canyon offers more then 1.000 types of
plants. The flora is very heterogeneous because of the
geographic location, the limestone underground and the special
micro climate. There is Allium obliquum
a plant that grows further only in the Tian Shan Mountains in Turkestan
and southern Ural Mountains. There is Ferula sadleriana
(endemic and an inter Carpathian relict that grows further
only at 5 regions along the Danube
Day
11 The trip ends after breakfast
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| 1
Vladeasa Mountains 2
Bihor Mountains
3 Bucegi and Piatra
Craiului Mountains
4 Fagaras Mountains |
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