On this post I want to share with you 3 of the best drives you can have coming or leaving Transylvania as all 3 of them are actually taking you across the Carpathian Mountains in different directions.
Prepare your cameras as you will take lots of pictures but most important prepare yourself to have a great time not to make a great time.
Transfagarasan – DN 7C
Maybe the most breath taking drive across the highest section of the Carpathians, Transfagarasan Road is open only in the summer time between June and October.
It was built between 1970 – 1975 to serve as a military road case Romania was invaded by URSS as it happened to Czechoslovakia in 1968 at the specific orders of Nicolae Ceausescu, the former communist Romanian dictator.
It became very popular after 2009 when it was tested by BBC Top Gear crew and declared to be: “the best road in the world”
Itinerary: Cartisoara – Balea lac – Vidraru – Arefu
Length: 93 km
Time needed: 2 – 3 hours
You should not miss: Balea waterfall and lake, Poienari Castle, Vidraru Dam & Lake.
Bicaz Gorge – DN12C, DN15B, DN15C
An important historic road between Transylvania and Moldavia
The historical pass between Transilvania and Moldavia is as spectacular as it used to be 100 years ago when you could do it only by foot. The drive starts in Gheorgheni, Harghita County Transylvania and ends in Targu Neamt, Neamt County, Moldavia. The actual gorge though is 6 km long, carved through the Oriental Carpathians by the small and whirling river Bicaz wide enough today so two cars can pass one next to the other. Along the way there are countless paths that takes you above the stone walls of the gorges in the alpine planes belonging to Cheile Bicazului- Hasmas National Park which is a National Natural Reservation.
Near the Bicaz Gorges at the foothill of the Hasmasul Mare Mountain you will pass right next to Red Lake, a natural dam lake formed in 1838 when a major part of a mountain collapsed and blocked Bicaz Valley due to major earthquake.
Itinerary: Gheorghieni – Lacul Rosu – Cheile Bicazului – Targu Neamt
Length: 146 km
Time needed: 3 – 4 hours
You should not miss: Red Lake, Bicaz Lake, Hasmasul Mare Mountain
Olt Valley – DN7
A major roman commercial road between Vallachia and Transylvania which exist since antiquity. Historically this road was conecting Transylvania with Danube River. Due to its commercial and military importance the Romans built here Arutela fortress with the aim of controling and defending this road. Still today is one of the most used paths across the Carpathians starting from Sibiu to Ramnicu Valcea along the River Olt which carved a canion between Lotrului and Capatanii Mountains both of them part of Suthern Carpathians.
Itinerary: Boita – Defileul Oltului – Cozia – Ramnicu Valcea
Length: 76 km
Time needed: 1 – 2 hours
You should not miss: Roman Fortress Arutela, Cozia Monastery, Cozia Natural Park
Your Guide in Transylvania has been providing excellent travel and tourism services in Transylvania since 2010. We sell tourism packages for satisfying your historical or cultural exploration penchants. Our tourism facility is dedicated to offering you an experience of a lifetime and a taste of medieval era with our exclusive Transylvania touring packages. You can contact us any time throughout the year to fulfill your desire of reliving the past but in new-age, modernized and highly-facilitated manner.