Romania hiking tours

Tour highlights

• Bucegi National Park
• Piatra Craiului National Park
• Ialomitza Cave
• Zarnesti Cayon
• Bran Castle
• Brasov medieval city 

Hiking in Romania

Hike with us on some of the most spectacular trails in the Carpathian Mountains. We will lead you on local trails, only known by the locals to discover the unseen part of Romania.

This is a vacation, not a race. It is meant to be enjoyed

So on this tour, we will base ourselves in a beautiful lodge, at the edge of Bucegi National Park. This will be the starting point for most of our day hikes, with light backpacks. We will return to the same lodge every evening for a hot shower and comfortable bed. You don’t have to wake up at 4 AM to start on the trail, nor carry heavy backpacks with all your belongings.

Still, this is not a walk in the park, the trails are quite demanding, but don’t require special skills, and no ropes are involved 🙂

Hiking tour description

Day 1 – Welcome to Romania

We will collect you from Bucharest, airport or hotel,

Drive across the Carpathian Mountains to Transylvania. (2.5 hours)

Short hike tour in the afternoon, to the picturesque Transylvania Amphitheater. This is a place where we can see most of the mountains we will hike to in the next couple of days.

Check in at our lodge in Bran, a picturesque little town at the edge of Bucegi National Park.

We will spend 5 nights at this lodge so you don’t have to pack and unpack every day.

Day 2 – Hiking in Piatra Craiului National Park

Drive to the head of the trail, in the Zarnesti Gorges. We start gently through a narrow lime stone canyon, a former cave who’s ceiling collapsed millions of years ago, forming this spectacular Zarnesti Gorges.

After about 3 hours we arrive to Curmatura chalet. Enjoy  hearty lunch on the chalet’s terrace, surrounded by jagged peaks, and fairy tale meadows.

The descent takes about 2.5 hours  facing the scenic Bucegi National Park. Drive back to the lodge

Overnight back in Bran

Distance 13 km, ascent 600 Meters, descent 600 meters – Duration about 5 hours

Day 3 – Hiking to Magura Village

Drive 10 minutes to the head of the trail.
The hike starts with a gentle ascent along with scattered households, with sheep, chickens, and cows grazing undisturbed on the side of the trail. After about 45 minutes we reach the tiniest village ever ” Maguricea”. It is actually a group of houses on the top of the mountain without roads, some of them don’t even have electricity, but people still live up there for centuries.

Two hours later we reach the top, not too high but breathtakingly beautiful, with a 360-degree panorama and stunning views all around.

The return descent is a bit steep at the beginning, then gentle along sheep trails down to the scenic Magura Village.

Visit Bran Castle in the afternoon. The castle was built in the 14th century on the border between Transylvania (Hungarian Empire) and Wallachia (controlled by the Turkish Ottoman Empire) It is hard to imagine the magnitude of the battles for this castle, during its 600 years of existence. Latter in 1889 Bram Stocker picked Bran Castle to be the gloomy castle of the terrifying Count Dracula. The castle is anyway, one of the best medieval structures in Romania

Distance 10 km, ascent 300 Meters, descent 300 meters – Duration about 5 hours

Transfer back to our lodge in Bran.

Day 4 – Brasov and Mount Tampa

Discover visit the medieval city of Brasov. As a young fugitive prince, Dracula spent several years in Brasov, an important community who’s support was crucial to his return on the throne of the neighboring country, Wallachia (at that time Wallachia and Transylvania were separate countries)  Enjoy a guided walk through this 13th century Saxon city. The main highlight is the Council Square, the Gothic Black Church – blackened by a fire more than 300 year ago – and the “Rope Street” – one of the narrowest streets in Europe. Outside of the city walls we get to the Black Tower for an amazing panorama over the old Brasov.

Hike the Mount Tampa – a 2.5 hours trail starting from the historic center of Brasov. At the top you will get an amazing view over the medieval town 200 meters bellow your feet.

Explore the 13^th century, mountaintop fortress at Rasnov Fortress. One of the most spectacular strongholds of Transylvania, built in the 13 Th century by the Teutonic Knights, Rasnov Fortress is one of the top 10 snow castles in the world according to Conde Nast Traveler

The fortress was enlarged by the villagers of Rasnov and it became a small walled city protecting the villagers from the invaders. The villagers had to build an impressive 480 feet deep well, to get the vital water needed during prolonged sieges, weeks or months long.  The construction took 17 years of hard labor, under precarious conditions.

Return for the night at Bran

Day 5 – Hiking in Bucegi National Park

The trail starts from Bran at 1100 meters altitude through the scenic Strunga saddle at 1900 meters altitude. At this point, we cross the former border between Transylvania and Wallachia. World War 1 trenches are still visible here as this spot was heavily disputed by the Romanian and German armies

A smooth, easy, and scenic descent follows all the way to Pestera Hotel in the middle of the National Park at 1600 Meters altitude

Overnight in Pestera Hotel 3***

Distance 14 km Ascent 800 Meters, Descent 300 Meters, duration 6 Hours

Day 6 – Ialomitza Cave and Monastery

After a filling buffet breakfast at the hotel, we plunge deep into the belly of the mountain – explore the Ialomita Cave. The cave was inhabited since ancient times, and in the 16th century, a Christian Orthodox monastery was built inside the cave.

From the cave, we ascend on a winding trail back to Transylvania, then following a smooth, clear ridge, we descend back to our lodge

Distance 10 km, Ascent 400 Meters, descent 800 meters, duration 6 hours

Day 7 – The last hike

If your return flight is in the afternoon, we can pack another short hike in the morning to the scenic village of Fundata, for a last epic view of the Carpathian mountains

Transfer back to Bucharest Airport or hotel in Bucharest. 

Please allow a 3-hour drive from Bran to Bucharest airport if you plan to fly out the same day

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