A week’s cycling tour to Romania to step back in time in remote villages and countryside. Wild forests, bears, wild flower meadows, people working manually in the fields, horse and carts and UNESCO heritage churches are just a few of your new experiences.
We will have two bases to explore different areas – a mountain area rich in wildlife, great views and medieval castles plus a remote Saxon village, lost in Transylvania, walking in an area of rolling hills, meadows of flowers and medieval fortified churches.
You’re bound to have experiences, see places and meet people that we cannot list in the lines that follow. It’s part of the joy of travelling in this part of the world, where locals are more than happy to stop their work and chat with you.
Medium level difficulty, with uphills and downhills, mountain bike.
Day 1: Arrival to Bucharest airport. Transfer to the foothills of the mountains, in Piatra Craiului National Park (3 hours transfer), to 1000 m altitude. Dinner at the accommodation. You are here for the next 3 nights.
Day 2: From your accommodation start downhill to Bran Castle. Bran Castle was built in 1377. In 1920 it became the summer residence of Queen Marie of Romania, the grand-daughter of Queen Victoria of England. The castle is curiously linked in tourist literature to the Count Dracula but it is doubtful that Vlad the Impaler ever spent the night here. Return by bike on circular route.
Day 3: Circular cycle from our village to Zarnesti gorge and the mountain national park. Same overnight accommodation.
Day 4: We move to a different area today, (2 ½ – 3 hours total drive), passing through Saxon villages with fortified churches. We divert from the main route to enter Viscri, a remote village with a beautiful 12th century fortified church. Besides the UNESCO heritage church and the traditional house architecture, Viscri is also famous for the fact that King Charles makes visits here (he owns a house in the village).
Spend most of the day in Viscri and cycle on a forest path between Viscri and Mesendorf. Private lunch with a family. In the late afternoon, stop to visit Sighisoara, considered to be the most beautiful and complete medieval architectural complex in Romania and the most beautiful inhabited citadel throughout Europe. Sighisoara is also the birth place of Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s novel about Count Dracula. The medieval citadel is perched on a hilltop and is fortified with a 14th century wall. Not far from here is your accommodation in a Saxon village in a beautifully restored houses. You will enjoy every dinner and breakfast and you will be here for the next 3 nights.
Day 5: From your accommodation start a cycling on Via Transylvanica to Biertan, the biggest rural fortified Saxon church, also UNESCO heritage, passing rolling hills from village to village. Explore the village and visit some of their craft people (rug and curtain weavers).
Day 6: Cycle to another village, over the hills to have lunch at the sheepfold.
Day 7: Drive to Bucharest (5 hours drive).
