Travel In Romania

[nb123]

Hi Bikers,

 

I ride a BMW R1200GS and I plan to travel to Romania next month.

 

From Drobeta Turnu Severin I plan to drive to the mountains (to Petrosani and Sibiu) and then from Pitesti to Fagaras.

 

I drive with Enduro tires (Continental TKC80) and I like offroad trails.

 

I have read books, studied maps, searched the net, saw dokumentary films about the Karpatian but you could give the best info.

 

Sorry, I know I am not specific enough but for every Tipp about your mountains I will be pleased and thanks a lot in advance.

 

Nik

 

 

[_mihai]

try www.enduromania.net

 

look for "long distance" or shomething like that

Editat Iunie 13, 2006 de _mihai

[Smokey]

Hi there,

 

Do you have a route in mind? What exactly do you want us to help you with?

 

Looking forward to see you around here, hope you'll enjoy the trip

 

(I'll move your topic to enduro corner )

[nb123]

Hi,

 

anything for the road situation in Romania like police controls, radar, bike safety, roadconditions and for the mountains "must" go routes, deep forest, nice views.

 

I will write here tomorrow the route I planned. The maps are home.

 

I ride alone, come from Greece.

 

Greetings

Nik

[ketemeu]

Hi Nik,

 

Your bike and tires are good for romanian roads.

I try to make a itinerary for you with your coordinates.

Try this one and you will not be disappointed.

When arrive in Novaci ask people for RANCA. It is a road witch pass mountain to VOINEASA. I make this many time with my friends witch have bike same like you. So you can do it.

If you come in Romania please don't hesitate contact me if you have problems.

I am from Bucharest faraway from Drobeta Turnu Severin, but if I can help you by the phone I will with pleasure. So, this is my mobile 00 40722 38 66 70

 

Ionut Radulescu

[nb123]

 

Thank you Ionut, super

 

Your tour will be my first day in Romania.

 

1. Day: Greece - Drobeta Turnu Severin (Hotel)

2. Day: DTS - Tirgu Liu - Sibiu (Hotel)

3. Day: Sibiu - Fagaras - Pitesti - Brasov ...

 

 

Nik

Editat Iunie 13, 2006 de nb123

[allias]

Hi Bikers,

 

I ride a BMW R1200GS and I plan to travel to Romania next month.

 

 

 

I drive with Enduro tires (Continental TKC80) and I like offroad trails.

 

 

hy,

if you like offroad trails and dirt roads,then romania is the place for you . the carpathians are beautiful and i am sure that you will love them

[univet]

An after Brasov, where?

Why not to From Greece to Constantza (Black Sea Coast) and after that Brasov, Sibiu and Dobreta Turnu-Severin?

Adrian 004 745 619 619

[Novix]

One tip:

Not may bike tyre mechanics around but plenty of nails and stuff so... have a repair kit handy.

 

Will you be able to access the net while on the road?

[Smokey]

Here are my proposals

 

Day 1, you can choose a route to reach Voineasa, visit the lake, view the scenery. Than you can choose a way down to the european road to get to Sibiu

1) one route is by Sugag - Sebes - Sibiu ( 67C - highlited): trail road, potholes, but nice scenery

 

a zoom of the mountain area:

 

2). an alternative, from Sugag pass by Poiana Sibiului and onto Sibiu:

 

3). the other one was highlited by ketemeu

I don't know what maps you have, here are some detailed one of the area:

as you can see, there are more lakes in there than posted usualy on the usual maps.

 

If you want only "good" roads, like going by car, you can choose Tg-Jiu, Petrosani, Simeria, Sebes, Sibiu (north path) or Tg-Jiu, Ramnicu Valcea, Sibiu (south path). But those are just asphalt roads.

 

 

 

For day2, maybe you'll want to choose the "Transfagarasan" route, which will throw you in the middle of the winter. You should ask if the road is open, and/or if you can cross the tunnel from the peak. Than is easy, just follow the roads.

 

I recomend in "Curtea de Arges" to visit the monastery and of course the Bran castle ). A nice place to visit will be the Rasnov old citadel. Of course, in Brasov you'll have a lot of things to see, eat at "Coliba Haiducilor" in the Poiana Brasov resord (20 km), it's a popular destination.

 

 

For general road stuff, speed limit is 50km/h in towns and 90 outside. You'll find on main road police radars, but ussualy the income traffic will flash you. Police will maily be intrested in your bike

 

On all kind of roads, take care of horse-carriages (used around villages mainly), especially on evening. Dogs an other kind of animals can pop up from nowhere, so drive carefully. Around villages you'll find tractors and all sord of vehicles which don't bother if you are on the road, so don't take chances.

 

In Sibiu, Brasov you'll find bike friendly service, in the small cities/villages only the basic auto-service. An tire kit will be helpfull

 

 

Have a nice holiday!

[f_zoltan]

I'll complete Smokey's proposal with some information regarding the Targu Jiu, Petrosani, Voineasa area. You can go from Targu Jiu to Sibiu using several routes.

 

1. There's the E79 route Targu Jiu-Petrosani through the gorges of the Jiu river, the main passage through the Carpathians on a 150 km radius. Note that Tuesday and Friday the road is closed down between Bumbesti Jiu and Petrosani, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. (as far as I remember) for maintenance and reconstruction. There's nothing offroad here, unless you count in that the entire road between Targu Jiu and Simeria is in reconstruction for three years now. You should take care for radars the first 10 km after you leave Targu Jiu, and watch out for the policemen from Sadu(Bumbesti Jiu), where there's a speed limit of 40 km/h and the blue guys are lookin' for trouble. From Petrosani you can take the E79 to Simeria - Sebes - Sibiu, but since you are lookin' for some offroad experience, it could become boring. If you choose this route anyway, you could visit the medieval castle of Hunedoara (with a little detour). The easy way for some offroad experience is to use the Petrosani-Voineasa-Breaza road, that reaches the Olt Valley after 100 km of mountain roads. Between Petrosani and the peak of the pass the quality of the road is acceptable, downwards until Obarsia Lotrului sucks big-time for non-offroad vehicles, the rest until Breaza (in the Olt valley) was great last year. There's nothing boring here, the natural scenery is fantastic, there're several good places to stop, eat and sleep, if you want to (I recommend the Cabana Groapa Seaca, around 20 km from Petrosani). You can continue your trip to Sibiu using the Olt Valley, where there're some of the most beautiful medieval monasteries, Cozia and Turnu.

 

2. The second choice is to use the Ranca-Voineasa route, that is completely offroad, pretty hard to pass someplaces, as I read in some other topics on this forum. This route should be detailed by the guys who passed it on bikes, my cruiser does not travel in places like that. I don't know if it's wise to pass here if you are alone, because you risc to get caught in the middle of nowhere without help. In group it's different.

 

3. Another "highway" choice is to go from Targu Jiu to Ramnicu Valcea, and take the Olt Valley until Sibiu.

 

Anyway, if the Transfagarasan is opened when you make this trip, it's great to return to the southern side of the Carpathians using it. It's opened rarely more than 3 months a year, so you need to know before you start the passage if it can be used entirely. Here're 150 km's of mountain roads, taking you as high as 2100 m, passing around the Vidraru lake, near the Poenari castle of Vlad Tepes, ending with former medieval capital of Curtea de Arges.

[nb123]

First many thanks to all of you and especially to univet, ketemen, obm, gt, enduroman and f_zoltan and smokey of course.

 

I studied the info and this is my conclusion:

 

1. Day: Thessaloniki - Vidin - Drobeta TS (sleep)

 

2. Day: DTS - Cheile Tasnei - Cheile Corcoaia - (what does Cheile mean?) - Lake Cerna - Jiu Cerna - Campusel - Cheile Butii - Petrosani -

 

Pasul Groapa Seaca - Pasul Urdele - Ranca - Novaci (maybe sleep here) -

 

- Cernadia - back to the mountain again to Cheile Oltetului - Lacul Petrimanu - Ciungetu - Voineasa - Waterfalls Lotrului - Vidra Lake - Pasul Tartarau - Gatul Berbecului - Sadurel - Sadu - Sibiu (sleep)

 

3. or 4. Day: Sibiu - Cartisoara - Lake Vidraru - Poienari - Curtea de Arges - Berevoesti - Bran - Rasnov - Poiana Brasov - Brasov (sleep).

 

Then I have to think about Constanta or Chisinau or Maramures Mountain (Prislop pass -Rodna park). Depends of mood, weather, condition (mine or/and the bike) etc.

 

As Univet says "The adventure begins when things stop going as planned".

 

Some questions now:

 

1. I practice enduro with both XR and GS. Under normal conditions (not too much mud and not very narrow or steep slopes) the GS can go everywhere the XR goes. But in foreign places I do not want to exceed 40% of my abilities or of the bike, for low risk and energy save because I travel alone (nobody from my buddies here follows me). Are these roads open and possible to drive?

 

I have tire repair kit but else there is not much to repair myself on the GS (too much electronics).

 

2. How much does the speeding ticket cost? In Bulgaria (some years ago) I just did not stop to the police control.

 

3. Is there traffic on the mountains? Enduro, Jeep, mountain bike, hickers?

 

4. What about dangers from wild animals (Bears? - no problem with big dogs I am used) and is there cell phone coverage (probably not)?

 

Enough asked ... for now.

 

PS @ Bogdan (obm) for your trip in Greece anything u need mail me at: mailnikat@gmail.com

 

I have to study www.tmtours.net and www.EnduroZone.net

 

Greetings

Nik

Editat Iunie 15, 2006 de nb123

[Smokey]

what does Cheile mean?

canyon, gorge

 

Are these roads open and possible to drive?

For day 2: till Lake Cerna I know it's ok, for the rest I'll ask. For Sibiu-Brasov it's ok.

 

2. How much does the speeding ticket cost? In Bulgaria (some years ago) I just did not stop to the police control.

Around 30 euro, but you cannot pay directly to the policeman, only thorough bank. Ask for the paper (proces verbal) and go on.

 

 

3. Is there traffic on the mountains? Enduro, Jeep, mountain bike, hickers?

Not really.

 

4. What about dangers from wild animals (Bears? - no problem with big dogs I am used) and is there cell phone coverage (probably not)?

Nothing special about bears, maybe shepherd dogs. The cell phone coverage ends at the main villages.

[newprofiler1978]

On the other hand try to fill the tank from the big gas stations (OMV, PETROM, ROMPETROL, SHELL, LUKOIL). Avoid small ones because you may have surprises! Because you are traveling alone try to avoid isolated places for resting! DO NOT EXCHANGE MONEY with STRANGERS! Go only in cities at exchange houses!

 

I believe the guys gave you enough info regarding the routs!

 

If you want, you can find an Internet cafĂŠ almost anywhere so you can keep us informed by posting here! You might meet some of us and have companions on some routs! Or just have a beer! I believe there are guys extremely interested on that matter…

 

Good luck! You’ll see interesting places and extremely interesting people!

 

Regarding the bears… just do not feed them!!! )

 

Editat Iunie 15, 2006 de newprofiler1978

[f_zoltan]

The plan for the second day could become a handful. The "road" between the Cerna Valley and Campusel could be pretty hard-enduro, I talked to a friend who had a pretty serious trip passing in some places from Campu lui Neag to Herculane on this route, and he was riding a small 250 KTM and light luggages. That's because it's mainly dirt-road, and in lots of places the mountain creeks tend to wash that away too. Ofcourse, if you are in fact looking for such hard trips, that's allright, important is to have the proper information before you start the trip.

On the other hand you can also sleep at the Cabana Groapa Seaca and continue passing to Novaci and back to Sibiu the next day, since that's another goodie too (I understand you plan to pass twice part of the Parang Mountains and get to Sibiu the same day). To have a comparison, the thoughest off-road competition organized in Romania, the Red-Bull Romaniacs dedicates one entire day for the distance between Petrosani and Sibiu, ofcourse using the toughest possible routes.

[Matei]

Hi Nik,

 

one other thing you should also be aware of are the car drivers here in romania... not all of them are used to bikes... so extra caution i sa must!

 

BEST OF LUCK!!!

[Dan Popescu]

one of my idea, after readinf this, is to find somebody (romanian bikers) to come with you, like a team.

Nobody want to ride with?

[f_zoltan]

Good idea, Dan!

[Okesz]

Don't try Cerna-Campusel becouse it's much too hard for an over 200 kg heavy bike.

As I heard (also F. Zoltan wrote it here) there is no road, and in some places you can not pass on the bike, you would need help to pull or tow it.

[nb123]

Don't try Cerna-Campusel becouse it's much too hard for an over 200 kg heavy bike.

As I heard (also F. Zoltan wrote it here) there is no road, and in some places you can not pass on the bike, you would need help to pull or tow it.

 

 

The bike has enduro tires but will also be with sidecases, topcase and tankbag so it means >300 kg plus mine 100 kg.

 

If I get problems at cerna I could go back and drive trough Valea de Pesti to Campusel and then back again to Petrosani.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Greetings

Nik

 

PS1: It seems mountaineering isn't so popular in Romania with the last virgin forests in Europe. Hurry before the EU comes.

 

PS2: I can hardly imagine that Romanian car drivers could be more stupid, aggressive than the greek as**oles.

[ketemeu]

Drive safe.

[badbeats]

if u are coming in the west of romania, u can visit me in pecica near arad because in 30.06.06-02.07.06 will be a small motorcycle festival in town, I wish you a good sumer time in romania

[nb123]

Hi all,

 

I am writing you from Romania. I arrived yesterday, slept in Craiova and today I planned to travel to Sibiu through Petrosani and Lacul Vidra (+ Urdele Pass) BUT the weather did not allow this. So I am stuck in Tg Jiu, super Hotel Anna, waiting to see the weather tomorrow to continue the trip.

 

I will report again.

 

Thanks a lot again for all your tips.

 

Nik

[badbeats]

It's nice to hear again about you, I wish you a lot's of safe and wonderfull kilometers in Romania and I hope that the weather will change and you will have fun in our country. Have a nice trip!!!

[DragosKTM]

We're really living in a very small world... Although we never spoked before, today Tigly and myself we just met Nik high up in the mountains, on the (so-called) "strategic road" between "Transalpina" and Voineasa. He was pretty loaded but doing very fine, finding well his way down the mountain.

 

Nik, we wish you good luck and a safe ride.

If get into trouble (hope not ) or if you come by Bucharest, and simply want to have a beer, my mobile phone is 0722245242.