Want to explore Transylvania ‘s scattered mountain villages? The best way of discovering these places is on a mountain bike. Just book a cycling tour from Brașov and prepare to be amazed by the stunning landscape.
Last Friday, we took a morning train from Brașov to the nearby town of Zărnești. It was quite windy when we left the train station.
During the 40 minute trip, the mountains slowly showed up behind the morning fog. The Bucegi mountains already looked promising.
Once in Zărnești, we immediately felt the strong mountain air. After all, this small city lies just beneath the majestic Piatra Craiului mountain range.
Going through the city streets…
we quickly arrived near the Tourist Information Center and paid the entrance fee to Piatra Craiului National Park and continued to the valley which will take us up to Măgura village.
The first kilometer after the entrance to the National Park is on a relatively flat road…
However, things change as you turn left after Botorog’s fountain towards Măgura. The twisting road became steeper and steeper…
And finally ended! And behold one of Romania’s most beautiful landscapes…
Suddenly, we rode on a narrow country road having the snowy Bucegi mountains on our left side…
And Piatra Craiului on our right side…
Little did we know that the steep green meadows had small ”surprises” for us: wild orchids. We immortalized this Dactylorhiza majalis…
And continued our climb to Peștera village. The landscape never ceased to amaze us. This is the office we were looking for!
Once in Peștera, we asked some locals for directions and headed down a steep country road into a secluded valley.
There were no sounds in that valley. Only chirping birds and the usual crickets.
We checked our GPS and realized we were in for a push bike session. And we climbed… and climbed…
And finally reached the first housings in Șirnea village.
After a nice descent, we reached a local household where we were greeted with a cold appetizer.
This was all we needed to get us moving through a beautiful valley on the perfect tarmac road.
Once on the main road to Bran, we stopped for a last photo in one of the many viewpoints and admired again the Bucegi mountains, this time from a closer distance.
A long and fast descent to Bran wasn’t enough to catch the 1 pm train to Brașov, so the decision was to return to Brașov on the bike.
The back wind helped us set record times and we arrived in Brașov earlier than the next train and even had time to take a last shot of a sheepfold.
We arrived in Brașov after 69 kilometers / 43 miles, almost double than the planned 40 kilometers / 25 miles but it was totally worth it!
Wanna join us for this tour? Book below.
