Romania 2019

Barley Mow - a good decision it is a good country and I would consider planning a stop in Brasov, and or one of the Saxon Villages near Sighisoara ( Viscri or Saschiz) . Sibiu is nice but Brasov has more character. If you need any advice send me a PM and we can arrange a time to talk ..... I wont be around unfortunately as I am working out in Cambodia, but Brasov is now my long term home.

And for the next run - definetly recommend the Balkans - Serbia and BiH are must do countries.

Gavin

Thanks for the tips.
 
Barley-Mow it sounds like we might well cross paths on our travels. We’re in Budapest on the 10th, Sibiu on the 13th/14th and Krakow on the 17th/18th.

Has anyone stayed in Târgu Jiu? Thinking of an overnight stop there before the Trans Alpina.
 
Barley-Mow it sounds like we might well cross paths on our travels. We’re in Budapest on the 10th, Sibiu on the 13th/14th and Krakow on the 17th/18th.

Has anyone stayed in Târgu Jiu? Thinking of an overnight stop there before the Trans Alpina.

I stayed in Târgu Jiu on my first ever night in Romania, back in 1994 - never realised I'd one day call the country "home". Stayed there again last summer - the change in incredible. As a town it's perfectly OK by Romanian standards, but it's certainly not Brașov, Sibiu or Timișoara. You'll be perfectly OK there for one night. If you're into sculpture, it's the birthplace of Constantin Brancuși, and his "works" are displayed in the town.

If you're in that area, make sure you do the DN 66 (E79) between Târgu Jiu and Petroșani....
 
Spent 7 days in Romania last September. Highlight were definitely Transfagarasan and Transaplina but apart from these two there are twisties almost everywhere. Worth going to Maramures region (spire churches) and once there ride via DN19 near Ukrainian border (nice twisties there on the Maramures / Satu Mare counties border). Another nice winding roads on the outskirts of Semenic-Cheile Carasului NP (DJ582 road). Sibiu, Timisoara and Sighisoara definitely worth visiting or even spending couple days there.

Has anyone stayed in Târgu Jiu? Thinking of an overnight stop there before the Trans Alpina.

We stayed at Pensiunea Câmpia Soarelui at the bottom of the Transalpina in village called Apa Neagră. Nice place with stunning mountain views.

Below some highlights from our trip:

 
Thanks for the info about Târgu Jiu, I’m just looking at is as a potential overnight stop near the bottom of the Trans Alpina so it looks like a viable candidate!

AndyB_11 recommended the DN66 in post #9, unfortunately we just don’t have the time on this occasion.

The DJ582 is already part of our route as it’s been recommended in a few threads about Romania. The other suggestions look great and I’ll see if I can incorporate them.

The video is great but I didn’t like the queues of cars on what I take is the Transfagarasan - I was hoping we would have it to ourselves when we go! What time of year did you go, the weather didn’t look the best?
 
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I didn’t like the queues of cars on what I take is the Transfagarasan - I was hoping we would have it to ourselves when we go! What time of year did you go, the weather didn’t look the best?

The trick with the Trans Fag is to stay at a hotel - Pensiunea La Cetate on the south side, and get up early in the morning. It is close to the real Vlad Tepes castle! https://goo.gl/maps/B2c6cW7pMdG2 - you can then ride the road before the crowds.
 
Thanks for the info about Târgu Jiu, I’m just looking at is as a potential overnight stop near the bottom of the Trans Alpina so it looks like a viable candidate!

AndyB_11 recommended the DN66 in post #9, unfortunately we just don’t have the time on this occasion.

The DJ582 is already part of our route as it’s been recommended in a few threads about Romania. The other suggestions look great and I’ll see if I can incorporate them.

The video is great but I didn’t like the queues of cars on what I take is the Transfagarasan - I was hoping we would have it to ourselves when we go! What time of year did you go, the weather didn’t look the best?
The 3 times I've ridden the transfagerasen and the transalpina have been in early August. Tbh the traffic wasn't too bad on any of them, I have suffered with the weather a little with massive thunderstorms on every occasion I've been there. They do tend to be a little localised though. Pouring down one minute and bright sunshine 5 miles later.
I also had a massive thunderstorm whilst travelling along the Danube to Serbia after bright sunshine all day.
 
Hi, did both Transfagarasan and Transalpina last year August ,on my Z1000sx and loved them expecialy the tarmac on transalpina, lovely views on Transfagarasan. From Sebes south on Transalpina road 67C , spend the night around Ramnicu Valcea, then next day up North to Transfagarasan road 7C superb views this way because you have the mountains in front when you climb. Try to do it early in the morning and during the week. In weekends is packed...🤣.
 

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Thanks for the additional advice.

Good suggestion about staying near the south end of the Transfăgărășan - especially now I’ve realised that my incompetence in planning means we’ll be riding it on a Saturday!

It seems that the weather in the region will probably be more stormy than we’re used to but you get what you get. We can’t change our dates so will pack our waterproofs.

An interesting suggestion about doing the Trans Alpina north to south then the Transfăgărășan south to north. Our current plan is the reverse of this.

I’m going to start again from scratch on our route through Romania after everyone’s useful input :thumb2
 
Just back! Flew over on Thursday evening, got a hotel by the Airport at Bucharest, and hired a car 1st thing on Friday. Spent Friday, Saturday, Sunday doing this route:
normal_Romania%20Route%20incl%20placenames.PNG

Highlights for me were definitley the Northern part. Brasov, Viscry, Sighisoara, Sibiu. The roads are variable for a motorbike in my opinon, some cracking roads, some less impressive, and of course Romanian driving skills can be variable!!!
Wonderful place. Keen to go back, and explore further North, but on my bike. The rented Dacia was fun, but would love the bike. Even this weekend, the daytime temperatures were warm, shorts most of the time...
Bucharest old town has some real gems, would be great for sightseeing and over-eating (like we did), or a lads trip...
 
I should add we would have driven the Transfergarasan or the Trans Alpina, but they are both closed with snow still, not scheduled to open for another 3-4 weeks...
 
I should add we would have driven the Transfergarasan or the Trans Alpina, but they are both closed with snow still, not scheduled to open for another 3-4 weeks...

That's fine; not going until August.
 
Viscri was interesting. The tarmac road runs out about a KM before the town. No warning, just straight off the end of the tarmac onto a rubble road (reminded me of the Top Gear visit). Worth it though (borrowed pic)
viscri-fortified-church-middle-transylvania-romania-aerial-view-drone-important-tourist-attraction-82707467.jpg
 
We off there on the 14th June

Three of us heading to Romania on the 14th. Two Ducati Desert Sleds and one Sertao GS.
 

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A Little tour of Europe

Early September 2019, weather mostly dry and warm, GS12 plus GS1150, Old guy and older guy (I'm 74).

Route - Harwich - Hook of Holland - Wurtzburg - Vienna - Budapest - Sibiu - Satu Mare - Poprad - Krakow - Magdeburg - Utrecht - Hook

Budapest is wonderful and fully deserves its reputation, full of art deco, and the one hour riverboat trip well worth it. But avoid the ring road (traffic jam, hours of delay, folk partying in the road). Hotel Chesscom very good and handy for the metro to town (and Tesco if you need some oil)

Sibiu is great and very tourist friendly. A local guy runs an off road bike school from the yard of the Ibis hotel - worth hearing his views. Bears are becoming a prob in the mountains. A Scottish biker we met was lucky to be alive to tell us of his close encounter. Countryside very rural - horses & carts widespread, hay cut by hand, beasts pastured along the roadside etc. Satu Mare not on tourist trail - a sad concrete place with neglected historic parts but picking itself up. Deserves to be visited to encourage the youngsters who seem to be keeping the bistros alive. Hotel Astoria is great if faded.

Poprad, and whole of what we saw of Slovkia, is delightful, the High Tatras are very dramatic. Hotel Satel parks bikes under cover right outside the main door.

Krakow is beautiful but over-run with tourists (not us, obviously!). Suburbs are a battleground though. Magdeburg needs a visit on its own. Utrecht is very attractive and again warrants more time. The Ibis, which appears to be in a residential suburb, is only 20min walk along the canal side from the bustling centre, but beware of cyclists - never seen so many.

Two weeks was not long enough - or so my Wife said.

Health warning - be aware that the east European driving style is somewhat individual - ignore all road signs, overtake on either side, just get in front at all costs, stay on the offside until one metre from the oncoming juggernaut, and so on. But stop at all costs if someone looks likely to use the pedestrian crossing ahead.
 
Vignettes in eastern Europe

Just to follow on from other threads, experience in September 2019 was that the Rovinetta in Romania is definitely not needed for bikes.

In Hungary, however, bikes definitely do need the vignette and enforcement is commonplace and fairly rigorous, both by cameras and by roadside checks.

Barley Mow
 
Just back from Sibiu:
normal_IMG-20191230-WA0107.jpg


This is near the (closed for winter) Transfergarasan
normal_IMG-20191230-WA0010.jpg
 
Overdue but a bit of feedback!

Firstly many thanks to all of you who have contributed to this thread, some really useful info provided which helped enormously.

We really enjoyed our trip to Romania and I would recommend that you try it for yourself if you have the time to get there and back and spend several days there.

It is different, anywhere east of Germany / Austria / Italy is. Carts pulled by donkeys, horses running loose on the roads, weird looking haystacks – and just loads of other small but significant details which open your eyes. The only disappointing thing is that when you get to a town of any size then McDonalds / Burger King / Subway etc are all there.

What everyone says about the car drivers is true but keep your wits about you and you’ll be fine – Romania is no worse than Hungary or Slovakia as far as I can see.

The 582 as recommended on other threads is sublime, well surfaced, almost nothing else uses it and there isn’t a straight on it. The 67D from its junction with the 6 and its junction with the 66A is appalling, but from there to Brebina it is great.

The Transalpina is great, the climb and descent are newly surfaced and are immaculate, the top section is not as good but is perfectly fine. The 67C north of its junction with the 7A is a mucky mixture of unsurfaced, potholed and immaculate – it didn’t seem to slow anyone down but definitely not for the faint hearted.

The Transfagarasan we really screwed up because we had to do it on a Saturday – definitely not recommended due to the crowds of cars who all want to park at the top and will just sit there and park on the road until a space is available in the car parks. Mayhem. Luckily we got there early so the run from the north up and over was quite good but the return trip was torture until we started the descent then it all came good again. The road surface up and over the top isn’t bad but nowhere near as good as the Transalpina and when you get south of the descent towards the reservoir / lake it is appalling so we turned around earlier than we intended – and you can’t see the lake at all – just millions of trees.

We stayed in Timisoara (Hotel Central), Targu Jiu (Pensiunea Antique), Sibiu (Hotel Parc) and Cluj-Napoca (Grand Hotel Napoca). Can recommend all of these places although we didn’t get the chance to see much of Targu Jiu.

Apart from the Hotel Central the bikes weren’t locked away at night and we didn’t have any problems at all.

Would have loved to get across to Brasov but just didn’t have the time - so - we will be going again and I hope you get the chance.

Colin
 


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