Barge1914
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There is not a lot of information around about motorhome travel in Romania so I thought I would put a few notes together about our recent trip that may help our fellow motorhome travellers thinking of travelling this way. This isn’t a comprehensive travelogue, just useful snippets about roads and places for Motorhomers to stay from our journey in our 5.7m Bessacarr E412.
Our route through Romania lasted most of September 2018 and was a continuation of our 3-month circuit of the Carpathian Mountains, which is the second longest mountain range in Europe. We left Hungary and entered the northwest corner of Romania at Carei, making a complete circuit of north, east, south and western Carpathians. We didn’t travel to Bucharest, so can’t comment on the southern plains.
Wilding, although strictly speaking not allowed, seems to be generally tolerated, provided one is discrete and avoids prominent places in towns, national parks and tourist hotspots. There are very few campsites; in most rural areas tourist infrastructure is yet to develop. Many are somewhat grotty; Dutch or German owners invariably run the few decent ones. In northern and eastern Carpathian regions very few campsites are suitable for larger motorhomes, and for them some of the roads may also be a challenge. Useful sources of information are Campercontact and Park4night apps; Acsi doesn’t do Romania.
By and large Romanians are welcoming, friendly and cheery. Those who speak English are mostly the younger people who learn it at school, and seem very happy to gain practice. Older people generally learnt Russian at school. In the southeast a lot of people speak German as a first or second language, and some Hungarian. If you speak Italian you can figure out a lot of written Romanian writing, but it doesn’t help much with understanding the spoken word.
In rural areas, particularly in the north and east of the country where the population is more of original Romanian descent there seems to be a fairly laissez-faire attitude to most rules…especially speeding and parking. There are a few ancient rusted Gatsos here and there, but like everything else I doubt they’ve seen much in the way of maintenance, or indeed film, in a long time. In the north there seem to be few police cars and those you do see are old bangers. In the south/ south east, where much of the population is of Austro-Hungarian and German descent there is more of a sense of order, and on the trunk routes and motorways there are plentiful speed cameras, and relatively new fast police cars.
What you will see everywhere on main roads are new number-plate recognition cameras checking that you have a valid Rovignetta (road tax). It’s hopeless to think you can get anywhere from town to town on main roads without buying one; its not expensive, and most easily obtained on line (in English) before you enter the country; this is one service that does seem to work fairly efficiently!
Romanian roads…how good is your suspension? In the north and east Carpathians areas, Maramures and Neamt, roads generally leave much to be desired! In places reasonable main roads suddenly deteriorate into badly potholed sections often with undulating ridges and troughs to send the crockery flying, then into a creviced patchwork of loosely connected tarmac, then miles of stony or rocky gravel dirt track. Main roads in south, central and western areas tend to be better, and the motorways excellent, although not extensive. Many minor rural roads are generally pretty rough, and often deteriorate into dirt tracks; some rural villages have roads of loose (partially) crushed rocks. It is evident much money and effort is going into road improvements, but organisation of the work seems very chaotic and patchy.
Much of the countryside, especially the mountains and national parks, is beautiful. Sadly however Romanians seem to be blind to litter and rubbish which is strewn everywhere, the countryside around towns and villages is copiously bedecked with fly tipping. Lakes and rivers accumulate logjams of floating plastic and bottles…sad.
We hoped to do a lot of walking; however, Romanians don’t seem to share the Germanic enthusiasm for walking in the countryside. Maps suitable for walking are hard to come by, and information (including Open-street-map digital apps), and signage, is often inaccurate and out of date. Only a few tourist parks and populous areas in the south-central and eastern regions have marked trails, generally fairly tame and not very long. In a few popular rural spots there is evidence of efforts to create marked trails at some time past. However these have often fallen into disrepair and never been maintained. Too many times we started out on hikes only to find that trails fizzled out at decrepit or collapsed rope bridges over rivers and gorges, or faded away into dense bushes surrounded by disturbingly recent bear pooh… which may explain the lack of enthusiasm for hiking! I don’t think we met any other walkers anywhere.
There are more than 6000 European brown bears in Romania; in the remote rural and mountainous areas they are reputedly very shy and tend to avoid humans if they can hear them coming (hence we resurrected our Canadian bear bell). In some urban, well-frequented rural areas they may be bolder and come down especially at night to forage and raid the bins. These are not, as I at first mistakenly thought, like the smaller black bear, but cousins of the rather larger and distinctly more grumpy Grizzly. In spite of seeing evidence of bears we didn’t actually see any; dogs on the other hand are a different matter, especially groups of large fierce shepherd-dogs. In Romania animals wander everywhere.
In some national parks for ecological reasons entry is limited to only a few days of the week, and sometimes only in guided groups. A striking exception is the mountaintop skiing areas on the southern section of the Transalpina Pass where there are a number of well-signed and marked trails.
Taking our route: from the border to Carei the road continued the bounce, rock and roll we had become accustomed to in eastern Hungary. Why Carei? It has the only campsite near the border. Not an auspicious town, it looks run down and unattractive. Camping Klass (47.671402, 22.456033, very cheap) at the Strand Termal (baths) is not easy to find. With a bouncer on the gate, the dodgy looking Joy Club (if you Google the site you’ll find an advert for naked ladies) is in fact the right place. Round the corner is a gated grassy compound; hot showers in a crappy painted chipboard and rusty-nail shed.
The busy DN19 road heading east out of Carei towards Satu Mare and DN 1C to Baia Mare across the dreary plain passes through poor-looking dismal villages festooned with poles and spiders webs of wires. The traveller is welcomed at Baia Mare by an ill planned industrial wasteland scattered with rubbish and thrown-together commercial sheds (The small preserved fragment of old town is apparently quite interesting). By this time you may wonder why you came here! A short diversion south along a very bumpy road DJ128B leads to the village of Sacalaseni, not itself a great attraction apart from its ancient wooden church, views at last of mountains, and walks along the river. It is home to the pleasant small Camping Naroc Maramures Campsite (47.583071, 23.567038) owned by a friendly young (English speaking) French couple, who can give good advice on routes and places to visit.
Following said advice, instead of ploughing north and east along the busy DN18, we forked off on the surprisingly good little DJ184-DJ109F roads that wind up and over the Maramures mountains and pass through interesting villages, and tiny ski resorts, eventually arriving at Breb and the quiet delightful Camping Babou Maramures (47.746319, 23.893748), run by a helpful young Dutch couple. The campsite, that has tremendous views of the Carpathians, lies on the far side of the village and is accessed by steep torturous narrow rough stone tracks, and hence only suitable for smallish vans with good ground clearance. The rustic village, probably the most unspoilt in Romania, looks as if life here has hardly changed in hundreds of years. Horses and carts, and one or two small ancient tractors are the main mode of transport. There seem to be very few young people. Elderly inhabitants wearing traditional garb wield scythes in the fields building beehive shaped haystacks. Everyone grows their own fruit and veg and keeps their own livestock. Cows, goats, cats, dogs, hens wander everywhere! Everyone gives a smile or wave as they pass. Every house no matter how modest has a grand gateway, ostensibly to keep out evil spirits, but more practically they keep out all the animals. Unlike many villages there are a number of hiking opportunities here; the circular walk round the village is especially interesting.
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Moving on, via Budesti, the DJ186B-DJ185 winds through more interesting little villages to Barsana and its monastery. Southwards, the DJ186 leads through a pleasant rural valley and over the mountains to pick up the main D18 north-south route. At Viseu de Sus is the fascinating Mocanita narrow gauge railway, which provides a car park ‘aire’ to stay overnight (47.71500, 24.44360). Using the railway is not a condition; it’s nevertheless a very popular attraction, albeit expensive, and gives a grand day out climbing up an otherwise inaccessible mountain valley parallel with the Ukraine border. It also has a free collection of curious rolling stock and locomotives.
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Further south on the D18 we forked off at Borsa, up to Borsa Baille and Campsite Laura (47.696594, 24.722451) at a hotel run by an English/ Italian speaking couple. Good wcs and showers, but not much to do here. (There is also a campsite in Borsa)
Continuing south the road climbs over the Prislop Pass, with its eponymous monastery at the summit; an excellent road going up, but coming down the ‘highway’ degenerates into a bone-jarring rubble and dirt road and continues thus for many miles until it meets the DN17. The tarmac lasts as far as Vatra Dornei, an uninspiring town with ski slopes and a nice park…and supermarkets. The terraced campsite (47.348088,25.348529) is ok, and the reception friendly, but sanitaries are old and dirty.
View media item 895
Beyond Vatra Dornei the DN17B starts off ok, but soon becomes crockery-rattlingly bumpy (with bits sliding off down the hillside here and there) and remains thus, even after joining the DN15 for some considerable distance as far as Bicaz at the foot of Lake Izvorul Muntelui. Anticipating nowhere of interest to stay in Bicaz we diverted off up DN15/DJ155F to the little mountain resort of Staiunea Durau in the Ceahlau National Park. Here, the tiny Camping Ursluetul (at 47.004189, 25.910443) lies at the end of a rough track (enter at 47.006733, 25.910443), definitely not for large vans with long overhangs!!! The site has a nice mountain-view but atrocious toilets and showers. Good hiking is possible in the Park, but restricted to certain days and involves an entry charge.
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Instead of continuing south we chose to travel west up the famous Bicaz Gorge, a deep cleft amid limestone cliffs and crags. After Bicaz on the DN12C road condition improved markedly, up to this point it had been impossible to average more than 20mph. Near the summit is a good ‘aire’ at Hotel Lacu Rosu (46.792942, 25.793496); pay at the hotel and get the door code for the immaculate luxurious showers and toilets; not cheap. If planning walks, unlike us, ask for local advice, some of the marked tracks round here fizzle out.
View media item 887
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Continuing west on DN12C and DN138 took us over mountain ranges to Sovata and the pleasant German-run Camping Vasskert (46.591426, 25.072128) with its rudimentary sanitaries, to visit the Salt Lakes (and dodge bears), and do some shopping.
South again leads on good roads to Sighisoara, a very popular little city with a grand cathedral, attractive hilltop historic old-town, castle and church. Camping Acquaris (46.22291, 24.79653) huddles in the walled yard of a Pensiune in the town centre next (excellent sanitaries).
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A short hop south along the DN13 took us to Rupea and the ruins of an old fortified citadel (cheap to visit). It’s possible to overnight in the car park here, but more pleasant above the castle next to the track.
View media item 900
Against our better judgement we travelled south again via Brasov to Bran to visit the famous Bran Castle (allegedly Dracula’s Castle). Terrible roads, innumerable road works, enormous traffic jams, and rain. The castle albeit well preserved and interesting to see, was seething with weekend visitors and tourists, we were glad to escape! The nearby Vampire Camping (45.527925, 25.371667) is ok, although much frequented by those large convoys of French, German, Dutch, and Belgian motorhomers who need to travel en-mass for mutual protection…don’t know how they would cope with north-eastern Romania!
View media item 871
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Our route through Romania lasted most of September 2018 and was a continuation of our 3-month circuit of the Carpathian Mountains, which is the second longest mountain range in Europe. We left Hungary and entered the northwest corner of Romania at Carei, making a complete circuit of north, east, south and western Carpathians. We didn’t travel to Bucharest, so can’t comment on the southern plains.
Wilding, although strictly speaking not allowed, seems to be generally tolerated, provided one is discrete and avoids prominent places in towns, national parks and tourist hotspots. There are very few campsites; in most rural areas tourist infrastructure is yet to develop. Many are somewhat grotty; Dutch or German owners invariably run the few decent ones. In northern and eastern Carpathian regions very few campsites are suitable for larger motorhomes, and for them some of the roads may also be a challenge. Useful sources of information are Campercontact and Park4night apps; Acsi doesn’t do Romania.
By and large Romanians are welcoming, friendly and cheery. Those who speak English are mostly the younger people who learn it at school, and seem very happy to gain practice. Older people generally learnt Russian at school. In the southeast a lot of people speak German as a first or second language, and some Hungarian. If you speak Italian you can figure out a lot of written Romanian writing, but it doesn’t help much with understanding the spoken word.
In rural areas, particularly in the north and east of the country where the population is more of original Romanian descent there seems to be a fairly laissez-faire attitude to most rules…especially speeding and parking. There are a few ancient rusted Gatsos here and there, but like everything else I doubt they’ve seen much in the way of maintenance, or indeed film, in a long time. In the north there seem to be few police cars and those you do see are old bangers. In the south/ south east, where much of the population is of Austro-Hungarian and German descent there is more of a sense of order, and on the trunk routes and motorways there are plentiful speed cameras, and relatively new fast police cars.
What you will see everywhere on main roads are new number-plate recognition cameras checking that you have a valid Rovignetta (road tax). It’s hopeless to think you can get anywhere from town to town on main roads without buying one; its not expensive, and most easily obtained on line (in English) before you enter the country; this is one service that does seem to work fairly efficiently!
Romanian roads…how good is your suspension? In the north and east Carpathians areas, Maramures and Neamt, roads generally leave much to be desired! In places reasonable main roads suddenly deteriorate into badly potholed sections often with undulating ridges and troughs to send the crockery flying, then into a creviced patchwork of loosely connected tarmac, then miles of stony or rocky gravel dirt track. Main roads in south, central and western areas tend to be better, and the motorways excellent, although not extensive. Many minor rural roads are generally pretty rough, and often deteriorate into dirt tracks; some rural villages have roads of loose (partially) crushed rocks. It is evident much money and effort is going into road improvements, but organisation of the work seems very chaotic and patchy.
Much of the countryside, especially the mountains and national parks, is beautiful. Sadly however Romanians seem to be blind to litter and rubbish which is strewn everywhere, the countryside around towns and villages is copiously bedecked with fly tipping. Lakes and rivers accumulate logjams of floating plastic and bottles…sad.
We hoped to do a lot of walking; however, Romanians don’t seem to share the Germanic enthusiasm for walking in the countryside. Maps suitable for walking are hard to come by, and information (including Open-street-map digital apps), and signage, is often inaccurate and out of date. Only a few tourist parks and populous areas in the south-central and eastern regions have marked trails, generally fairly tame and not very long. In a few popular rural spots there is evidence of efforts to create marked trails at some time past. However these have often fallen into disrepair and never been maintained. Too many times we started out on hikes only to find that trails fizzled out at decrepit or collapsed rope bridges over rivers and gorges, or faded away into dense bushes surrounded by disturbingly recent bear pooh… which may explain the lack of enthusiasm for hiking! I don’t think we met any other walkers anywhere.
There are more than 6000 European brown bears in Romania; in the remote rural and mountainous areas they are reputedly very shy and tend to avoid humans if they can hear them coming (hence we resurrected our Canadian bear bell). In some urban, well-frequented rural areas they may be bolder and come down especially at night to forage and raid the bins. These are not, as I at first mistakenly thought, like the smaller black bear, but cousins of the rather larger and distinctly more grumpy Grizzly. In spite of seeing evidence of bears we didn’t actually see any; dogs on the other hand are a different matter, especially groups of large fierce shepherd-dogs. In Romania animals wander everywhere.
In some national parks for ecological reasons entry is limited to only a few days of the week, and sometimes only in guided groups. A striking exception is the mountaintop skiing areas on the southern section of the Transalpina Pass where there are a number of well-signed and marked trails.
Taking our route: from the border to Carei the road continued the bounce, rock and roll we had become accustomed to in eastern Hungary. Why Carei? It has the only campsite near the border. Not an auspicious town, it looks run down and unattractive. Camping Klass (47.671402, 22.456033, very cheap) at the Strand Termal (baths) is not easy to find. With a bouncer on the gate, the dodgy looking Joy Club (if you Google the site you’ll find an advert for naked ladies) is in fact the right place. Round the corner is a gated grassy compound; hot showers in a crappy painted chipboard and rusty-nail shed.
The busy DN19 road heading east out of Carei towards Satu Mare and DN 1C to Baia Mare across the dreary plain passes through poor-looking dismal villages festooned with poles and spiders webs of wires. The traveller is welcomed at Baia Mare by an ill planned industrial wasteland scattered with rubbish and thrown-together commercial sheds (The small preserved fragment of old town is apparently quite interesting). By this time you may wonder why you came here! A short diversion south along a very bumpy road DJ128B leads to the village of Sacalaseni, not itself a great attraction apart from its ancient wooden church, views at last of mountains, and walks along the river. It is home to the pleasant small Camping Naroc Maramures Campsite (47.583071, 23.567038) owned by a friendly young (English speaking) French couple, who can give good advice on routes and places to visit.
Following said advice, instead of ploughing north and east along the busy DN18, we forked off on the surprisingly good little DJ184-DJ109F roads that wind up and over the Maramures mountains and pass through interesting villages, and tiny ski resorts, eventually arriving at Breb and the quiet delightful Camping Babou Maramures (47.746319, 23.893748), run by a helpful young Dutch couple. The campsite, that has tremendous views of the Carpathians, lies on the far side of the village and is accessed by steep torturous narrow rough stone tracks, and hence only suitable for smallish vans with good ground clearance. The rustic village, probably the most unspoilt in Romania, looks as if life here has hardly changed in hundreds of years. Horses and carts, and one or two small ancient tractors are the main mode of transport. There seem to be very few young people. Elderly inhabitants wearing traditional garb wield scythes in the fields building beehive shaped haystacks. Everyone grows their own fruit and veg and keeps their own livestock. Cows, goats, cats, dogs, hens wander everywhere! Everyone gives a smile or wave as they pass. Every house no matter how modest has a grand gateway, ostensibly to keep out evil spirits, but more practically they keep out all the animals. Unlike many villages there are a number of hiking opportunities here; the circular walk round the village is especially interesting.
View media item 878
View media item 873
View media item 877
View media item 876
View media item 875
View media item 874
Moving on, via Budesti, the DJ186B-DJ185 winds through more interesting little villages to Barsana and its monastery. Southwards, the DJ186 leads through a pleasant rural valley and over the mountains to pick up the main D18 north-south route. At Viseu de Sus is the fascinating Mocanita narrow gauge railway, which provides a car park ‘aire’ to stay overnight (47.71500, 24.44360). Using the railway is not a condition; it’s nevertheless a very popular attraction, albeit expensive, and gives a grand day out climbing up an otherwise inaccessible mountain valley parallel with the Ukraine border. It also has a free collection of curious rolling stock and locomotives.
View media item 890
View media item 889
View media item 888
Further south on the D18 we forked off at Borsa, up to Borsa Baille and Campsite Laura (47.696594, 24.722451) at a hotel run by an English/ Italian speaking couple. Good wcs and showers, but not much to do here. (There is also a campsite in Borsa)
Continuing south the road climbs over the Prislop Pass, with its eponymous monastery at the summit; an excellent road going up, but coming down the ‘highway’ degenerates into a bone-jarring rubble and dirt road and continues thus for many miles until it meets the DN17. The tarmac lasts as far as Vatra Dornei, an uninspiring town with ski slopes and a nice park…and supermarkets. The terraced campsite (47.348088,25.348529) is ok, and the reception friendly, but sanitaries are old and dirty.
View media item 895
Beyond Vatra Dornei the DN17B starts off ok, but soon becomes crockery-rattlingly bumpy (with bits sliding off down the hillside here and there) and remains thus, even after joining the DN15 for some considerable distance as far as Bicaz at the foot of Lake Izvorul Muntelui. Anticipating nowhere of interest to stay in Bicaz we diverted off up DN15/DJ155F to the little mountain resort of Staiunea Durau in the Ceahlau National Park. Here, the tiny Camping Ursluetul (at 47.004189, 25.910443) lies at the end of a rough track (enter at 47.006733, 25.910443), definitely not for large vans with long overhangs!!! The site has a nice mountain-view but atrocious toilets and showers. Good hiking is possible in the Park, but restricted to certain days and involves an entry charge.
View media item 879
Instead of continuing south we chose to travel west up the famous Bicaz Gorge, a deep cleft amid limestone cliffs and crags. After Bicaz on the DN12C road condition improved markedly, up to this point it had been impossible to average more than 20mph. Near the summit is a good ‘aire’ at Hotel Lacu Rosu (46.792942, 25.793496); pay at the hotel and get the door code for the immaculate luxurious showers and toilets; not cheap. If planning walks, unlike us, ask for local advice, some of the marked tracks round here fizzle out.
View media item 887
View media item 886
Continuing west on DN12C and DN138 took us over mountain ranges to Sovata and the pleasant German-run Camping Vasskert (46.591426, 25.072128) with its rudimentary sanitaries, to visit the Salt Lakes (and dodge bears), and do some shopping.
South again leads on good roads to Sighisoara, a very popular little city with a grand cathedral, attractive hilltop historic old-town, castle and church. Camping Acquaris (46.22291, 24.79653) huddles in the walled yard of a Pensiune in the town centre next (excellent sanitaries).
View media item 904
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A short hop south along the DN13 took us to Rupea and the ruins of an old fortified citadel (cheap to visit). It’s possible to overnight in the car park here, but more pleasant above the castle next to the track.
View media item 900
Against our better judgement we travelled south again via Brasov to Bran to visit the famous Bran Castle (allegedly Dracula’s Castle). Terrible roads, innumerable road works, enormous traffic jams, and rain. The castle albeit well preserved and interesting to see, was seething with weekend visitors and tourists, we were glad to escape! The nearby Vampire Camping (45.527925, 25.371667) is ok, although much frequented by those large convoys of French, German, Dutch, and Belgian motorhomers who need to travel en-mass for mutual protection…don’t know how they would cope with north-eastern Romania!
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