Private Road Trip to Transfagarasan Highway

Start at 07:30 AM

Your tour will begin early in the morning when your tour guide will pick you up from your hotel to start your journey through Făgăraș, the tallest mountains in Romania. 

We will drive the Transfagarasan road crossing the Transylvanian alps from south to north in a unique road trip experience. 

First will visit Curtea de argeș Monastery after will visit the Poenari Citadel, considered to be the real Dracula Castle and one of the less accessible attractions in Romania due to the 1480 steps you need to climb. Next will have a stop at Vidraru lake guard by a huge statue dedicated to a man with a thunder, symbol of electric energy. From this moment, we drive the Transfagarasan highway up till Balea Lake. If you have a spyglass, you can do some wildlife watching: black goats climbing the mountains but especially bears that are coming near the road begging for food. We are discouraging eating wild bears because it encourages a habit that creates a dependency on people. 

The Fagaras Mountains have over 20 peaks with heights exceeding 2000 m, some of which exceed 2500 m: Moldoveanu - the highest, Negoiu, Lespezi, Dara, Vânătarea lui Buteanu. 

IMPORTANT:

Because of the bad weather, the Transfagarasan road is open from the end of June till the end of October. Depend on weather conditions; sometimes the glacier lake is not visible do the fog.

The Balea Waterfall will not be visited during our tour. The waterfall is accessible from the road to Sibiu or taking the cable car from Balea Lake. Unfortunately, the time doesn't allow this. 

Curtea de Arges Monastery 
The first destination of the tour is the Curtea de Arges Monastery. According to the legend, the secret behind one of the most beautiful monasteries in Romania is the human sacrifice that made it possible. The master Manole cemented his wife, Ana, into the foundation of the building, as a gift to God.  The monastery was completed in 1517, after five years of work, and today it serves as the necropolis of the Romanian Royal Family.

Poenari Castle
Next, you will take a road trip through a great highway that crosses the Carpathian Mountains. On top of an isolated cliff, located 850 meters above the ground, sits the Poenari Castle.

Poenari Castle was built between the 13th and 14th centuries, but it was shortly abandoned. When he came to power in Targoviste, Vlad the Impaler seized many of his enemies and political opponents and force them to work on expanding the castle. After months of slaved labor, many of those who constructed the castle died, and in the end, those that were still alive were impaled.

Vidraru Dam
Close to the castle is one of the tallest dams in Europe, Vidraru Dam, with a height of more than 160 meters. You will stop to enjoy the beautiful scenery, and you can use this opportunity to take some great pictures of the surrounding area.

The last part of the tour is the long-awaited road trip on Transfagarasan Highway, the most beautiful road in the world. 

The first to award it this title was the Top Gear team with Jeremy Clarkson, who drove on this road in 2009. That year, the Transfagarasan road took the top spot as "the best road in the world." It took 20 tons of dynamite to forge the path of the Transfagarasan, and now as it sits between Curtea de Arges and Cartisoara as the most majestic piece of road in the known world.

The road was built between 1970 and 1974, with the army's logistical support, the aim being to connect the historical provinces of Transylvania and Walachia on a previously inaccessible route. The construction has involved great sacrifice, and only Ceausescu's immeasurable ambition made the task possible. The project's cost to the country was high, especially that many lives were lost during its achievement. Under the Nicolae Ceausescu regime, the road was presented as one of the greatest achievements of communism even if the economic value of this mountain road was not justified, and the role was more strategic military.

No matter whether you're a petrolhead, photography enthusiast, or nature lover, you will be amazed by the spectacular Transfagarasan road. 

Balea Lake
Descending from the Transfagarasan, you will reach the northernmost point of the tour, Balea Lake. Here during the winter is the only ice hotel in Romania, built with the water extracted from Balea lac. 

After a short hike around the glacier lake will return on the same road, crossing the Fagaras mountains from north to south. 

Your Transfagarasan highway road trip comes to an end and will be back in Bucharest around 8 PM.