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Maramures and The Heritage of Transylvania Cycling tour, Romania

Location: Romania: Maramures and Transylvania. Starting point Baia Mare.
Date: På forespørsel.
Nine days and eight nights. Other dates can be arranged on request.
Group size: From two to fourteen persons.
Accommodation: Hotels, pensions, local guesthouse
Activity level: Moderate + .
Price: 1890 euro/per person for a group of 2, 1350 euro/per person for a group of 4, 1090 euro/per person for a group of 6 and more. Including accommodation (based on 2 persons per room), all meals, local guide, mountain bike and helmet, luggage transportation and vehicle assistant, transportation and entrance as per itinerary. Flight is excluded.
Cycling Romania, Transylvania

Description: Welcome to Maramures and Transylvania. You will pass village after village, scenic landscape, local people and experience culture heritage and traditional handicrafts. Highlights are the Iza and Mara river valleys to admire the beautiful scenery; the " Merry Cemetery " at the church of Sapanta with its amazing wooden sculptures and originality; wooden churches (part of the Unesco World Heritage) and villages like Botiza village (dowry chests and rugs), Viseul de Jos area (folk costume and fabrics), Bogdan Voda village (carpets and wickerwork) and Sacel village (rough red ceramics with old traditional elements). Last but not least fascinating Transylvania with its history, nature and many beautiful towns and villages like Sighisoara, Biertan and Sibiu.


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Maramures Cycling Day 1: Arrival Cluj and get together in Baia Mare.
Arrive at the airport in Cluj and transfer to Baja Mare , the county town of Maramures. Baja Mare is situated by the Sasar River, at the base of Gutai Mountains. In the old part of the town you can admire a few old structures and monuments or visit The Mineral Museum, an interesting attraction and is unique to the country. From Baia Mare cycle to Izvoare. Dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight in Izvoare.
Uphill/Downhill cycling: 100m/100m, cycling distance: 10km, cycling time: 1h

Day 2: Izvoare - Pasul Gutai - Cavnic - Breb - Ocna Sugatag - Barsana.
Enjoy your breakfast before begin cycling at around 8.30 a.m. through a nice forest path up to Gutai Clough (1 000 m). At the Gutai Clough there is a nice Maramures Cycling traditional restaurant called Hanul Pintea, where you could have a rest. Continue from Gutai cycle to the tourist city of Cavnic, an old mining town situated in Gutai Mountains. Here you can visit the ruins of a gold mine dating back to the 19 th century; The Tartars pole (Piatra Tatarilor), The Written Stone (Piatra Scrisa), The King's Garden (Gradina Regelui) - a glade and a 250 years old forest of larch which is a natural reservation.

You will continue to Neteda Clough (1 040 m), followed by 15 km descent to Calinesti (500 m) and on your way to Breb village you will notice several wood structures: Valtori for washing clothes and blankets, water mills which operate all day long and traditional distilleries for producing the strong plum brandy called horinca. You will also discover that these locations also function for the local people to meet and chat.

Maramures Cycling Stop for lunch at Budesti or Ocna Sugatag, a community dating back to 1360 when the main occupation here was salt mining. The journey continues through Barsana, one of the bigger communities in Maramures, and one of the most important villages in the valley of the Iza River. You can visit the 57 m high church of Barsana monastery and is one of the eight Romanian churches on the UNESCO World heritage list. Enjoy beautiful traditional gates, friendly, hard-working people and beautiful scenery. Dinner and overnight at a local pension or guest house.
Uphill/Downhill cycling: 400m/500m, cycling distance: 80km, cycling time: 7h.

Day 3: Barsana - Ieud – Bogdan Voda – Sacel - Moisei - Viesu de Jos.
Enjoy your breakfast at your guesthouse. Start cycling 09:30 to beautiful Iza Valley, one of the finest cycling areas in Maramures. The villages here exhibit superb old wooden churches and traditional peasant houses.
Another stop is Ieud is known for the preservation of its traditional costumes as well as its traditional architecture. You will meet the local people who dress and act the same as they did hundreds of years ago. Every year in July the people of Ieud celebrate with a multi-day festival of traditional culture called "Ieud Cultural Days". From Ieud enter the Iza valley and pass the villages of Bogdan Voda, Sacel (the place where unglaced ceramic is still produced) and Moisei.

After another 19 km on asphalt road, you will enter the Viseu valley. Viseu Valley spans a 60 kilometers stretch of scenic countryside and villages known for their traditional folklore and historical value. Accomodation in Viseu de Jos, a beautiful traditional house.
Uphill/Downhill cycling: 200m/200m, cycling distance: 85km, cycling time: 8h.

Day 4: Viesu de Jos – Petrova – Vadu Izei – Sapanta.
Maramures Cycling Sapanta Church Departure 9.30 a.m., after your breakfast. You will cycle through scenic landscape to Petrova for 25 km on the valley of the river Viseu. You will cycle through village after village until you reach Vadu Izei, a very nice hill landscape. Vadu Izei is at the confluence of the Mara and Iza Rivers. The picturesque meadows and estuaries in this area shelter many species of birds with spectacular songs and colors. The hills are covered with apple, plum and cherry orchards giving way to thick forests of pine and oak in many places. The village is well known for its impressive, traditional, wooden gates carved by Gheorghe Borodi, the songs of Maria Trifoi, the melodies played by violinist Gheorghe Covaci Cioata, Tiberiu Utan's poetry and the magnificent drawings of Vasile Kazar. In Vadu Izei we may visit local traditional houses for wood sculpture, glass icon painting, wool blanket and carpet weavers.

Transylvania Cycling You will have the chance to visit the Maramures Village Museum with its traditional wooden houses, lifestyles, ancient crafts and the wooden church. Cycle parallel with the Ukrainian boarder until you reach Sapanta, your end destination for the night. The local people in Sapanta strictly obey the traditions of the Orthodox religion. Visit the church of Sapanta which has through more than fifty years become the creation of sculptor Stan Patras (1908 – 1977), a wood artist who has past his traditional trade from father to son. In the cemetery surrounding the church of Sapanta, the crosses are made of carved and painted wood. The graves are more like flower beds and the crosses themselves rise like big coloured flowers. In summertime, this is a true pilgrimage spot.
Ovenight at a local guesthouse, close to Sapanta Monastery.
Uphill/Downhill cycling: 200m/200m, cycling distance: 78km, cycling time: 7h

Transylvania Cycling

Day 5: Sapanta – Sighisoara.
After breakfast transfer by car (approximately 5 – 6 hours drive) from Sapanta to Sighisoara, an old town considered to be one of the most beautiful and well preserved inhabited citadels in Europe (Unesco World heritage site). Overnight in Sighisoara.

Day 6: Sighisoara through small villages to Sibiu.
After breakfast continue exploring the hilly region with fortified churches west of Sighisoara. The cycling starts 25 kilometers from Sighisoara on a small peaceful road passing through agricultural lands, small villages and 4 fortified churches – Biertan (Unesco World heritage site), Rechis, Alatana and Hosman dating back from 14 – 16 century. Today you finish in the beautiful city of Sibiu (European capital of culture 2007) where you will have time for walks in the old town.
Uphill/downhill cycling: 500/480m, distance: 78km , cycling time: 6h.

Transylvania Cycling Day 7: Sibiu and Transfagarasan road.
In the morning visit the second biggest open air village museum in Europe near Sibiu (Astra open air museum). You will enjoy a walk among the alleys of the park admiring at the fine village architectures of different regions of Romania. From there a short transfer to Cartisoara village which will bring you to the foothills of Fagaras mountains where you start biking on the spectacular Transfagarasan road.
First climb through nice coniferous forests, reach the cabin lift station where lunch can be enjoyed in a small restaurant. Once above the tree line at about 1600 m the alpine landscapes of Fagars mountains will reveal its beauty to you. You will pass nearby the cascade waterfalls Balea and continue cycling on the numerous serpentines climbing gradually in the valley until you reach the picturesque region of Balea lake at 2030m where you stay overnight. Free time for afternoon hikes around the lake.
Uphill cycling: 1400m, cycling distance: 25km, cycling time: 5h.

Transylvania Cycling

Day 8: Downhill to Curtea de Arges.
After breakfast and a short transfer through a tunnel (longest in Romania - 900m) passing through the mountains you start biking downhill exploring the Southern slopes of Fagaras mountains and the spectacular Transfagarasan road. Leaving the alpine landscapes you will enter the green gorge of Arges river and reach the spectacular Vidraru dam (165m high dam wall) Nearby is the Poenari Fortress (former residence of Vlad Tepes also known as Dracula) and the The sculpture of Prometheus. We continue cycling downhill among nice forested areas passing by few waterfalls and finish cycling in Curtea de Arges (one of the oldest towns in Romania). Transfer (150km, 3 h) to Bucharest for overnight.
Downhill cycling: 1500m, cycling distance: 70km, cycling time: 4h.

Day 9: Departure.
Enjoy your free time until transfer to the airport for departure.



Do you have questions or want to book "Maramures and The Heritage of Transylvania Cycling Tour"?
Contact us here.




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