Hiking Tour in Bucegi Mountains – 2 Days

Description

HIKING TOUR IN BUCEGI MOUNTAINS

The difficulty level of this tour is medium to hard.

Trip Highlights:

• Tour beautiful Sinaia Resort and the former royal residence of Peles Castle.
• Take a ride with cable car from Sinaia Mountain Resort.
• Admire the fantastic view of the valley and hills of Carpathians
• Enjoy a challenging hike in unique surroundings of Bucegi Mountains
• Marvel at the stunning Bucegi Sfinx of Romania, a natural formation.
• Visit the castle that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula at Bran Castle.

Day 1: Bucharest – Sinaia Mountain Resort – Omu Peak

Morning departure from your hotel in Bucharest. We drive through a chain of villages in the plain around Bucharest; then the landscape changes as we reach the Prahova Valley, one of the most picturesque places of this region, with mountain resorts spreading across it. Wide and deeply carved by the homonymous river, the Prahova Valley is an unforgettable display of the splendors nature most generously holds out. It is a narrow corridor between Transylvania and Wallachia, an ancient road that is crossed by both rail and motorways, making it one of the most visited routes in Romania.

Before starting our hiking day, you will have the chance to discover the famous castles of Sinaia Mountain Resort – which served as a residence for the Royal family. Sinaia began developing into an important settlement with the construction of the famous Sinaia Monastery in 1695. The fast pace of Sinaia`s growth is connected to the development, in the south Carpathian area, of the extractive and oil processing industries, and to the construction of the road connecting it to Bucharest at the end of the 18th century. The construction of the railway (1879) and of Peles Castle followed. Sinaia was declared a town in 1880, thus being one of the oldest urban mountain settlements in the country.

Peles Castle Complex – here is one of the best-preserved royal palaces in Europe. The Castle is full of ornaments the inside as well as on the outside, and features elaborate wood sculptures and paintings representing scenes from the works of German composer Richard Wagner.

From Sinaia Mountain Resort (about 100 km from the Bucharest airport – 2 hours driving), we climb up to 2000 m (by cable car or by foot – your choice) and we trek on the Bucegi Plateau to the Omu Hut.

Bucegi Mountain Range is part of Southern Carpathians stretching out between the two historical regions of Romania, Transylvania and Wallachia. Bucegi Mountains display a wide range of geographic units: spectacular quays carved in limestone, ice valleys, astounding walls made up of conglomerates, where the acrobatic climbing can be practised, sharp towers, but not the last weird  natural formations formed by erosion, such as  giant stone mushrooms called Babele, (Old Ladies) the famous Romanian Sphinx. There are a multitude of legends and origins of these mysterious stone sculptures, especially aroud the bucegi sfinx. Although the official story is that these stones were shaped by the wind. I’m not that sure if this is the case, as these stone mushrooms are granite which is one of the hardest rocks formations and generally resistant to a hammer and pickax.

Bucegi Mountains have very good marked trails and the signs are in very good condition. All the areas are patrolled by the mountain rescue teams. There are also many mountain huts. These offer food and accommodation, so they can be used if one is planning a longer journey.

Overnight at guesthouse or pension.  Each room has private bathroom. The price do not include breakfast, but you can order it separately. Also you may buy meals for lunch and dinner.

Day 2: Bucegi – Bran Village – Sinaia Mountain Resort – Bucharest

In the morning we depart from Omu Hut towards Bran Village. This route will take us between 5-8 hours with medium to hard effort, uphill walk: 1500 m. Getting closer to Bran Village we will admire the pasture land where the shepherds still make smoked cheese like hundreds years ago. Down to Bran Village and visit Bran Castle a.k.a. Dracula’s Castle.

Transfer by local bus from Bran Village to Sinaia Mountain Resort and then car transfer to Bucharest.

The first historical reference of Bran Castle or Dracula`s Castle, is a document issued on November 19, 1377 by Ludwig I d’Anjou, by which Brasov inhabitants received the privilege of building the a fortress “at their own work and expense”. Between 1920-1927 Bran Castle was restored under the supervision of Karel Liman, the architect of the Royal Court, who turned it in a beautiful summer residence surrounded by a park with promenade alleys, lake, fountains, arbors, and a tea house. In 1938 Queen Maria of Romania bequeathed Bran Castle with all its domains, to her daughter Princess Ileana, who owned it until 1948.

Details about hiking tour in bucegi mountains: 

• Optimal time: May – October;
• For this tour  you need trekking shoes and no running shoes;
• Rain jacket is necessary;
• Number of participants: minimum 2, maximum 8;
  transportation is made by car (Bucharest– Sinaia-Bran Village- Bucharest) and cable car local buses or train;
• Mountain tour requires a very good physical shape, with resistance to hard effort;
  accommodation is done in mountain hut at bunk bad;
• Licensed mountain guide during the entire hiking/trekking tour;
• The route could be change because of the weather conditions.