Photo Tour & Bears Watching – 7 days

Photo tour & bears watching

Trip Highlights:

• Walk through the mountain villages of Transylvania;
• Hike along the impressive limestone ridge of Piatra Craiului Mountains;
• Take short panoramic tour of Bucharest;
• Visit the castle that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula – Bran Castle;
• Tour beautiful Sinaia Resort and the former royal residence of Peles Castle;
• Admire the fantastic view of the valleys and hills of Carpathians.

Day 1: Transfer Bucharest airport to hotel in Bucharest. Accommodation. City tour by night. Dinner.

Day 2: Breakfast. Transfer Bucharest – Zarnesti (235 km), the main gate to the Piatra Craiului National Park. On our way to Zarnesti visit Bran Castle (the Castle was built by the Knights of the Teutonic Order between 1211 – 1225) and Rasnov Fortress (the Fortress was built in stone and brick around the year 1215 by the Teutonic Knights). Accommodation. In the evening we have our bears watching program (about 4 – 5 hours). From June to August the probability to see bears are 70-90%. In May, September and October the probability to see bears are 60 – 70%. There is only one observation point near Brasov: in Piatra Craiului National Park – 13 km from Zarnesti town so please send us the reservation in time (2 – 3 months before).

Day 3: Breakfast. Starting the photo tour: we hike crossing the most authentic & beautiful mountain villages from the bottom of the National Park Piatra Craiului – Magura – Pestera – Sirnea – Ciocanu – Dimbovicioara (6-7 hours; easy, uphill/ downhill walk: 200 m/ 200 m). Ecolunch in Pestera village. Dinner and accommodation at a boarding house in Dambovicioara village.

Day 4: Breakfast. Second day of our photo tour: in the morning we visit Dambovicioara cave: it is 250 m long and has the aspect of the very little branched gallery; the way is a little ascending; it can be easily crossed because the ceiling is higher than a man’s height; the temperature is around 10-12 C degrees; here have been found fossils of the cave bear (Ursus Spelaeus). We continue through Dambovicioara gorges, to the Podu Dambovitei village (about 4 km; very easy). We hike crossing some great gorges to the Fundatica and Fundata villages: one of the most beautiful villages from the bottom of the Bucegi mountains (6-7 hours; easy; uphill/ downhill walk: 200 m/ 200 m). Lunch to go. Dinner and accommodation in Fundata.

Day 5: Breakfast. Transfer to the Palamari’s Cultural Center near Fundata village, on our way to Brasov. Palamari’s Cultural Center has an open air exhibition of the Maramuresean architectural complex into a Transylvanian environment. We stay about 4 hours for traditional and creative workshops such as: relaxation – finger painting/photography/moulding/slow-food – the importance of traditional cuisine/Romanian traditional dances. Ecolunch to the center. We continue our way to Brasov. Accommodation. Dinner.

Day 6: Breakfast. Active hiking tour trips on the Piatra Mare Massif (15 km from Brasov), through „7 Ladders” canyon (5-6 hours; easy to medium; uphill/ downhill walk: 900 m/ 900 m). Lunch to go.Accommodation. Traditional Romanian dinner.

Day 7: Transfer to Bucharest airport. On our way to Bucharest visit Sinaia mountain resort and Peles Castle a Neo-Renaissance castle placed in an idyllic setting in the Carpathian Mountains, on a medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia, built between 1873 and 1883.

Details about trekking tour:

• Optimal time: May – October;
• Mountain tour requires a good physical shape, with resistance to low effort but for long duration;
• Note that you should personally carry your baggage from day 3 to day 5;
• Transportation will be chosen according to the number of participants: car or minibus;
• Accommodation is done in mountain chalets and boarding houses;
• Licensed mountain guide during the entire hiking tour;
• The route could be change because of the weather conditions;
• Dead line for booking with 45 days before the trip start.

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Learn more in our article about the best Hiking trails in Fagaras Mountains.