Romania (all)

Il ciclismo è sofferenza. Il premio è la cima di una montagna o una città a 2000km da casa. Se questo premio vi sembra adeguato allora la domanda ``ma chi te lo fa fare'' ha già una risposta. Se non vi sembra abbastanza, semplicemente non potete capire chi pedala.

Cycling is suffering. The prize is the top of a mountain or a city 2000km far from home. If this prize seems you enough, then the question ``why do you do that'' already has an answer. If you don't find it enough, you just simply cannot understand cyclists.

Read about my adventures by bicycle around the world,taking in Europe, the Near East, India, South East Asia, Australasia, and the USA on Route 66.

For something a little less ambitious, I have prepared details of a three-week tour of the beautiful landscapes of central Portugal.

Or if you prefer a central base and some day rides, read about my routes on the Spanish island of Mallorca - a cyclist's paradise, with warm weather, flat hinterland, stunning mountain climbs, and huge ice-creams!

This is our 6th yearly tour, taking us to Romania. It was shorter than usual but we got a few miles clocked. From Bucharest we headed north into the mountains, across, and down to the Hungarian towns of Transylvania. Then east toward Moldavia and back down to the Danube Delta.

We highly recommend this tour because the roads have gotten to be excellent in Romania, and in September the winds and weather are just perfect. We could wake up at 9 AM and still do 150km along the river. If you go - don't miss the special soup ``ciorba de perisioare'', it's delicious.

A mental and cycling experience in a not cycling friendly country. This is my one day 399km trip from Bucharest to the Black Sea. As a meditation to the cycling experience in a country where cyclists are ridiculised daily.

Through Eastern Europe, summer 2006

Summer 2006 we cycled Eastern Europe. We started in Bucharest Romania and went all the way to the Ukraine border into Hungary, Slovakia, Chzechoslovakia into Germany. On my windows webspace the route and the pictures tell the story. Enjoy!

I can't really remember how we came up with the idea. It wasn't like, 'Hey, let's cycle from Europe to Asia.' It was an accumulation of small and different snippets of information via the Internet, certain other events and I suppose fate, that all slowly came together to give us our planned destination 'ISTANBUL'.

One thing was definite, the good old faithful Blue Danube River played it's usual important role in the idea, which was to safely guide us, not all of the way, but at least a part of it.

Ich kann mich nicht genau erinnern wie wir auf diese Idee gekommen sind. Wir haben nicht einfach gesagt ``warum radeln wir nicht von Europa nach Asien?''. Es war eher eine Ansammlung kleiner und unterschiedlicher Informationen aus dem Internet, verbunden mit anderen Ereignissen und wahrscheinlich auch Schicksal, was uns letztendlich unser Ziel Istanbul gegeben hat.

Eines war sicher, unsere altvertraute Blaue Donau spielte wie immer eine wichtige Rolle. Sie zeigte uns den Weg, und begleitete uns treu fast bis ans Ziel.

This website accompanies the book ``Why Don't You Fly?'' (ISBN 1-905203-25-X published by Pen Press).

How does it feel to trade comfort and security for life as a nomad and to pare one's life down to the bare necessities? What is it like to push at the frontiers of one's physical and mental endurance?

``Why Don't You Fly?'' is the account of an epic adventure in search of an elusive sense of identity in which triumph, disappointment, discomfort, exhaustion and exhilaration all trade positions against a backdrop of prodigious physical endeavour. During a gruelling 16,500-mile examination of physical and mental stamina the author ate and drank in roadside cafés in the company of inquisitive lorry drivers and shared dormitories in remote Chinese villages with fascinated farm hands and gleeful mosquitoes. Sceptical western existentialism met religious fatalism in the restaurants and teahouses of the Middle East and India in the course of a physical and spiritual journey that constantly raised questions about the attitudes and values that prevail in the West.

The Website includes a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of the book, a sample chapter and 93 photographs.

We take two weeks bike tour at Romania. We started our trip from Csík (Ciuc) basin, across Carpathians to Moldova (part of Romania). When we left Moldova, there was a terrible waterflood (you can see it in the pictures).

We joined three traditional dance festival: Csángó festival at Fundu Racaciun, an other at Ghimes, and Gipsy festival at Commandau, and recorded traditional folk songs, you can find them (and others) in our home page.

[On June 20 2003] I did a tour along the Moldavian painted monasteries [in Romania], starting with a not too difficult pass. Sucevita monastery was even more beautiful. From there I continued east to a bigger town, Radauti, to find a bank machine for a few millions of cash. Via Solca I reached Gura Humorului. Met a group of German cycle tourists. Near the Sucevita monastery I found a nice place to camp at a B&B farm. I insisted to pay for this and for the use of the sanitary facilities and the host accepted my offer of 5 euros, which is a crazy amount for a simple camping spot. For this amount he invited me to sleep in a bedroom inside, but I refused politely and opted for my tent with nice views on the village road. My host spoke good English, teaching American sailors in Brasov and staying at his parents farm during the holiday season. [The next day I took] a small detour to visit the Voronet monastery.

I did a tour along the Moldavian painted monasteries [in Romania], starting with a not too difficult pass. Sucevita monastery was even more beautiful. From there I continued east to a bigger town, Radauti, to find a bank machine for a few millions of cash. Via Solca I reached Gura Humorului. Met a group of German cycle tourists. Near the Sucevita monastery I found a nice place to camp at a B&B farm. I insisted to pay for this and for the use of the sanitary facilities and the host accepted my offer of 5 euros, which is a crazy amount for a simple camping spot. For this amount he invited me to sleep in a bedroom inside, but I refused politely and opted for my tent with nice views on the village road. My host spoke good English, teaching American sailors in Brasov and staying at his parents farm during the holiday season. [The next day I took] a small detour to visit the Voronet monastery.

Was - nach Rumänien willst Du? Mit dem Fahrrad? Und allein? Bist Du verrückt? Diese oder ähnliche Äußerungen meiner Bekannten, Freunde und Arbeitskollegen begleiten mich, als ich nach 24-stündiger Busfahrt von Mannheim aus in Sibiu (Hermannstadt) ankomme. Auch im Bus hat man mich vor Diebstählen, Zigeunern und sonstigen Gefahren gewarnt. Es mag gewiss einfachere und touristisch erschlossenere Reiseländer geben, aber der Reiz des Unbekannten und nicht Alltäglichen ist für mich ein Hauptbestandteil des Reisens, daher war ich gespannt, was vor mir lag.

Le strade sono in buone condizioni in Polonia, Slovacchia e Ungheria. Per quanto riguarda la Romania la situazione varia dall'importanza della strada che si sta percorrendo. Quelle indicate nella mappa del Touring col colore bianco sotto la dicitura di ``altra strade'' sono spesso con un fondo stradale dissestato con buche o rattoppi che rendono la strada molto irregolare. Tutto questo in un ottica automobilistica, ma in un contesto cicloturistico ciò non comporta grossi problemi. Unica avvertenza non andare sparati in discesa se volete evitare spiacevoli imprevisti.

Notevole è però l'impegno rumeno per migliorare lo stato delle cose; strada facendo abbiamo incontrato spesso lavori stradali di risistemazione o rifacimento del manto stradale, quindi la situazione è possibile che migliori di anno in anno. Il traffico è abbondante a Bucarest e in direzione nord fino a Brasov; la statale 1 o E60 che parte da Bucarest fino a Ploiesti è vietata al traffico ciclistico. Conviene evitare, come del resto abbiamo fatto salvo poche eccezioni, le strade rosse di grande comunicazione. Ricordatevi che in Romania non esistono praticamente autostrade, quindi tutto il traffico si scarica sulle statali. Posso aggiungere che nelle strade alternative scelte, percorse e qui descritte abbiamo trovato quasi sempre un traffico scarso o tollerabile. La viabilità alle biciclette è consentita su quasi tutte le strade percorse. Abbiamo trovato qualche limitazione in Ungheria, apparentemente immotivata, che abbiamo risolto o con percorsi alternativi o, in un solo caso, infischiandocene del divieto.

La pedalata è adatta ad un cicloturista allenato. La lunga distanza e i dislivelli da percorrere non devono fare però paura. Il paesaggio carpatico è simile all'appennino tosco-emiliano, montagne quasi mai aspre, passi intorno ai 1.000 - 1.500 s.l.m.; ma anche dolci colline e pianure.

In the fall of 1998 I set off on a long journey by bike. It covered more than 15000 kilometers and 14 countries. During this trip I was hit by rocks and cars, I was baked, soaked, and deep frozen by the weather gods. Mostly, however, I had a superb opportunity to see some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, meet wonderful people and enjoy the culture of widely differing lands. This site is about my bike trip from Sweden to South-East Asia via Eastern Europe, The Middle East, Pakistan, China, and Tibet. It also contains general information and links on bicycle touring and travelling in general.

A bicycle tour through Transylvania, Maramures and Bucovina. This is also a cultural trip through a very little known country - an excellent example of how bicycle touring can provide an insider approach to a country and its culture. This instant classic has photos and plenty of practical information.

Tussen juli 1995 en december 1996 hebben wij een fietsreis gemaakt van Rotterdam naar Kaapstad. Op deze reis hebben we door twintig landen gefietst in Europa, het Midden Oosten en Afrika. In anderhalf jaar tijd hebben we een afstand van ruim 20.000 kilometer afgelegd. Op deze internet-site kun je enkele verhalen over deze reis lezen en de mooiste van onze honderden foto's bekijken.

Und so begann das Abenteuer ohne einen Leu in der Tasche. Wir hatten gewisse Bedenken, denn im letzten Jahr war es uns nicht gelungen, innerhalb des Landes legal Geld zu tauschen. Nach einer Stunde erreichten wir auf der holprigen, aber schwach befahrenen Europastraße Oradea, die erste Stadt auf rumänischem Boden. Im Hotel konnten wir tatsächlich ein dickes Bündel frisch gedruckter Scheine einstecken, und nachdem wir die Hauptverkehrsader verlassen hatten, wurde es nach dem Verlassen der Stadt sehr ruhig. Durch die recht schönen Badeorte Baile 1 Mai und Baile Felix/Felixbad ging es auf nun recht hügeliger Strecke am Rande des Bihorgebirges nach Süden. Überall wurden wir angestaunt und gefragt, warum wir nicht mit dem Auto kämen, denn Radwandern ist in Rumänien noch völlig unbekannt.

This is the story of Marcus Endicott's solo bicycle journey from Yugoslavia to the Soviet Union in 1990. The adventure really began the year before, in 1989, but really hasn't ended yet today; though, there have been perhaps more than a few bumps in the road along the way...

This is a travel journal, and was originally intended to become a book. But, two great historical events occurred virtually one after another and changed the course of not only my personal history but that of the world as well; the first was what became known as the ``Gulf War'' and the second was the ``August Coup'', essentially the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Tabular data and altitude profiles of mountain passes all over Europe.

Erst mitten durch die Walachei und dann ab in die Karpaten... Eine Radreise durch Transsilvanien und die Walachei (Rumänien).

Die Walachei liegt rund um Rumäniens Hauptstadt Bukarest und erstreckt sich bis zum südlichen Karpatenbogen.. Hinter diesem Karpatenbogen findet man dann eine große hügelige Hochebene nämlich Transsylvanien (zu deutsch: Siebenbürgen). Während die Walachei mit ihrer Hauptstadt Bukarest (früher war es Targoviste) eines der ältesten rumänischen Fürstentümer war, gehörte Transsylvanien lange zu Ungarn (auf Ungarisch : Erdely) und weist deshalb noch heute einen relativ hohen Anteil an ungarischer Bevölkerung auf.

A large list of cycle tours, 30 at the last count. Most are in Germany, but others go all over central and northern Europe. See the overview page. English translations are available for all pages.

Romania is an amazing country. Most people imagine the country as rough, poor, violent, dark, or even asiatic. Dracula remains to be the first association with the word Transylvania [...] the black images linger in the minds of people who never were there, and don't consider ever going there. Maybe these pages about this special Eastern European country will enlighten a few of you, and convince you that Romania is a country to be experienced. Travelling there is partly stepping into another concept of time. Things seem to go slower than in our hurried West, and some regions seem to have decided to stop altogether for a century or two. Still, Romania is not a large open-air museum; it is on the move, and sometimes more dynamic than we'd expect. Since 1989 the inhabitants have got acquainted with the concept of freedom. Even though lots of people I spoke to were worried about their economic situation, most were happy to be able to speak aloud again after fourty years of pretty awful repression.

Articles, photographs, tech talk - mainly for mountain bikers.

Discover Romania by Bicycle. This site offers comprehensive information and advice. Also lots of bicycle tour reports in Eastern Europe and elsewhere (all in German, many are Word documents), infos on accomodation in Romania, travel to and in Romania, and commercial links. An excellent starting point for planning a bicycle tour in Romania. Limited English version.

Country info, facts, history, language, visas, weather, news, hotels and reservations, restaurants.