Let’s be honest, our everyday race to the work is as exhausting as it can get. Fighting the traffic every day to do the same job is a mundane routine that most of us don’t like or at least are bored. That being stated, you might not ever think of hitting a road in your trip, but you may be wrong here. While there are various adventurous options in contrast to the monotonous drive in your city, this is undisputedly truly outstanding! The Transfagarasan Highway is called “The Best Road in the World”. It is Romania’s most fabulous and best known road and now one of the nation’s most well known vacation spots too. The road is more than 150 kilometers long and its peak point is at 2042 meters: the passage which interfaces the northern and southern sides at Lake Balea.

Transfagarasan Origins

The Transfagarasan Highway was built under the orders of Nicolae Ceausescu in the 1970’s. The proposed reason for building it was to give faster access over the mountains in case of a Soviet attack. Achieving a height of 6,699 feet, it’s the second highest Mountain pass in Romania. Navigating the southern area of the Carpathian Mountains, this fabulous road takes us to Romania’s most visited lake, Balea Lac, a fascination in its own particular point.

A more likely reason for the development of the road was the straightforward truth that the mountains were there and that the road at such heights going through mountains would fill in as a great example of exactly what communist Romania with Ceausescu as its frontrunner could accomplish.

The Transfagarasan offers probably the most amazing views into the valley beneath as you ravel your way to higher parts. The peaceful and glacial Lake Balea at the summit is an incredible place to spend a couple of hours trekking. Dairy animals and pigs openly wander the roadsides. Also, numerous herds of sheep can be seen grazing on the steep mountain slopes. A highly liked weekend trip for the Romanians, its worldwide acclaim now implies that people from everywhere across the world who like to drive on such spectacular roads come here during summers mostly. While you can pretty much cover the Transfagarasan in an extended day trip from Bucharest, we recommend taking two or three days out for it other than the Transfagarasan travel itself as there is a lot to enjoy en route.

How To Get There And What’s The Best Time To Go?

The road isn’t too difficult to find, yet here are a couple of things you may very well need to know. To get to the Transfagarasan from Bucharest, the most ideal path is to take the A1 motorway to the industrial town of Pitesti which is known as the place where Dacia cars are made. The nearest city to The Transfagarasan is the splendid Sibiu in Transylvania. This lovely city has a blend of old gothic architecture, cobbled boulevards, a Mediterranean style old town center, and a plenty of awesome spots to eat, drink and rest. The course from Sibiu to the beginning of the Transfagarasan is around a 45 minute drive.

To stay away from the wrong extended way, set your navigation to the town of Cartisoara (a 45min drive from Sibiu). Leave Sibiu along the E81, take the E68 lastly join the C7. The C7 will take you through Cartisoara where your ride up the Transfagarasan Highway will start.

On the other hand, you could drive to the Transfagarasan from Cluj-Napoca but the drive from Cluj to Sibiu is about two and a half hours long, so you’ll have to leave early and may need to book a room in Sibiu to spare the long plunge back. There are various affordable options for an essential space to stay for the night in Sibiu, and in fact, it’s really a great place to be.

Note that the road is closed from October to June. Depending on the fact that the road is closed, you have to take the longer route around. The actual excursion time it takes to cover the distance to Lake Balea from Sibiu is around an hour and a half.

Travelling To Lake Balea

If it is summer then you can go to Lake Balea easily through the Transfagarasan Highway. To drive to Transfagarasan, you can do it either from Arefu town from the southern region of the mountains or from Cartisoara, the northern part of the mountains. In winter, you can approach Balea Lake region only from the northern piece of the mountains (from Sibiu city or Brasov city). You can drive up to Balea waterfall, stop and after that reach the top of the place with a cable car.

In your transit up the Transfagarasan, there is a nearby market present on one of the winding curves. Here you’ll discover the local items and native food being sold. At lake Balea itself, there are many such restaurants and stoppages.

A guesthouse can also be found here at which you can rest in the night, however, this ought to be reserved before. During the winter months, there is additionally an Ice Hotel, which should also be booked before. The ice hotel is rebuilt each winter utilizing the ice taken from the adjacent Fagaras Mountains.

The Fagaras Mountains are to a great degree really popular with explorers; most believing this is one of the best climbing territories in Europe. There are several such marked courses going through the mountains, which are additionally found having mountain shacks and huts offering basic food and accommodation. The Negoiu Peak which is the highest mountain in the Fagaras Range and the second highest in Romania can also be reached by taking one path from Balea Lake which goes up to this mountain. Alternatively, you can choose to go down towards Balea Cascada. Try not to do any climbing in the Fagaras except if you are very much prepared for the bad climate, have trekking boots and have a decent map with marked routes; the Fagaras Mountains are not for the easy walkers.

Tranfagarasan Highway and Lake Balea can get occupied at times, yet it’s undoubtedly one of the best roads you’ll ever cross, in Europe at least! If you want to take a bite of this adventurous and lovely journey and add a great memory to your life experiences, you must surely go to this place. Choose from our best travel packages and hit the road that will show you some of the most breathtaking visuals from the world.

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