the Transfagarasan (DN 7C) is just the road that passes through Fagaras Mountains

Fagaras Mountains

Vidraru Dam

Carpathian Mountains

Retezat National Park

Romania Map

If we had to put it in just a few words, than the Transfagarasan (DN 7C) is just the road that passes through Fagaras Mountains (the highest mountains in Romania – Moldoveanu peak – 2544 meters) and that connects Walachia and Transylvania. But in fact Transfagarasan road is more than that. It is the road that climbs to the highest altitude in Romania, 2042 meters, in the Glacial Hollow Balea.

It has two traffic lanes of 92 kilometers long. Because of the countless turns, the average speed is maximum 40 km per hour. Along this route there are 27 viaducts and bridges, and the longest road tunnel in Romania – 887 meters, that passes through Paltin Mountains, from Capra to Balea Lake. The ventilation of the tunnel is made naturally, thanks to the extremely powerful currents. The traffic lane inside the unlighted tunnel is only 6 meters wide and there is a one meter broad pavement.

Transfagarasan road.

Tourists who would like to “venture” on the Transfagarasan Road are advised to climb it from South to the North. Romania’s most famous road runs from Arefu village (at km 61 of DN7C) in the county of Arges, to the county of Sibiu, somewhere near Cartisoara village (at the crossroad with DN1).

Romania Tours 2013/2014

Transfagarasan road.

The landscape is fantastic, and the differences of altitude and the curves represent a challenge for both cars and drivers. Unfortunately, because of the weather conditions, Transfagarasan Road is opened for only a few months every year, usually from July until October.

The most important tourist attractions areVidraru Lake and Vidraru Dam, which is one of the greatest in Europe, thenPoenari Fortress (built in the time ofVlad Tepes), Balea Glacial Lake and Balea Waterfall.

Diana **

Bulevard ***

Cabana Balea Lac ***

Pensiunea Balea **

Transfagarasan road.

How it bas built

Transfagarasan was built between 1970 and 1974. A brief presentation with numbers might be difficult to follow, but for those who have the patience to read it is worth saying that about 3 million tones of hard rocks were dislocated, 830 transverse works and 290 000 cubic meters of masonry were made for building those 92 kilometers of road. For building the Capra – Balea Tunnel there were excavated over 41 000 cubic meters of rocks. There were also used 20 tones of dynamite, 3 573 tones of cement, 89 tones of concrete steel, 24 000 of anchors, 129 tones of brazed nets, 14 200 square meters of encasements, 1750 meters of concrete tubes, 4 100 meters of pipes, 50 tones of metal composites, 6 900 cubic meters of grit, 6000 cubic meters of gravel, 3 000 tones of crushed rocks and 740 lighting lamps.

Tunnel on the Transfagarasan road.

Some of those who worked at the construction of Transfagarasan, nowadays retired, speak about the sacrifices that were made for the road that leads to the sky. Before its construction, it was impossible to cross the mountains, not even on horseback. But it is said that once, before becoming president, Nicolae Ceausescu stopped by Arefu village and the idea of a road that passed through the mountains crossed his mind. During the construction a lot of men lost their lives, like in Vidraru’s case. Unfortunately the documents didn’t keep these numbers. But the survivors say that it is about a hundred of human sacrifices. Many of those who died weren’t even found in the precipices in which they had fallen. It is also said that when the tunnel was built, the miners who were in charge with the planting of the explosive were hanging on each other, in groups of 20 or 30, not to be thrown by the strong wind into the precipice.

Fagaras Mountains – Transfagarasan road.

A story that has been spreading from mouth to mouth refers to a monk named Nectarie. After the construction of the Transfagarasan road, he climbed it by his car, a Trabant, up to Capra, where he was caught by an avalanche. He left the car at Capra, and he threw himself on the snow, being carried by the “wave”. It is said that he remained alive, while his car was found after 6 months, when the snow melt away.

Balea Waterfall and Balea Glacial Lake

Balea Waterfall – Transfagarasan.

Balea Waterfall, located in the Fagaras Mountains, is one of the most famous waterfalls in Romania, is at an altitude of 1234 meters and the water falls from 68 meters.

Balea Glacial Lake is a real monument of nature (formed in a glacial circus), is 360 meters long, 240 meters broad and 11 meters depth. Situated at 2 034 meters of altitude, the lake is between the Defileul Oltului (Olt Canyon) and the foot of Piatra Craiului Mountains. It is accessible by car during the summer, and the rest of the year by a cable car from the “Balea Cascada” chalet.

Since 1932, the lake and about 180 hectare of land around it were declared scientific reservation. It must also be mentioned the fact that the first ice hotel in Eastern Europe was built near the lake in 2006.

Balea Lake Chalet and Balea Glacial Lake are located at an altitude of 2034 meters.

On summer one can practice boating on the lake, while on winter one can skate, play hockey or curling on the frozen surface of the lake. One can also climb down from the Waterfall by skiing, on a 10 kilometers route with a 600 meters difference of altitude.

Paraul Capra Chalet – Transfagarasan.

Accommodation possibilities

There are many accommodation possibilities, from camping places to boarding houses and chalets. It is certain that booking must be done in advance because they are booked for the entire year.

“Valea cu Pesti” (Fish Valley) Chalet 
Located on the East side of Vidraru Lake, at an altitude of 870 meters, the chalet was one of the protocol places used by Nicolae Ceausescu. Nowadays it has 18 dwellings, meaning 45 accommodation units.

Complex Capra – Transfagarasan.

“Cumpana” (Sweep) Chalet 
It is located on the West side of Vidraru Lake and has 88 accommodation units, a restaurant for 100 persons, a disco, a sport field, a pool that floats on Vidraru Lake on summer. One can also rent from here all sorts of amusement devices to use on the lake, and can take the passenger steamship (for 100 persons) that goes to Casa Argeseana (Argeseana House) and “Valea cu Pesti” (Fish Valley) Chalet.

Cascada Chalet – Transfagarasan.

Dracula Boarding House 
Dracula Boarding House is located on Transfagarasan route, at about 6 km far from Vidraru Dam and 1 km far fromPoenari Fortress. It has 20 rooms, parking lots, terrace, its own restaurant and bar.

“Paraul Capra” Chalet 
Capra Tourist Complex is located at an altitude of 1585 meters and has 52 accommodation units in 26 double rooms and a restaurant for maximum 80 persons.

Cascada Chalet 
It is located at the foot of the Balea Waterfall, at an altitude of 1234 meters. The chalet has 80 accommodation units, an all included restaurant, a day bar and, on demand, a conference room.

Balea Lake Chalet – Transfagarasan.

Balea Lake Chalet 
Balea Lake Chalet is located on a half-isle that goes into the Balea Glacial Lake, at an altitude of 2034 meters. The present chalet was rebuilt in 2000, because the old one had been destroyed in a fire in 1995. On its three floors there are double rooms, rooms with four, six or ten places and also apartments. It has its own restaurant and facilities for renting sport equipment, baby sky and scooters.

Paltinul Villa 
The villa is located on the border of the Balea Lake, at an altitude of 2044 meters, and has 26 accommodation units in double rooms, rooms of four and an apartment.One can also rent sport equipment, and professional mountain assistance is ensured as well.

On the terrace at Balea Lake Chalet – 2034 meters..

Fagaras Mountains – Transfagarasan road.

The funicular that climbs over Transfagarasan to Balea Lake Chalet.

Fagaras Mountains – Transfagarasan road.

Transfagarasan road.

Transfagarasan road.

Bridge on the Transfagarasan road.

Tunnel on the Transfagarasan road.

Transfagarasan Highway, Danube-Black Sea Canal,

The Transfagarasan Highway

The Transfagarasan shortly after it was completed

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More than 150 kilometres in length the Transfagarasan Highway is Romania’s most spectacular and best known road and, thanks to an appearance on BBC Top Gear in 2009, now one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions. Fully open only from June to October, the road’s highest point is at 2042 metres: the tunnel which links the northern and southern sides at Lake Balea (Balea Lac).

A Little History

The Transfagarasan - as with everything else in Romania at the time, it would seem - was built from 1970-1974 on the personal orders of Nicolae Ceausescu, who, legend has it, wanted to create a strategic route across the Fagaras Mountains to ferry troops north should Romania be invaded by the USSR (as Czechoslovakia had been in 1968). This legend of course ignores the fact that a perfectly good and far quicker route around the mountains (the Valea Oltului) already existed, and that any strategic impact of a road open for only a few months each year would have been minimal. Still, who are we to question a good urban myth?

A far more likely explanation for the construction of the road was the simple fact that the mountains were there, and that the road across the very top would serve as a proud example of just what socialist Romania - with Ceausescu as its leader - could achieve. Much like the Danube-Black Sea Canal project of the 1980s the Transfagarasan was therefore built as a status symbol with little regard for cost or usefulness. (Indeed - whisper it - but the Transfagarasan is fundamentally useless).

Yet whereas the Danube-Black Sea Canal is today the biggest white elephant in the country (it carries very little marine traffic), the Transfagarasan has never been more popular. Always a favoured weekend trip for Romanian drivers, its international fame now means that motoring enthusiasts from all over Europe (particularly Poland, in our experience) beat a path here each summer. While the you can just about do the Transfagarasan in a (long) day trip from Bucharest, we recommend taking a couple of days: besides the Transfagarasan itself there is plenty to see along the way.

Getting There

To get to the Transfagarasan from Bucharest, the best way is to take the A1 motorway to the industrial town of Pitesti (best known as being the place where Dacia cars are made). There is little to recommend a stop in the town itself, except perhaps the memorial north of the city centre marking the site of Pitesti Prison. This – along with Sighet in the very north of Romania – was the most notorious of the communist prisons where countless intellectuals and members of the old ruling class were executed from 1948-1954.

A much better choice for your first pit stop is in fact Curtea de Arges, a small town 38 kilometers north of Pitesti. It is home to the ruins of the Princely Court (Curtea Domneasca, Open 10:00-17:00) built by Basarab I in the 14th century. While there is not really very much left of the Court building itself, the well-kept church (Biserica Domneasca) is in excellent condition - it was entirely renovated from 2003-4 and open to the public. Basarab I is buried near the church’s altar. A short distance north of the city (and on the way to the Transfagarasan) is the even more impressive Biserica Episcopala Curtea de Arges, part of the Curtea de Arges Monastery. A superb example of Byzantine design, the cathedral was built between 1514 and 1526 using materials brought almost entirely from Constantinople, on the orders of Neagoe Basarab, the son of Basarab I.image

Up the Southern Side

The DN7C officially becomes the Transfagarasan at the little village of Albestii de Arges, 6km north of Curtea de Arges. The road climbs steadily from here, and by the time you reach Capatenii Pamantului - the last village before the serious hairpins begin - the scenery is already stunning, with the road clinging in places to the cliffs as it passes through a wonderful natural gorge.

Capatenii Pamantului (which rather fittingly translates, by the way, as The Ends of the Earth) is home to the ruins of the real Dracula Castle, Poienari, (real in the sense that Vlad Dracul actually lived here for a time. Bran Castle- often marketed as Dracula’s Lair, was never Vlad’s home). You will see the impressive castle high to your left as you approach: you can visit the ruins, but doing so involves a climb up more than 1500 very, very steep steps. It is not for the faint of heart. At the foot of the climb there is a pension, thePensiunea La Cetate.

From here a series of hairpins and three short tunnels bring you to the next landmark on the Transfagarasan, the Vidraru Dam. One of the largest hydroelectric plants in Europe the road passes across the top of the dam (completed in 1966), and offers fabulous views of the Vidraru lake. Just try to ignore the huge ad for a cement company which has been painted without thought for the surroundings onto the rock and, we would suggest, boycott their products. As you come off the dam look out for the electricity pylon disguised as a statue of Promotheus - representing power - on the cliff directly in front of you. If you can find a parking space some steps allow you to climb up to the statue, from where there are even better views of the lake.

During the summer there are boat trips on the lake. Lasting 30 minutes they cost 10 lei per person. Departure times are ad hoc depending on how many visitors there are, but during July and August - especially at weekends - you should never have to wait too long. A couple of hundred metres further along the road there is a hotel, the elegant Hotel Posada Vidraru.

The Transfagarasan then follows the outline of the lake (and another hotel overlooking the lake, the Valea cu Pesti), the water often visible through the trees on your left. The valley then gets gradually steeper, before climbing sharply, up to its highest point: the 890m long Capra Tunnel, at an altitude of 2042m. (This fact means that the Transfagarasan is not actually the highest road in Romania: the Transalpina further west reaches a maximum altitude of 2145m). Note that there is another hotel along the way, theConacul Ursului, just before the start of the hairpins on the southern side: its good value restaurant is a decent place to stop for food, as it is usually less crowded than the places at the top.

The Top of the Transfagarasan: Balea Lac

As you exit the Capra Tunnel the landscape changes starkly, and quite often the weather with it. Whereas the southern side is a relatively gentle climb, made in the most part through the trees along the side of Lake Vidraru, the scene on the northern side is little short of spectacular: a wide open valley with the road serpentining its way down visible as far as the eye can see. This is the classic picture postcard view of the Transfagarasan, and one which moved Jeremy Clarkson to call it ‘every great corner from every great race track lined up one after the other.’

At Balea Lac, just below the tunnel, there are two comfortable pensions (Cabana Paltinu and Cabana Balea Lac) and - in winter - an ice hotel if you want to stay up here the night. The cabins also have good - if not cheap - restaurants. See balealac.ro for more information. In winter there is a cable car which provides access to the cabins and ice hotel from Balea Cascada, as the road is closed.

There is also a rather tacky, touristy market next to the large car park at the exit of the tunnel, selling all sorts of rubbish as well as a few decent treats (such as kürtős kalács).

The Fagaras Mountains are extremely popular with hikers: this is the some of the best hiking terrain in Europe. There are tens of well-marked routes criss-crossing the mountains, which are also dotted by mountain huts offering basic food and accommodation. At Balea Lac you can pick up a number of routes, including one which leads down to Balea Cascada, and one which goes up to Negoiu Peak: at 2525m the tallest mountain in the Fagaras range and the second tallest in Romania. Do not attempt anyhiking in the Fagaras unless you are well equipped for bad weather, have decent boots and have a good map: the Fagaras mountains are not for the casual walker. This brilliant website shows all of the marked trails in the Fagaras.

Down to Cartisoara

From Balea Lac the 25km drive down the most spectacular part of the Transfagarasan to Cartisoara takes around 45 minutes, although at weekends - when half of Romania can often appear to turn up - it can take double that. As such, we advise anyone planning to drive the Transfagarasan to do so during the week, avoided Saturday and Sunday altogether. There are very few places to stop and take photos (and you will see most people trying to do so by hanging out of their car windows). There are a number of small memorials to those who worked (and died) on the road, but the first main stopping point on the way down is Balea Cascada(the Balea Waterfall). A cable car from here runs back up to Balea Lac, and during the winter (when the road beyond this point is closed) is the only way up. The cable car usually runs during the summer too.

At Cartisoara (where the Badea Cartan Museum, featuring a collection of painted glass icons and an old shepherd’s house complete with thatched roof is well worth a stop) those of you on a day trip should turn left onto the DN1 and head for Avrig and the DN7, which will get you back to Pitesti and the A1 in around two hours. If you are in less of a hurry head for Sibiu, Transylvania’s most fabulous city, just 25km beyond Avrig: make sure you pick up a copy of Sibiu In Your Pocket to help you make the best of your time here.

Note that DN7 itself runs along the Olt Valley and is a wonderful drive in itself, especially the part which passes through the Cozia National Park. If you have time stop at the 14th century Cozia Monastery: one of Romania’s oldest. In 1986 stained glass windows featuring the portraits of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu were added to those of Decebal, Burebista and other great historical Romanian leaders: they have since been removed.

transfagarasan road through the mountains

transfagarasan
road through the mountains

The reason is the lack of a building permit, officials say CNADNR. Work should begin in June and last for two years, but were postponed to 2015.
Regional Director of CNADNR Brasov explained that there was a construction permit, but not money. And when the authorities got the funds, authorization expired.
So if you want to go on this road, you should hurry, because from 1 November 2014 to 1 July 2015, the road will be, as every year, closed.
CNADNR officials were asked Thursday in a press conference in Sibiu, why were not started construction work on the Transfagarasan, announced by former transport minister Dan Sova in May, which were meant to keep the road opened several months a year. "I started work and, unfortunately, the time favorable for work on Transfagarasan over. It was a matter of building permit, we could not extend the authorization. We promise that next week to pull the building permit, but unfortunately for Transfagarasan is too late, "said Adriana Nicula, regional director of CNADNR Brasov.
She explained that there was a construction permit, but there was no money needed and, until it was earmarked for works expired permit. "Unfortunately, time is no longer in favor of Transfagarasan, but that does not mean we can not start the year in force and the time. Do not start in August, but in June, July, when it will be able to work," said Adriana Nicula.
According to her, during the works, the traffic on this road will not close, but there will be restrictions. In May, the Transport Minister at the time, Dan Sova, and CNADNR officials announced they will begin work on Transfagarasan scale so that this road is closed "more than three months per year," the total amount of work scheduled on the slope north of 67 million lei.
"We DN 7C - Transfagarasan - a series of repairs to the carriageway, sprinkling on porous surfaces, clogging and drainage of ditches and drains. Naturally Transfagarasanul require more extensive work. It's about a series of protection works that could help Transfagarasanul not stand that opened only four months a year and be open much longer, "said Sova.
Regional Director of CNADNR Brasov, Adriana Nicula, said it was already concluded a contract with a company in Portugal that would make extensive works on the northern slope of the Fagaras Mountains, Sibiu county, between Balea Waterfall and Balea Lac.
"The DN 7C have a works contract signed for 67 million lei, with many works. On Transfagarasan can not only work up to six months a year, because of the time. There are many works of repair of bridges, slope protection against falling rocks, Polat for avalanche avalanche special constructions that make you go across the street. Through these works might to keep as much open road and in winter, "said Adriana Nicula.
According to the works on this road, in Sibiu, were to begin in June and last for 24 months of actual work.

enigma transfagarasanului

interviu cu comandantul soldatilor care au construit transfagarasanulhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cSVXTNF0PM

road and pension

road  pension