Newby - going to Romania. Any advice?
 

Hi there - I'm new. Wow, what a great website.

I'm off soon on my bike with a mate - France, Belgium, Netherlands (sleep), Germany, Czech (sleep), Slovakia, Hungary(?sleep), Romania.

We've got a little over two weekd for the whole thing. The plan is to spend most tim in Romania.

Any advise would be great. What's worth seeing? Any hints or tips?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Craig,

I've just returned from a trip through Romania en route to Moldova and Ukraine. Some main points:

Watch out for the driving style - it's quite common for all drivers (including trucks and buses) to fully ignore the "No Overtaking" signs and to find a truck/bus/car coming at you in the middle of the road.

The roads are mostly full of potholes. I wouldn't recommend riding at night if you want to keep your front wheel round.

Roadworks may not necessarily be signposted, meaning you can come charging round a corner straight onto an unmade/gravel surface full of holes (at least I did!).

Make sure you know your credit card PIN. Many filling stations only accept credit cards with PIN (or cash).

You can generally pay with Euro in towns or on major routes, but village filling stations/cafes/eateries will only accept Lei.

The people are wonderfully friendly and welcoming. I found English or German speakers almost everywhere and was often invited out. This is one of the few countries in Europe where people will show you around or eat/dribk with you without asking for money.

I hope you enjoy the time. If you need any more info, please let me know (whilst it's still fresh in my mind).

Born to do it?
 

Craig
Try a site search. There are a couple of very recent threads on Romania. You might find things of interest in them.

Romania

UK - Romania - Bulgaria/Black Sea?

Stephan

Romental
 

I went last year stag doo. very weird place mate of mine got lost ended up getting knocked off by someone throwing a rock. had a loada jabs but they cant protect u from everything they got there mate of mine got bit ended up with no feeling below the waist shits hiself everytime he sneezes. went on a zx7r came back in a yugo. when the bloke flags you down says his cars broken DONT STOP his mates behind a tree wants a bunch of rubles or you to s*** him off or both. warning.

romania is awesome, the roads are pretty bad but on the highways they can often be smooth and well surfaced even to western european standards, but once you leave the major highways its the complete opposite, pot holes you could lose small children down, bad surfaces, the road just disapearing.

i used my garmin gps with world map and it was a godsend with the major roads marked and it was accurate.

The roads through the mountains are wonderful as long as you dont mind overtaking. other drivers are pleasant yet agressive and they will flash their lights at you when a speed trap up ahead, numerous. got caught and cost me €10, i think that was the minimum and was official as i got a real proper looing receipt.

on the major highways there is camping sites and hotels all the time, i found it one of the easiest coountries in europe for roadside accomadation. the cities can be a pain the traffic is bad in bucharest and the other cities have very poor road surfaces.

but all in all recomended, just go and do it, its leaving thats the hard part.

Depending on the bike you're riding - the real fun roads are the small backroads, esp. through the mountains. But this is all off-road and depending on the weather dusty or totally bogged. Some of the trails are really f***ed up by the heavy logging trucks. So here you'd need a light enduro. And of course you'll need a more detailed map.

With a more street orientated bike stick to the minor roads, which are mostly sealed, but often in a sad state. But no worries - it is IMHO one of the most beautiful countries in Eastern Europe und hardly spoilt by tourism yet. Reminds me of rural areas 50 - 100 years ago ;-)

The northern, north-eastern and central parts of RO are quite mountainous, hence lovely bike-country. And very scenic. Towns like Sibiu, Sighisoara, Cluj, Brasov have beautiful old city-centres. Besides these there are lots of fortified churches in that area. In the north-west you can visit lovely monastries hidden in extensive forests.

As mentioned above, accommodation is absolutely no problem. Just look for "pensiunea" (guest-house) or "cazare" (rooms to let). Prices are still much lower than we are used to here. People are very friendly.

Hans