Saturday 27 June 2026 - Around Brasov

A successful day after an uncertain start. Our taxi to Zarnesti to catch the 9:09 train to Brasov was due at 8:15. We chased it up and it eventually arrived at 8:40, so we thought that with most of the journey being on a deeply rutted dirt road we stood little chance of avoiding a three hour wait for the next train service. 

Somewhat of a surprise then when we pulled up at the station with 15 minutes to spare. 

The local service between Zarnestì and Brasov got us to our destination at 10 o'clock after calling at some small stations such as Risnov, pictured above, which proudly exhibits a well on the platform.

On reaching Brasov we caught a bus and then walked to a splendid little hotel called Schuster Boarding House, where it was too early to check in but we could leave our bags.

Next stop - a coffee shop, we have quite a few Lei to dispose of...

Then a walking tour - self guided, suggested by Collett's, in the warmth of the Old Town.

The Black Church is massive.

The Council building dates from 1420 and since 1950 it has housed the History Museum, which we didn't find time to visit.

The Orthodox Cathedral (above) dates from 1895, with subsequent restoration works and an interesting interior (below).

We went up to the White Tower, from where there's a good view over the city.

After visiting the lower Black Tower we passed an interesting running track.

A walk along the course of the old walls had us passing the Brasov Tampa Cablecar operation that rises 320 metres above the city.

There were good views across the city from various points aļong the promenade that follows the course of the old city wall. An ATP tennis tournament was due to start. They won't compare with Wimbledon!

It was time to check in. A glass of Prosecco indicated the satisfactory conclusion of check in process at a place we would normally consider outside our price range, but which was obviously not outside Collett's price range after we paid them for the trip. We have a huge room that will aid packing for our return home tomorrow. We have some remaining Lei to use on a meal tonight, and we will be picked up on Sunday (tomorrow) morning and taken to Bucharest airport for a late flight home via Amsterdam. 

So that's farewell from this little trip apart from some copious editing, more on flowers, an index, and whatever else I think of.

Here's Sue's entry:

Sat 27 June
7.15 alarm for 7.30 breakfast as our taxi was due at 8.15 to take us to Zarnesti Station for the 9.09 train to Brasov.
He finally turned up at 8.35, after two phone calls to the company. Instead of the 20-30 minute journey described in our notes, we arrived after about 15 minutes (8.53). The station was a very low key one, without a proper platform. The train arrived about 9 from our right, and at 9.09am exactly, left in the same direction it entered!
It was a local train that stopped a few times before reaching Brasov at 10am. The city is also known as Kronstadt (the Crown City).
Bus tickets were bought and we waited for bus number 4, which left at 10.20, with our tickets validated on board.
We alighted at the Miserica Neagra (Black Church) stop and walked a fairly short distance to the Schuster Boarding House.
Left bags here and set out around 11 to explore the town. First stop was for coffee only 300m or so from the accommodation.
We followed the instructions from Colletts, which took us around the medieval town walls, starting at Piata Sfatului, and taking in the Graft canal and bastion, then climbing a short way up to the white and black towers (Turnul Alb & Turnal Negru), both built as defences in the 1400s. Views over the town to Tampa Hill were excellent. Catherine’s Gate was built in 1559 and provided access to the old town from the Schei quarter, the old Romanian neighbourhood. After lunch in the shade in Gheorghe Dima park, we admired the wooden building of Brasov Skating Club. The Tampa promenade was initially missed and gained by steps up from Str. Castelului. A wide, level tarmac path contoured just above the walls, with views of the walls, Powder Tower, the Weaver’s Bastion and down to the roofs of the old town.
Back at Schuster (it was hot and about 2pm), we had a welcome glass of Prosecco, and retreated to our lovely, air-conditioned room on the 2nd floor.
Around 4pm, I went to visit the Black Church, built between 1383 and 1477. It is the largest Gothic construction between Vienna and Istanbul. Its name refers to a fire in 1689.
Subsequently, patrons from Brasov created the wooden pews, painted to identify the trades, and bought over 100 Ottoman rugs, as well as creating an ornate pulpit. The Buchholz organ has over 4,000 pipes and dates from 1839. The earliest painting survived the fire and dates from 1460 or so. It was well worth the 30 lei entrance fee and was beautifully cool inside.
Dinner was at Ograda, at one side of the square after a look around market stalls which sold goods from Moldova, from wine to cakes, to honey and pottery.
A shared Greek salad, mici and fries (me) and chicken and fries (M) with cold beers, was tasty, under an umbrella. We then had a slow stroll along the streets, thankfully shaded now but still very hot, back to base. The buildings are colourful, ornate but not all in a perfect state.

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Friday 26 June 2026 - A walk from Magura

 

A lovely walk today from Villa Hermani, shown above from the start of our walk with a backdrop of places through which we have passed. 

Here's another view from the same spot. 

After a bit of faffing arising from differences between Collett's route and Katerina's route, we chose the latter, as Katerina (who appears to be the boss here) was on hand to point us in the right direction past some nice flowers.

Peach-leaved Bellflowers

Lesser Butterfly Orchid 

All paths lead to the valley bottom, where the river is crossed by either a shallow paddle or the remnants of a corrugated roof. 

We turned left up the track and ascended gently for several kilometres in a magnificent limestone canyon. Elevenses were taken on a bench near a rock face that a couple were preparing to climb.

There are numerous information boards including several showing the named climbs up the faces that hem in ordinary pedestrians such as ourselves. 

A signpost indicated our preferred route to Cabane Curmatura, following yellow circles painted on rocks and trees.

A nutcracker hopped around nearby, seemingly oblivious to our presence. 

Continuing in and out of the welcome shade of the trees, we reached the cabane after rather more ascent than I'd expected.

This was a regular Alpine hut, much like those found elsewhere in Europe. It had a resident fox.

Sue nipped up to a nearby saddle whilst I chilled for 40 minutes at the hut.

Descent was on a yellow stripe route. After contouring through woodland for half an hour we crossed a pretty meadow before going steeply down through the forest past several piles of bear poo.

Somehow Sue and I managed to escape from some whistle happy (supposedly to scare the bears but more likely to wake them up) Americans by accidentally switching to a steeper red stripe path that proved to be a short cut.

A final ascent drew us back to Villa Hermani via a good view of the church next to which we lunched yesterday. 

We got back at 5pm after a good seven hour's walk, and later enjoyed a lovely meal with several German speaking groups. One solo lady with a poor command of English chose to move to our table rather than join Stuttgart hiking club.

I'd hoped for an easy day today but it turned out to be about 20km with 1300 metres ascent, thankfully all at a very gentle pace.

Now enjoying a last evening in the hills, with whistling swifts and alpenrose clad mountains turning pink in the distance.

Sue's diary:

26 June
Woke at 7.30 to the peace of Magura. Breakfast about 8.20am with a large flask of coffee and the usual meats and cheeses. Lunch was made from these.
After a false start (too far down the dirt road) we checked with Katherina and took the 2nd left turn on a dirt road, from left out of the villa. After 280m, we turned right after Casa Dobra and descended down a narrow path, then a sunken lane,past a meadow, to drop through the woods to the gorge. There were Lesser Butterfly orchids here.  We’d joined a marked (blue triangle) trail. Here we turned left and followed the track as it gently climbed beside a shallow river.
The gorge was cool and shady, and the limestone cliffs impressive. Boards described various aspects of the Piatre Craiului National Park, including that it has around 25 bears, and 5-6 lynx (Martin spotted one on our drive up the valley to see the bears yesterday).
We stopped for a cup of tea at the Mountain Rescue post, where there was a bench and two climbers were preparing their equipment.
Soon after, a Romanian asked where we were from. He was a climber, turned walker due to carrying a small child! He warned us about bears, saying there were 16,000 in Romania! According to Katherina, the DNA profiling that’s been done showed there are 10 to 13,000. He has a holiday home in Magura.
We did see three piles of bear poo today though!
We continued up the track until a right turn took us into the woods on a narrow path marked with yellow circles. The sign stated that it was 2.00 to 2.30 hours to Curmatura Hut. The path was lovely and shady and followed a stream, crossing it part-way up. A nutcracker hopped on the path in front of us, unwilling to fly off.
The path reached a meadow that has been grazed over many years, losing the flowers that are present in the hay meadows lower down. Cow bells could be heard.
The final pull to the hut was up a steep grass slope and we arrived about 1.30pm. There were a good number of people spread over the tables and under the eaves and the views over the forest were wide, with the limestone ridge above.
We bought cokes and ate our sandwiches, and Katherina’s recommended chocolate slices.
Reluctantly Martin let me climb for 20 minutes to a saddle, that gave magnificent views to the valley and up to the higher limestone summit. A columbine and alpine clematis were seen on the way up. A ring ouzel sang from a nearby tree, next to one with a woodpecker sitting on it!
It was half an hour there and back, so we started our descent about 2.15pm, following the vertical yellow stripe path, back in the woods once again.
After 30 minutes we entered a meadow, where cows were grazing with their bells ringing. The views to the Bucegi range from here were lovely. We then (gratefully) plunged back into the dark forest, stopping for the rest of the tea and cake at a bench (3.20) before the gradient steepened.
We lost the yellow stripes after zigzagging down through the woodland but the path followed a ridge steeply down, emerging at the car park at the gorge entrance and the other path that we’d inadvertently left.
Turning right, we retraced our steps from this morning and slowly climbed back to Magura, reaching the villa at 5pm.
Tea in our room, with feet up after a 20km day, doing Squardle for an hour or so.
Showers and washing was next, with a few minutes on the terrace with a cold beer, before dinner at 7pm. This was self-service, sausages and other meat, salads, and oven-baked mash. It was extremely tasty. Papanasi (with jam and cream) for pudding.
We then sat back out on the terrace, to write diaries, watching as the mountains turned red (the pink slopes of Alpenrose were visible - this only occurs for a couple of weeks a year) and the moon brightened (9ish).

The swifts are squealing as they swoop to and fro above.
Villa Hermani is at 1,020m.

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Thursday 25 June 2026 - Bran to Magura

After a good breakfast featuring poached eggs and no doggy bag requirement we set off past the castle and across the river to join the path to a saddle, the Magura Mica Saddle, some 700 metres above us. 

The gradient was brutal but the views, when available through the trees, were great.

Bear poo littered the path. They need to eat 20kg of grass every day to produce this black stuff.

We eventually reached the saddle, after pausing for breath several times. The next picture looks back to the notch we passed through a couple of days ago. 

Resting in a shady spot during a fruitless search for the blue triangles that were supposed to mark our onward route.

The saddle area was marked by a variety of limestone constructions, both natural and man made.

We finally gave up on looking for blue triangles painted on rocks, and headed down a grassy slope. We had met a guided party approaching the saddle - they must have come from somewhere.

What should we then find? Blue triangles on a field path that appeared out of nowhere. 

We descended happily on the narrow path, soon reaching a church in the village of Magura.

Shady steps outside the church proved a good spot for lunch.

A few metres further on, beyond a verge of Melancholy Thistle, was our home for the next two nights, Villa Hermani Guesthouse. We'd reached it in 4 hours after 8.5km of walking and over 700 metres ascent.

Next, a 'bear observation programme' that we had rushed to reach for a 1pm start. We waited... and waited, and eventually discovered that we would be served, along with three Germans, dinner at 4pm before a 5pm hour's drive to see the bears.

We spent well over an hour watching with Katerina (our guide for this 'event') from a hide that had apparently been used for Ceauşescu's hunting parties.

It was well after 9pm before we got back to the villa, so this brief entry may warrant some editing.

Here's Sue's worthy contribution:

Thurs 25 June
Alarm at 7.30, packing and an 8am breakfast in the other building. Poached eggs on toast with mushrooms and cheese was excellent and a large glass mug of tea.
We were off at 9am, feeling a bit under pressure as we had to be at Villa Hermani by 3pm and quite a bit of climbing to do.
The ascent started across the river and through a park below the castle and it rose steeply through beech woods. We were grateful for shade here.
Higher, there were grassy areas full of flowers, including Carthusian pinks, zigzag clover, peach-leaved bellflowers, mountain clover and thyme. It was good dipping in and out of the woods, with views growing to our left, where we had walked previously. Several orchid species today - common spotted, birds nest, fragrant and common twayblade (Neottia ovata). We also saw some fairly fresh bear poo (confirmed by Katherina later).
With a few undulations, it was two and a half hours before we reached the high point, a grassy area with chunks of limestone (and some round-headed rampion) - the Magura Mica Saddle. Below was a broad valley, with the town of Zarnesti. A quick cup of tea here, before we begun a short but very steep descent, not helped by a group of Dutch and Belgians coming up! The path emerged in a meadow but our ‘blue triangle’ path wasn’t evident. After consulting the map, we climbed back up 40m or so but it wasn’t where the map showed. Instead we headed off across the meadow using a compass bearing for the village, and crossed over it! It dropped gently, then steeply through open meadow, emerging on a track that we followed down to the village of Magura. We needn’t have rushed. It was only 12.45!
The steps of the church provided an excellent spot for lunch as they were in the shade and covered in carpet as well as having a good view.
Despite concerns (by our hosts and us!) that we wouldn’t be here by 3pm, we arrived at 1.15pm!
After a few minutes we were shown to a twin room, 9, with a balcony that we were soon using for a cup of tea and Squardle.
Our instructions were followed and we came down at 2.45pm but by 3.30pm, nothing had happened. A message to Maria clarified everything. We were to have dinner at 4pm then go to see the bears from 4.45pm.
There were five of us for dinner, us and three Germans. Our host Katherina also joined us. She has been taking people to see the bears since 1999! Not originally from Romania, she’s married to a Transylvanian Saxon.
Dinner was lovely - a clear broth with fine noodles, schnitzel with tomato and paprika sauce, mashed potatoes, Romanian cabbage, & apple and red onion salad. Pancake with cherry jam to finish.
We left about 4.50pm in a smart van. The first couple of km was down a zigzag unmetalled road through the forest to join a tarmac road at the bottom.
We passed a paper recycling factory, apparently owned by a British company (DS Smith). We were on the edge of Zarnesti where there was a munitions factory in communist time, and the plain blocks of flats were built during the 60s and 70s for workers. The purpose for stopping to buy a watermelon at a roadside stall would become clear.
Biggest village PM. Elec for some in 80s, no road access still. Stork nests.
Off the main road, we drove for some way up a track to rendezvous with the ranger at the forest edge. Two more Germans joined us here. A further couple of km into the forest where we left the van by a stream where small Yellow-bellied toads were well camouflaged against the mud. A 5-minute walk up the track then over a narrow wooden bridge brought us to Ceausescu’s hunting cabin. I could hear growls and we were quickly ushered up the stairs into the room.
Fruit trees for bears. Feed till mid-October. 20kg grass/day. Males out of hibernation end of March, females later. Cubs born Jan to Mar 350g. Usually 1 or 2 but sometimes 3. Unusually 4 and rarely 5. Usually rest up during day and are active at night, walking up to 60km per night.

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Wednesday 24 June 2026 - Moeclu de Sus to Bran

Pensiunea Rodica guesthouse was a lovely place to stay.

The two thirteen year old girls, Everline and Maya, served us with a lovely breakfast.

It's a shame that we were the only guests.

We soon entrusted our 'big bags' to a taxi driver who rolled up at about 9:15, just as we were leaving to retrace yesterday's steps for nearly an hour.

First landmark, a bridge over the river.

Then a steep 400 metre climb to a signpost.

Some interesting fungi were spotted.

Royal Fly Agaric

Peeling Paint Ringless Ammonita

Turning left here was a minor error that paid off. According to Collett's route guide we should have continued to the next junction  This 'error' left us on a lovely path, signed with a red stripe, all the way along a ridge to arrive in a strung out village called Simon.

Along the way we enjoyed good views from the belvedere path.

Our first orchid of the trip, a Common Spotted Orchid, was seen. There were also lots of Bird's Nest Orchids.

For a while we could hear the hiss of summer rain on the tree canopy above us, reminding me of a favourite Joni Mitchell album. Not many drops got through.

Hoary Plantain lined the verge at one point.

White Mullein competed with Sue for height.

Down in the valley, hay was drying on fences on the now sunny day.

After lunch on a bus stop bench we strolled into the small town of Bran, home of Bran Castle, aka Dracula's Castle.

We were soon installed in Casa din Bran in a nice room with two balconies and a view of the castle.

After some much needed cold drinks we rooted out the tickets that Collett's had provided for a tour of the castle.

This is apparently the busiest tourist trap in Romania, but apart from one coach load that was best avoided, it wasn't at all crowded and we could take our time studying the rooms and reading the comprehensive information boards. I'll just provide a few photos for now. All the postings from this trip will be edited when we get home, and many flower pictures will be added.

At the end of the visit, a final picture from ground level, a walk around the castle gardens and a welcome cold beer before adjourning to our balcony to finish our copious picnic lunch, washed down with lots of tea.

No need for a meal out tonight - we are stuffed with excesses from the past few days. 

Here's Sue's entry:

Weds 24 June

Woke at 7.30 with breakfast at 8. A beautifully presented plate of cheeses, meats, olives and salad, with bread, butter and lovely strawberry jam. Plus coffee (we’d had a mug of tea whilst dressing). 

We settled the dinner bill in cash, and had a brief chat with Adeline. She’s 11 and Maya’s cousin, so her aunt runs the guesthouse, but only appeared to bring dinner out! They live about an hour away, and she’s staying as it’s their 2-month summer holiday now. Her English has been learnt by listening to videos on TikTok! 

As we left at 9.15, our bags were being collected. A sunny start to the day, as we retraced steps back to the Bucegi national park entrance, then along the track to the wooden bridge. From here, it was back up through the woods we’d descended yesterday. A few new fungi had popped up, such as jewelled amanita, royal fly agaric and peeling paint ringless amanita. A couple of red-banded polypore fungi grew large on tree trunks. A black woodpecker called nearby. 

We regained the junction at a grassy clearing and turned left, slowly descending from the high point of 1,445m. It had clouded over but we had views to limestone cliffs to our right (when the pines allowed). 

Lots of spreading bellflowers in the grass around the path. The path entered the shady forest and it was peaceful except for birdsong. A few drops of rain fell but struggled to reach us below the tall trees. A clump of bird’s nest orchids was spotted (they are well-camouflaged against brown beech leaves), which added to the common spotted orchid seen higher up. We went right (north) at a Y junction to follow red stripe on white. At 12ish we stopped for a cup of tea, then continued, still on the top of a long ridge. Eventually, the path dropped steeply to right off the ridge and we soon came out at the road towards Bran. 

It was hot now, as the sun was out, and we had little shade on the tarmac. The village of Simon is spread along this road for several kilometres, with two churches along the way. 

At the junction with the main road to Bran, we stopped at a covered wooden bench (probably a bus stop) for a sandwich (and some shade).

The main road led into Bran past a couple of churches and through the pass, one of the reasons that Bran Castle was built here as it served as a customs post. 

We found Casa din Bran, our accommodation here, and where our bags were waiting. We did a quick change of shoes (back into comfy trainers) then went out at 3pm, to see the castle. A cold bottle of coke was welcome in an open grassy area before the entrance and we sat on the wood of an early 20th century sawmill in the shade. 

Steep stone steps led up to the castle entrance where we found an intricately carved stone cross from 1722. Writing on the wall above the castle door was dated 1622. Inside we read about Queen Marie’s pleasure at being gifted the castle in 1920. She turned it into a royal retreat. When she died in 1938, the castle passed to Princess Ileana, but was confiscated by the communist regime in 1948, when she was forced into exile, ending as a nun in the US. 

The castle was eventually returned to the family after the fall of communism. 

We strolled round the gardens beneath the castle then sat with a beer at Queen Marie’s Tea House. 

We’ve spent the evening sitting with a view of the castle and mountains on a first floor veranda, having the rest of lunch for dinner, washed down with cherry tea. 

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