A Day Trip to the Transfagarasan Mountain Pass
For many years now I have wanted to visit the famous Transfagarasan mountain pass in the Southern Carpathians. Finally, this fall my family and I got into a car and set out on this journey which turned out to be one of the most incredible natural sights I have visited so far and just a really fun road-trip. It also happened to be my last day in Transylvania before leaving to Mexico so I was really happy to be able to spend this time with my family doing something we all thoroughly enjoyed.
We set out on the trip really early in the morning. Coming from my village in the Eastern Carpathians, our first checkpoint was Brasov, which I think would be the main point of reference for anyone wanting to visit the Transfagaras if coming to it from the east. Brasov is about 1.5-2 hours drive away from Bucharest on a highway, so it’s very easy to reach. From there, there are two options to approach the mountains: through the Southern Route, taking a sharp turn northward at Curtea de Arges or the Northern Route towards Fagaras, taking a sharp turn to the south just after passing the Cartisoara River. We decided to take the northern route and circle back around from the south, visiting the Bran Castle on our way back.
After passing Brasov, we decided to visit the castle of Fagaras, which was a unique experience. We crossed over a water filled moat to get into the casle and were able to walk through its rooms decorated and furnished as it was back in the day. We also visited the museum in the castle and looked at some very interesting selection of cultural and historical heritage as well as learned the stories of some heroic Romanian women that were part of the resistance during the communist era.
Passing Fagaras, we soon took our turn to the south and started ascending to the mountains. The Southern Carphathians are home to Romania’s two highest peaks, the Moldoveanu and the Omu. As we were crossing the mountain ranges we got an impressive view of the peaks that were visible from our vantage point. We had to stop and get out of the car every couple hundred meters to marvel at the sights. Eventually the road got steeper, the serpentines got sharper and soon we had a peak at the snow-capped mountain top rising above Lake Balea.
It's hard to describe the feeling that accompanies being in the presence of such natural beauty. We were also lucky because in early October the first snowfall covered the mountain top enough for it to have a brilliant white reflection in the lake, but not so much that the pass would be closed because of it. Once on the top, we walked around in awe and just tried to take in the incredible beauty of the place while breathing in the sharp, clean air. We tried a variety of flavors of local homemade chocolates sold on the summit and soon we were off to complete the second leg of our journey: our descent towards the south. Interestingly enough, the other side of the mountain had a completely different personality and the road was in much worse condition, but the sights were just as breathtaking. We descended among freshwater cascades and rivers and had a small picnic once in the valley.
We took a route towards Brasov that crossed the Subcarpathian mountains and it was an infinitely entertaining and lovely experience. Unfortunately, we only arrived to the Bran caste after sunset, but somehow in the darkness it had an even more imposing effect. All in all it was a lovely day, both because I could spend valuable time with my family and also for the opportunity to see this incredible natural scene that has been under my nose all these years. I hope kind reader that you get the chance to visit it one day as well and if you have already seen the place, I would love to hear from it in the comments.
