If anybody from Z4 Forum ever wanted to go see the Transfagarasan highway in Romania, I'm posting a few tips and a bit of a trip report as we've done it last year with bunch of friends (members of BMW club Czech Republic). And please excuse my English 
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Sitting in a pub with a few fellow Czech BMW club members sometime around beginning of July 2014, we’ve summoned an idea to go and see the famous Transfagarasan highway in Romania as presented by Clarkson, Hammond & May on 2009s series of BBC’s Top Gear show. Trip dates have been set for August 1st, 2014 to August 4th, 2014.
9 people and 7 cars left for the adventure (1x E36 2.5TDS saloon, 1x E36 2.8i Compact, 1x E36 cabrio, 1x E36 2.5i coupe, 1x E90 3.0i, 2x Z4 2.5si). Only 6 cars returned. Well, 6 cars on wheels, 1 had to be towed afterwards - water pump failure.
If you want to drive mainly the Transfagarasan, there are a few hotels near the DN7C (Transfagarasan). You can get a hotel near on the top of Transfagarasan, by the Balea Lake (Balea Lac), but it’s usually very crowded, pretty expensive and has to be booked pretty in advance. You can book the Valea Cu Pesti hotel near Vidraru dam. But if you’re after some city-fun during and want to do some sightseeing other than the road itself, I can recommend getting hotel in Sibiu, a beautiful historical city approx. 60km north off the best part of DN7C. I can definitely recommend Best Western Silva hotel, it’s clean, not far from the city centre but still in a quiet area surrounded by a nice park and best of all - has closed, guarded parking, free of charge. Average night costs approx. 30EUR/pers. incl. breakfast.
For the best and enjoyable driving experience on the DN7C, you’d better be an early bird. Get up just before 6am and be gone for the climb before 7am. It takes approx. 45 minutes drive to get under the mountain. If you leave later, the road gets pretty crowdy. The best time to drive up and down in between 7am and 10am or after 5pm. But morning is definitely far better.
We’ve spent one day on DN7C and wanted to see the DN67C (Transalpina) the next day. DN67C is the highest paved road in Romania with its peak at approx. 2.150m above sea level and a completely new surface.
The best way to get to DN67C is from the south side, as the northern access is full of pot holes and after some floods two years ago it’s still not in a very good shape. Guys with GS1200’s can go but I wouldn’t do that with my Zed anymore. Once was enough (see photos).
The southern access is from a city called Novaci, you can get there from DN7C via DN67 which is a nice interstate, paved road. Although full of traffic during the day, it’s bearable.
You can get a nice hotel at Novaci (a city under the mountain) or Ranca (a newly-built town near the top of the mountain). The hotels there are pretty fine, although I would recommend getting accommodation in Ranca because of its breathtaking views of Karpathian mountains and there’s nothing much to do in Novaci either so it’s not a big deal.
You can leave the car on streets in most larger cities without any much doubt, but I wouldn’t leave it on street overnight.
We’re already planning another trip to Romania in July 2015, but we’ll be covering the Transfagarasan, Transalpina AND we want to go to Mamaia on the shores of Black Sea. Mamaia is said to be the Monaco of Black Sea. It’s the place where Top Gear’s “Romanian special” episode began
Photogallery is here: http://blackjack8928.rajce.idnes.cz/Transfagarasan_2014/
Video from the trip is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-nyo1oVZkY
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Sitting in a pub with a few fellow Czech BMW club members sometime around beginning of July 2014, we’ve summoned an idea to go and see the famous Transfagarasan highway in Romania as presented by Clarkson, Hammond & May on 2009s series of BBC’s Top Gear show. Trip dates have been set for August 1st, 2014 to August 4th, 2014.
9 people and 7 cars left for the adventure (1x E36 2.5TDS saloon, 1x E36 2.8i Compact, 1x E36 cabrio, 1x E36 2.5i coupe, 1x E90 3.0i, 2x Z4 2.5si). Only 6 cars returned. Well, 6 cars on wheels, 1 had to be towed afterwards - water pump failure.
If you want to drive mainly the Transfagarasan, there are a few hotels near the DN7C (Transfagarasan). You can get a hotel near on the top of Transfagarasan, by the Balea Lake (Balea Lac), but it’s usually very crowded, pretty expensive and has to be booked pretty in advance. You can book the Valea Cu Pesti hotel near Vidraru dam. But if you’re after some city-fun during and want to do some sightseeing other than the road itself, I can recommend getting hotel in Sibiu, a beautiful historical city approx. 60km north off the best part of DN7C. I can definitely recommend Best Western Silva hotel, it’s clean, not far from the city centre but still in a quiet area surrounded by a nice park and best of all - has closed, guarded parking, free of charge. Average night costs approx. 30EUR/pers. incl. breakfast.
For the best and enjoyable driving experience on the DN7C, you’d better be an early bird. Get up just before 6am and be gone for the climb before 7am. It takes approx. 45 minutes drive to get under the mountain. If you leave later, the road gets pretty crowdy. The best time to drive up and down in between 7am and 10am or after 5pm. But morning is definitely far better.
We’ve spent one day on DN7C and wanted to see the DN67C (Transalpina) the next day. DN67C is the highest paved road in Romania with its peak at approx. 2.150m above sea level and a completely new surface.
The best way to get to DN67C is from the south side, as the northern access is full of pot holes and after some floods two years ago it’s still not in a very good shape. Guys with GS1200’s can go but I wouldn’t do that with my Zed anymore. Once was enough (see photos).
The southern access is from a city called Novaci, you can get there from DN7C via DN67 which is a nice interstate, paved road. Although full of traffic during the day, it’s bearable.
You can get a nice hotel at Novaci (a city under the mountain) or Ranca (a newly-built town near the top of the mountain). The hotels there are pretty fine, although I would recommend getting accommodation in Ranca because of its breathtaking views of Karpathian mountains and there’s nothing much to do in Novaci either so it’s not a big deal.
You can leave the car on streets in most larger cities without any much doubt, but I wouldn’t leave it on street overnight.
We’re already planning another trip to Romania in July 2015, but we’ll be covering the Transfagarasan, Transalpina AND we want to go to Mamaia on the shores of Black Sea. Mamaia is said to be the Monaco of Black Sea. It’s the place where Top Gear’s “Romanian special” episode began
Photogallery is here: http://blackjack8928.rajce.idnes.cz/Transfagarasan_2014/
Video from the trip is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-nyo1oVZkY