SUMMER MOUNTAIN BIKE IN EASTERN EUROPE
Enjoy our mountain biking tour in Eastern Europe,riding remote areas in the Carpathians.
8 days with everything included, in a magical place in the north of Transylvania.
This area of the Carpathians, located at the connection of three historic regions of Romania – Transylvania, Bucovina and Maramures, is one of the last places in Europe where you can still find lost in time villages, with ancient traditions and wild nature that retains its original beauty.
This mountain bike ride is based on our well-known “MOUNTAIN BIKE TOUR IN THE NORTH OF TRANSYLVANIA” with an extra day in which we will leave the bikes and having a riding break, and do a tour around the Bucovina region, visiting a Unesco World Heritage site – the Voronet monastery.
Also in the last three days we will take part at one of our Bike Camps in which we will include riding skills workshops..
You will also have the chance to No doubt an opportunity to deepen the cultural exchange by sharing a few days with cyclists in the country, as these Bike Camps are organized for local cyclists.
OVERVIEW
• Duration: 8 days
• Overnights: 7
• Riding days: 5
• Total length: 228 km
• Avarage per day: 40 km
• Total climb: 5000 m
• Lowest and Highest point:350 m/1582 m
• Level: medium (for some routes, we can find alternative easier or harder tracks)
WHAT’S INCLUDED
• airport transfer
• accommodation ( 7 nights in 3* hotels and local guesthouses)
• all meals (traditional and home grown food – breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner) – except for lunches in Cluj Napoca Day 1 and Day 8, and Day 4 in Bucovina
• luggage transportation from one basecamp to another
• technical assistance
• guiding
• photos
We will pick you up at the international airport of Cluj and we will transfer to the first accommodation.
After crossing part of Transilvania by van, we will enter the Carpathian mountain range, to reach the Colibita resort.
Located at the foothill of the Calimani National Park, the Colibita lake area is an idyllic place where we will spend the first two nights.
The first day by bike will take us on a tour around the lake, close to the Calimani Mountains National Park. At the end of the day we can take a refreshing swim in the lake.
Today we will ride along the trail that takes us to the Count Dracula hotel where we will spend the night.
The Hotel, located at an altitude of 1200 meters, is the Borgo Pass, a well-known mountain pass with a lot of history, as it is one of the main routes that cross this area of Eastern Europe, where East and West meet.
During our stay we can visit the monastery that has a viewpoint with one of the most spectacular views of the Carpathians.
After two days by bike we will take an active rest. We will have a bus ride throughout the Carpathians, enjoying picturesque landscapes and making stops to enjoy the views and to take pictures.
In about a couple of hours hours we will arrive in the beautiful Bucovina region, where after visiting a picturesque market, we will head towards the Voronet monastery, part of the UNESCO world heritage, and famous for its unique blue frescoes.
We will also have a gastronomical delight.
After lunch we will continue circular route back, making a loop to visit an area called Pietrele Doamnei ( The Stones of the Lady) where we can do a little trekking to stretch our legs.
Finally we will arrive at the cozy accommodation where the Bike Camp will take place and where a reception dinner with traditional food awaits us.
Located at the foothills of the RODNEI Mountains National Park, Lunca Ilvei is a cozy and picturesque village located in the middle of the Carpathians, where we can experience the true life of a remote village, specific for rural Romania.
In these three days that we have left we will share the trip with local riders who participate in one of our Bike Camps.
In our Bike Camps we teach theoretical and practical lessons on riding techniques adapted to all levels.
After a traditional breakfast and a time to do the digestion, we will do a theoretical explanation of the theme of the day and practice about 45 minutes in a circuit designed to improve our skills on the bike.
Then we will do a round ride in which we will all leave together and have two choices, short and longer, to adapt to the different levels of the participants.
During the ride we will take advantage to apply the knowledge acquired in different real situations.
Whether you are a beginner or a more experienced pilot, we assure you that the results of our workouts will help you to raise your riding skills
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Today we will travel from Lunca Ilvei to Cluj through a picturesque area of the Carpathians
Depending on the program of flights of the participants we can take a visit to the city.
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DETAILS
PRICE mountain bike tour in the carpatos: 1100 € All inclusive except meals in Cluj and food excursion.
MINIMUM GROUP: 4 people.
MAXIMUM GROUP: 12 people.
When booking for the tour a confirmation deposit of € 300 will be paid.
The rest of the payment will be made on the day of arrival.
You can pay with transfer or paypal.
Attendees must certify that they are in possession of insurance that covers risk activities. In case of not having the same, we can recommend one.
The airport for picking-up the attendees is the Cluj-Napoca International Airport on August 13
This day will be adjusted for different flights so depending on the schedule we will organize a guided tour of the city while we wait for the last arrival to make the transfer to the Carpathians, the same is applicable on the return flight that will be the day 20th of August
Before making the reservation of the trip we will advise you personally to choose the best option depending on each particular case.
Please confirm attendance 5 days before departure, as well as the place and time of presentation. Flight schedules may change due to criteria of the airline.
We will ride daily for 5 to 7 hours. We will ride on forestry roads, earth, grass and gravel paths and trails. There are no very technical areas, but it is possible to encounter some short sections of steep downhill or climbings where it might be necessary to push the bike.
Physical level: medium. A state of form is required that allows to ride routes of average level during several days, there will be demanding climbs and sections of steep slopes. The daily climbings have an average of +1200m.
A valid passport or ID is required for the entire duration of the trip. We also recommend that you bring a photocopy of your passport or ID (both sides) stored in a different place or have a copy in the cloud..
The Romanian currency is the Leu. The change is approximately 4.5 Leu for one Euro. In Romania, as a member of the EU, it is easy to change Euro to Leu.
No type of vaccine is required.
MEDICINES: It is only necessary the specific medicines of the treatments that each one follows, the rest of the basic kit is provided by us.
During the summer, the weather in Romania can be warm to hot, with short periods of cold and rainy days and summer storms with lightnings and thunders during the afternoon. Temperatures in summer can vary from 5 degrees Celsius in the morning to 35 degrees at noon.
We have a limited space for the transport of all the equipment of the expedition, so we recommend you not to carry an excessive load with unnecessary clothes or supplies. The minimum equipment, without the specific travel clothing, will be as follows:
• Small bike backpack (approx 15 liters), suitcase to transfer your things from one place to another or backpack of 30l, 2 or more t-shirts, 2 or more bike pants, underwear, socks, gloves, bike shoes, helmet, glasses, jacket, demi-season gloves.
• Warm clothes for the night (temperatures can go down to 5 degrees Celsius, even during the summer in the evenings and mornings or in the mountains)
• Hydration systems
Romania, a country from the east part of Europe is a place little known for the rest of the World, but wich has a lot to offer.
Romania’s mountains are considered to be one of the last wild places in Europe beeing home of more than half of Europe’s large carnivores like bears and wolves.
With almost half of its population living in the countryside, Romania and its villages is the place where you can still experience the rural lifestyle, in its true sense, witnessing ancient old traditions and customs, wich are extinct in other parts of Europe. People are still working and living from the land, using their own hands and animals for this. They still use horse drawn carts for carrying stuff and colecting hay in the old ways.
But this fragile paradise is facing extinction due to globalization, Eu regulation (Romania entered European Union in 2007) and young people migration to urban areas and to foreign countries in search for a place to work.
Also, other danger that Romania is facing is deforestation. Tourism and income from it could be an alternative to distruction of the wild habitats. It can also add an income to the local economy, helping to preserve the fragile way of life of the local comunities.
The best moment to visit the wild and archaic Romania was 20 years ago, the second one is NOW !!!
