Europe’s leading publisher of locally produced city guide
ESSENTIAL CITY GUIDES
Free Download
Features
- Carol I: Romania's First King
- A Bucharest Easter
- Bucharest's Protests
- Bucharest Metro Challenge
- Rediscover Bucharest: Calea Victoriei
- Stray Dogs in Bucharest
- Another great book about Romania in English
- The Bucharest Earthquake of 1977
- Great books about Romania in English
- The Bucharest Metro
- All Aboard: The No. 32 Tram
- The Smoking Issue
- Sunday Brunch in Bucharest
- No Such Thing as Bad Press
- December 1: Marea Unire
- Snagov, Caldarusani & Mogosoaia
- Bucharest In Your Pocket: 10 Years Old
- Bucharest Monopoly
- Children's Bucharest
- Where to find us
Links
More features:
-
Great books about Romania in English
No. 1: Romania: Borderland of EuropeBy Lucian BoiaOr, Everything You Thought You Knew About Romania Is Wrong.... -
Rediscover Bucharest: Calea Victoriei
No street in Bucharest has a history to match that of Calea Victoriei, the city’s most famous thoroughfare which runs - much as it has for more than three centuries - from Piata Victoriei in the north of the city all the way down to Piata Natiunilor Unite and the Dambovita river.... -
Where to find us
Seen the website, downloaded the PDF guide, now you need the real thing: Bucharest In Your Pocket. On ... -
Bucharest Metro Challenge
While it may not be everyone’s idea of a great day out (and indeed may strike many as being a frankly bizarre thing to do), for a small number of people with an endless fascination for underground railways the first port of call in any new city is often the metro.... -
The Smoking Issue
In May, flying in the face of what the rest of the civilised world is up to, Romania actually softened its existing anti-smoking rules.... -
All Aboard: The No. 32 Tram
Starting in the south-western corner of Piata Unirii, Bucharest’s tram No. 32 runs to the very south of the city, to Depoul Alexandria.... -
The Bucharest Earthquake of 1977
At 21:22, on the evening of March 4, 1977, Bucharest was hit by an earthquake measuring a whopping 7.... -
Bucharest Monopoly
Monopoly is the legendary real-estate board game for two to eight players, in which the player’s goal is to remain financially solvent while forcing opponents into bankruptcy by buying and developing pieces of property.... -
Bucharest In Your Pocket: 10 Years Old
Bucharest In Your Pocket is 10! “When we researched the first issue of Bucharest In Your Pocket we had a feeling that the city was too big to be put in a pocket.... -
The Bucharest Metro
It’s not the biggest underground railway system in the world, it isn’t the prettiest, and it certainly isn’t the most efficient.... -
No Such Thing as Bad Press
In 2000 the marketing director of a very well known telecoms company (it was the green one, back then) told us in no uncertain terms that he would never, ever advertise in Bucharest In Your Pocket because ‘our vision of Bucharest does not match yours.... -
Stray Dogs in Bucharest
Bucharest was once again in the news for all the wrong reasons at the end of January 2011 after a woman was mauled to death by stray dogs in the south of the Romanian capital.... -
Carol I: Romania's First King
Few visitors to Bucharest will leave without seeing the enormous horseback statue of Carol I - the first king of modern Romania - which appeared in front of the University Library in Piata Revolutiei at the end of 2010.... -
Bucharest's Protests
Are we going to ignore the elephant in the room? No, we are not, for there is no getting away from the fact that these are troubled times for Romania and for Bucharest in particular....
The Transfagarasan Highway
Made famous by BBC's Top Gear programme, the Transfagarasan Highway will reopen soon.
You can read about what to expect right here.
Some 40km east of Sibiu, the DN7C, also known as the Transfagarasan Highway, branches off the road to Brasov, heading straight for the towering Fagaras Mountain range. The highway is open only a few months a year due to snowfall; snow can still block roads in June, while October brings the first new loads.
The road makes for a perfect weekend trip from Bucharest (or even a very long day trip) if you have your own transport. It’s lonely at the top (we know), so make sure your car is fit for the trip and bring warm clothes.
Approaching from the south, you´ll pass the fantastically twisted monastery at Curtea de Arges, the (real) Dracula Castle ruins at Poienari and the huge Vidraru Dam. After that, nature takes over, and the gravel road slowly makes its way up through forests and alpine meadows to the ridge.
The road does not actually cross a pass as the ridge is too jagged; a 890m long tunnel (the highest point of the road; 2,042m) links the two valleys.
The difference between the two sides is stunning. On the southern side, the road slopes up gradually through pleasant green scenery. Once through the tunnel, you may notice a sharp decline in temperature and possibly a dramatic change of weather. Here on the northern side, the landscape is barren and alpine, there is snow even in the warmest months, and the road steeply drops in sweeping curves down an amazing glacial valley before levelling out on the Transylvanian plain.
A cable car runs between Balea Lac (near the tunnel) down to Balea Cascada (a waterfall 12km from Cartisoara). This also functions in winter, when the higher reaches of the highway are blocked.
The Transfagarasan Highway was built at considerable cost in the 1970s. After the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Ceausescu was afraid the same thing might happen to maverick Romania, and had this road built so that troops and tanks could cross over the Carpathian mountains quickly.
The efforts made to build the road were enormous. It was built using essentially slave labour - soldiers - in only four and a half years. In this time, just on the north side of the range, 3.8 million cubic metres of earth and rock were removed. More than six million kilos of dynamite were used to blast through the rocks on this side - that’s 625 train wagons full. Four years long, there would be five blasts every day at set times. In between, soldiers would drag the rocks away, and would bring machinery higher up.
Monuments may praise certain pioneer groups for overcoming a difficult stretch, but there is no plaque to commemorate the casualties. Unofficially, it is estimated that 38 soldiers died during construction. On September 20, 1974, the road was opened by a happy dictator and his beloved wife, and was even named after him - “Drumul Transfagarãsan Nicolae Ceausescu.”
Nature paid its price too: the once pristine crocus meadows are still strewn with the concrete foundations of workers’ barracks and concrete and iron from the lifts. Sadly but unsurprisingly, nobody feels inclined to clear up the mess.
The peaceful road is still a fantastic way to see snow in August, breath fresh air and escape from dusty cities, and highly recommended, now by Jeremy Clarkson, no less...
You can read about what to expect right here.
Some 40km east of Sibiu, the DN7C, also known as the Transfagarasan Highway, branches off the road to Brasov, heading straight for the towering Fagaras Mountain range. The highway is open only a few months a year due to snowfall; snow can still block roads in June, while October brings the first new loads.
The road makes for a perfect weekend trip from Bucharest (or even a very long day trip) if you have your own transport. It’s lonely at the top (we know), so make sure your car is fit for the trip and bring warm clothes.
Approaching from the south, you´ll pass the fantastically twisted monastery at Curtea de Arges, the (real) Dracula Castle ruins at Poienari and the huge Vidraru Dam. After that, nature takes over, and the gravel road slowly makes its way up through forests and alpine meadows to the ridge.
The road does not actually cross a pass as the ridge is too jagged; a 890m long tunnel (the highest point of the road; 2,042m) links the two valleys.
The difference between the two sides is stunning. On the southern side, the road slopes up gradually through pleasant green scenery. Once through the tunnel, you may notice a sharp decline in temperature and possibly a dramatic change of weather. Here on the northern side, the landscape is barren and alpine, there is snow even in the warmest months, and the road steeply drops in sweeping curves down an amazing glacial valley before levelling out on the Transylvanian plain.
A cable car runs between Balea Lac (near the tunnel) down to Balea Cascada (a waterfall 12km from Cartisoara). This also functions in winter, when the higher reaches of the highway are blocked.
The Transfagarasan Highway was built at considerable cost in the 1970s. After the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Ceausescu was afraid the same thing might happen to maverick Romania, and had this road built so that troops and tanks could cross over the Carpathian mountains quickly.
The efforts made to build the road were enormous. It was built using essentially slave labour - soldiers - in only four and a half years. In this time, just on the north side of the range, 3.8 million cubic metres of earth and rock were removed. More than six million kilos of dynamite were used to blast through the rocks on this side - that’s 625 train wagons full. Four years long, there would be five blasts every day at set times. In between, soldiers would drag the rocks away, and would bring machinery higher up.
Monuments may praise certain pioneer groups for overcoming a difficult stretch, but there is no plaque to commemorate the casualties. Unofficially, it is estimated that 38 soldiers died during construction. On September 20, 1974, the road was opened by a happy dictator and his beloved wife, and was even named after him - “Drumul Transfagarãsan Nicolae Ceausescu.”
Nature paid its price too: the once pristine crocus meadows are still strewn with the concrete foundations of workers’ barracks and concrete and iron from the lifts. Sadly but unsurprisingly, nobody feels inclined to clear up the mess.
The peaceful road is still a fantastic way to see snow in August, breath fresh air and escape from dusty cities, and highly recommended, now by Jeremy Clarkson, no less...