Without question, one of Romania's most beautiful features is its gorgeous nature. From the mysterious forests of Transylvania to the stunning landscapes in the regions along the majestic Danube river, the country offers awe-inspiring scenery.
During my road trip through Romania in September 2021, I had the opportunity to marvel at the untouched nature in the south of this amazing country.
However, these beautiful places are located a little further away from larger cities and tourist centres and are therefore hardly or not at all accessible by public transport.
For this reason, I recommend exploring Romania by car to have the opportunity to discover the country's stunning nature away from the crowds.
Nestled in the Retezat Mountains in the west of the Southern Carpathians, lies the Parcul Național Retezat, which was founded in 1935 as Romania's first national park.
With peaks greater than 2,300 metres (over 7500 feet) and numerous crystal-clear glacial lakes, the Retezat Mountains are said to be among the most beautiful in the Carpathians and thus should not be missed by anyone who enjoys a scenic hike.
The national park offers many incredibly beautiful hiking trails, when choosing a route, however, you should pay attention to its level of difficulty, as some trails are quite demanding and not suited for beginners.
Since my goal was to see one of the incredible mountain lakes, I chose one of the easier routes to Lake Bucura, the largest glacial lake in Romania. However, the starting point of this trail was at a parking lot in the middle of the national park and the road leading there was not asphalted, but a rough gravel path with many potholes.
From the impressive Gura Apelor Dam to the starting point of the hike it is only 20km (less than 13 miles), but the drive takes an hour and low-slung vehicles in particular might suffer damages.
For those who do not want to risk that, I recommend starting your hike for example from Râușor and taking the trail to the smaller Tăul Ştevia, though this path is supposed to be more challenging. Unfortunately, I was unlucky with the weather during my hike in mid-September, as halfway to Lake Bucura it started snowing and quite soon after a heavy fog rolled in. However, I did not want to be deterred from seeing a glacial lake of the Retezat National Park, so I hurried to Lia Lake and made it just in time before the fog completely dominated the view.
Another activity I enjoyed a lot in this region was paragliding on the edge of Retezat National Park.
A big advantage of travelling Romania are the low prices compared to other European countries. I paid only 300 lei (about 60€) for my flight with a guide, which included pictures and a video, so it was even cheaper than paragliding in the Turkish region of Cappadocia.
Further to the west of Romania lies the gorgeous Cheile Nerei-Beușnița National Park, created by the Nera River, that carves its way through the Carpathians on its journey to the Serbian border, plunging down deep karst gorges and forming crystal clear forest lakes.
La Văioaga Waterfall on the left and Ochiul Beiului Lake on the right
One of the national parks's sights are the Bigăr Cascade Falls, part of which unfortunately collapsed in mid-2021. As including the waterfalls in my itinerary only resulted in a very small diversion from my travel route, I decided to make a detour and pay them a visit.
Though the Bigăr Cascade Falls are very idyllic and you could certainly stop here if you're driving past them anyway, I would not recommend going out of your way to have seen them, as other waterfalls of the national park were more impressive in my opinion.
There are several hiking trails in the Cheile Nerei-Beușnița National Park and I decided to take the pretty easy path that was located near the Păstrăvăria Bei campsite.
To get there, you will first pass a checkpoint at which you have to pay the entrance fee of 5 lei (1€). From there you will drive past the La Văioaga Waterfall to the car park next to the campsite, where the beginning of the trail is located. Then you can hike past the crystal blue Ochiul Beiului Lake to the impressive Beușnița Waterfall, which takes about about 40 minutes one way.
What I appreciated most about Cheile Nerei-Beușnița National Park is that despite its gorgeous landscapes, it is not overrun with tourists and mostly feels like you have its beauty all to yourself.
If you continue south to Romania's border with Serbia, which is formed by the Danube, and drive along the river, one of the most beautiful routes in the country stretches out before you, forming the Iron Gates Natural Park.
On this stunning route, near the town of Orșova, stands the impressive rock sculpture of Decebalus. The colossal carving, made between 1994 and 2004, depicts the face of Decebalus, the last king of Dacia, who ruled from 87 to 106 AD. He fought against the Roman emperors Domitian and Trajan to preserve the independence of his country, which corresponds to modern-day Romania.
In conclusion, besides beautiful architecture, Romania also has a truly gorgeous nature which you sometimes even get to have completely to yourself. Although many of the most scenic places in Romania's southwest cannot be accessed by public transport, they can, however, be explored on a road trip, which in my opinion is the best way to travel the country anyway.
In Romania's unspoilt nature, you can recharge your batteries, as it seems like time simply stands still there.