A summer holiday in the Carpathian mountains

Vrancea county and its fabulous mountain scenery

Daniel Onea, 01.09.2022, 14:00

It’s
mountain lovers we dedicate today’s installment to, since the Romanian
Carpathians’ tourism offer is extremely generous for those who want a relaxing holiday,
or an active one. The beginners as well as the advanced tourists can practice
all sorts of mountain sports. As for the families, they can discover trekking
routes. Furthermore, a holiday in the mountains can also translate into an incursion
into the fascinating world of the rural regions. Old traditions are still being
kept in the villages that are scattered on the hills. As for the dining table,
it is rich in food prepared using the ancestors’ recipes.

Marius Adrian Coviltir has been a member of the
Carpathians Mountain Association since 2008, when the association
was established. Marius has been the vice-president of the association for more
than ten years now. Also, Marius Adrian Coviltir is a mountain rescue service
operative and head of squad as part of Vrancea County’s Mountain Rescue Service.

Marius Adrian Coviltir:

There is a very generous offer, that of Romania’s Mountains, thanks to a
wide range of opportunities to spend the leisure time there, for the
well-trained people, who want rather more difficult areas for themselves,
higher ones, but also for the tourists who are not that well trained physically
or regarding experience of equipment. So we can recommend a couple of areas. My
recommendation has to do with the most important project carried by the Carpathians Mountain Association, which is ongoing, as
we speak. It is about an altitude shelter in the Faragas Mountains. Fagaras is
also the Romanian Carpathians’ main massif. It has the largest surface area and
it is also here that we find Romania’s seven tallest peaks, lying at an altitude
of more than 2,500 meters. We have a main ridge, which is very attractive and
where I ran into most of the tourists in Romania’s mountain area.

A holiday in the Romanian Carpathians might also enable tourists
to get closer to the rural world. Therefore, we get to know villagers and we
can get acquainted with their traditions. We’re sure to discover a universe
which is as old as it is diverse.

Marius
Adrian Coviltir once again.

Therefore, I can mention
the Vrancea Mountains, but also other areas lying a bit further away from us, in
the westernmost points. I’m speaking about the mountainous Banat area which
includes a couple of less-well-known regions where traditions have been very
well kept, sone of them truly Romanian, others being influenced by the national
minorities. In the Banat Mountains we have Czechs, Germans and Hungarians. There
we can run into that kind of mix of three or four cultures.

The mountains are a perfect place for an active holiday.
The swift-running waters invite you to practice rafting, while the high ridges invite
you to practice climbing. In fact, people do the escalade quite often. With
details on that, here is the vice-president of the Carpathians Mountain Association,
Marius Adrian Coviltir, once again.

We have many areas where routes have
been arranged to that end. Most of them are in central Romania, in Bucegi Mountains,
Piatra Craiului. The rock in that area is prone to such sports activities. Access
also matters here as well. Lying at the centre of the country, those are easier-to-access
areas, and pretty well stocked as regards the accommodation infrastructure. There
are also competitions. We must admit that in recent years we’ve had fewer competitions
because of the pandemic which took its toll on all of us, yet as of this year,
all those competitions will be resumed. Most of them have to do with the
mountain marathons, or with running or climbing contests. Most of them are
carried in the Bugeci, Piatra Craiului or Ciucas mountains. There marathons
there are all too familiar, and you can get all the info about such events on
the Internet.

The Romanian Carpathians are also famous for the
wilderness of the places, for the areas that are still unspoiled by the human intervention.

Marius Adrian Coviltir:

Ours is a richness
that has not been put to good use properly . Nevertheless, in the protected areas,
in the nature or national parks, such activities are staged quite often,
targeting the lay public. They promote the flora, the fauna, with the entire
set of rules properly observed, so that the effect on the environment stands at
the minimum or is practically inexistent. There we can observe the plants and the
trees in the region, but mostly animals. Tourists are attracted by animals because
they are more difficult to notice. We’re mainly speaking about the bear and the
wolf. Various animal observation towers have been built, while the info can be
accessed visiting the parks’ sites.

Here is the vice-president of the
Carpathians Mountain Association, Marius Adrian Coviltir, once again, this time
speaking about how the foreign tourists have also been impressed by the
wilderness of the places.

I met very many tourists, mainly German-speaking
tourists, but also a lot from Eastern Europe, from Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic.
They are very much attracted by the offer of our mountains. In another move,
some of them said the natural assets could have been put to good use more efficiently,
as access is still difficult in certain areas. In recent years, such problems
did not occur that often. The tourist infrastructure made of marked trekking
routes, pathways, but also the tourist shelters have seen a great deal of improvement.
Likewise, the access driveways. So overall, a good impression prevails. The
wilderness of the places is very much appreciated, it is something that cannot
be seen in the West any more. For instance, the Alps have very much been under a
steady degradation because of human intervention.

Marius Adrian Coviltir recommends the Vrancea
Mountains as a holiday destination.

They’re not that well promoted, and
for a good reason, somehow, since until 2010,
2012, the trekking routes were not in the best condition. Meanwhile, as the
Vrancea Mountain Rescue Service was founded, things have changed. The routes
have been reconditioned and, practically, the mountain tourism in Vrancea has
been reborn. The Association I represent, over 2011-2013 got involved in that
as well, and roughly 250 kilometers of pathways have been marked. These
mountains are pretty wild. I am not sure if they are Romania’s wildest, but
they definitely are at the top. Human intervention has been rather limited. The
Vrancea Mountains are not that high, their Goru Peak being the highest, with an
altitude of 1,773 meters. We have 20 tourist trekking routes that cover 300 kilometers
of pathways.

So
here is a rich and diversified offer for you to spend a holiday far from the hubbub
of the city, and far from its sweltering heat, but quite close to Romania’s natural
riches.

(EN)