Romanianflyer

More than a year ago I tried my hand at a Flyertalk trip report – which ultimately failed halfway through due to a new job eating away all my time (read: a demanding gig in journalism involving too much writing, therefore eating away all appetite to write a trip report in my spare time, as I do try to maintain a social life at the same time ).

But as I love writing, photography, travelling and flying – and would like to give something back to the community, it's time to try my hand again at a trip report.

And while I have some more standard airline trip reports upcoming (on A3, ET, 0B among others) combined with some exotic travels, I thought it would be best to start off first with a shorter trip report of a weekend escape into the wild Carpathian mountains. If I manage to finish this, surely I will get in a rhythm to also report on the upcoming flying trips to such places as Germany's Oktoberfest and faraway places in Africa!

Flyer fanatics do note: this report won't involve any flying.

What it will have are some train journeys through gorgeous hobbit-like landscapes, fabulous mountain scenery, hearty local food and some insights about domestic transport in Romania.

Part 1 to follow tomorrow!

As a small teaser, some pictures of the trip...

kathykathy

Looks fabulous! I'm wanting to go on a train trip, so I'll pay close attention to your trip report.

warakorn

Did you travel with the famous Corona train (Budapest-Brasov)?

Romanianflyer

No.

I took the train quite a lot before, but it goes the completely opposite direction (from Transylvania West to Hungary) as opposed to Maramures in Northern Romania where I was heading this time.

(For this trip I took the IRN 1643 departing Bucharest's Gara de Nord at 6pm arriving at Viseu de Jos at 5.08am the next day. On the way back I took a regional train to Beclean pe Somes to hop on the IRN 10642 Cluj-Bucharest overnight).

Unfortunately, the trains to Hungary have gone downhill quite a bit as recent reports suggest that they lost their restaurant carriage on these routes.

But more on the state of Romanian domestic travel to follow

Antonio8069

Last year, I did a rtn trip on the overnight from Budapest Central Station to Gare du Nord Bucharest. Romanian countryside is very wild and scenic (ex. the eggs, which look hideous!). I found the trip very enjoyable and relaxing. Although crossing the border was like a scene out of a war movie i.e. Soldier with flashlight in my eyes - "passports".
My main point is this : if you are doing a TR, please tell us where you are going, what class of service, when, plus any incidents, etc.

TheTakeOffRush

This looks quite exciting! Gotta finish this one...don't let work get you down.

hugolover

That's right- there's no restaurant car on the Budapest-RO route.

Romanianflyer

Part I: Romanian domestic transport & buying train tickets

So why the train? Romania is one of the biggest countries in Europe, and its mountainous terrain and long road distances surely makes flying more attractive?

Since a few years ago, the Romanian domestic airline market was opened up after Blue Air began competing with legacy carrier and Sky Team member TAROM.

Before that, prices of 100-200 EUR return were commonplace due to TAROM's monopoly on the market. Even when in last decade Carpatair operated domestic flights from its hub in Timisoara, prices were still high.

This has drastically changed now, and on some routes flying does make a lot of sense as Blue Air – and to a lesser extent Ryanair and Wizzair – have managed to break open the market.

From Bucharest to Timisoara, TAROM is now competing with Ryanair. From Bucharest to Romania's second most important city of Cluj-Napoca there are now TAROM, Blue Air and Wizzair operating flights. Blue Air and TAROM also operate flights from Bucharest to Iasi, as well as from Bucharest to Oradea.

Blue Air also operates relatively cheap flights from Cluj-Napoca to both Iasi and Timisoara, while TAROM serves Satu Mare and Suceava from Bucharest as the only airline.

On the routes where there is competition, average flight prices if booked a month out are not more than 50 EUR. With Wizzair and Ryanair they can even be had for a fiver if booked a month out and travelling on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

And while Wizzair and Ryanair are low costs airlines, TAROM does offer a sandwich/drink on the 50-minute domestic hops. And Blue Air has a somewhat weird semi-budget concept as it also offers a drink and a sandwich on intra-Romanian routes (but weirdly, it doesn't on most short and medium haul intra-European flights!).



A Wizzair and Blue Air aeroplane on the tarmac of Cluj-Napoca Airport in the early morning hours

So while flying makes sense if flying from city to city, it does not always work like that if you might need to visit a more remote place. As my final destination would still be a minimum three hour drive from either Satu Mare or Cluj Napoca, connecting to an intercity bus or train would not be efficient.

And while Romania has an extensive intercity bus network with many being bookable online on www.autogari.ro – this is by far my least preferred option as I absolutely hate buses being completely confined in your cramped seat.

I do have a car, but it is ten hours driving from Bucharest to Maramures so it would either eat away a full day, or has me arriving completely tired if I would drive the distance overnight. While the major roads are in a good enough condition and reports about dangerous driving conditions are widely exaggerated, driving in Romania is however slow.

Google Maps widely underestimates travel times. There just aren't enough highways in the country, with most roads being ordinary provincial roads, making overtaking difficult at times in the often hilly to mountainous terrain when faced with traffic.

That leaves as only good option the train. While it is by far the slowest of all options (it literally does not go faster than 50kph on average!) and at times is prone to delays, it is comfortable and cheap.

And best of all, I could work on Friday, hop to the train station after work, sleep in a proper bed and arrive early in the morning at my destination the next day, being fully rested.


A two berth sleeper compartment on an older Romanian train

For my journey, it would cost around 20 EUR for a reserved seat in 2nd class (fine during the day, but not recommend for overnights!), 32 EUR for a reserved seat in 1st class (also not recommended for overnight journeys), 34 EUR for a berth in a six-person couchette, 64 EUR for a berth in a two-person sleeper compartment, and finally 97 EUR for a private sleeper compartment.

On my journey (IRN 1643, leaving Bucharest at 6pm, arriving at Viseu de Jos at 05:08) – a four person sleeper compartment was not offered, although on other routes it is available for just 5 EUR or so more than a berth in a six-person couchette.

As a couple, you obviously want a two person sleeper compartment, although travelling alone I normally prefer the four-person sleeper compartment as it is just a few euros more than in a six-person couchette but has lots more personal space, both in daytime seating mode as well as with the beds folded down.

Hard product on Romanian trains can vary wildly – from brand new sleek sleepers to couchette cars from the 1960s (which are still perfectly comfortable). Clean bedding is always provided.

I bought my tickets online at www.cfrcalatori.ro – which is pretty straightforward to do even for non-Romanian speakers as there is an English language button and credit as well as some debit cards are widely accepted.

The website does however look like it comes from the same age as horse drawn carriages and the guillotine and has never been changed since, but hey, it does work perfectly!



Hey CFR, the 1990s want their website back!

I prefer that to airlines changing their website and IT systems overnight to completely dysfunctional systems – exactly like Romanian airline Blue Air is doing right at this moment (it took me 3 hours yesterday to OLCI for a flight on their new website )

I also still remember the mess at Aegean Airlines when they switched to a new website and IT system 1-2 years ago.

Really, how hard can it be to make sure everything works smoothly before annoying thousands of passengers with an untested product bought from whichever software developer offered their services for the lowest amount?

There is a five percent reduction if booking your tickets online with the Romanian Railways (CFR), which is a nice extra benefit besides saving a long wait at the station. Note however that you can't book international train tickets online.

Even though I managed to hop on a train once showing the PDF ticket on my mobile to the conductor, it is strongly advisable to print it as conductors love to stamp your ticket and keep it in their administration on an overnight journey (so they know where and at which hour you will leave the train and can remind you to wake up some fifteen minutes before).

Tickets are fixed price and on many trains seat reservation is compulsory (included in many tickets). Theoretically, trains can book out (and sleepers/couchette easily do over holidays) so booking a few weeks in advance is strongly suggested.

Next Chapter to follow in a bit: Bucharest's Gara de Nord and the overnight train to Maramures

Romanianflyer

Part II: Bucharest to Viseu de Jos – Romanian railways overnight train
IRN 1643, dep. Bucharest Gara de Nord (18:00), arr. Viseu de Jos (05:08 +1)
549 kilometres, 11 hours and 8 minutes
Berth in six-person couchette compartment: 118.89 RON (25.84 EUR) – some extra discounts included in the price

After a fruitful working day until 4pm on Friday, I hopped straight into the metro taking me to Bucharest's main train station Gara de Nord [Northern Station].

I was booked on the 6pm train to Maramures, a region in the north-western part of Romania which borders Hungary and Ukraine and is considered as the most traditional corner of the country.

Taxi's and Uber in Bucharest are dirt cheap – but I took the metro from my home to the train station as during rush hour it is much faster. Bucharest has one of the worst traffic problems in Europe, and is on par with other European traffic hell holes such as Brussels and Athens (although traffic conditions are great in weekends!)

The Bucharest metro was built in the late 1970s and 1980s – during the worst period of Romanian communism. While other country's such as Hungary and Poland were relatively speaking opening up, Ceausescu got some fresh inspiration after a visit to North Korea resulting in the ugliest of buildings being constructed, food shortages and oppression.



Needless to say, the Bucharest metro cannot really compare to that of Moscow. Although when pictured in black and white, the massive decaying concrete structures have a kind of charm.



Bucharest's Gara de Nord is a terminal station in a derelict neighbourhood (which is rather unpleasant at night). The train station itself looks quite stately from outside, although from the inside it is a far cry from European railway cathedrals such as Antwerpen Centraal or Milano Centrale.



For avid rail fanatics and those interested in a bit of Bucharest history, this article is a fascinating read about Gara de Nord and the planned yet never-built Bucharest Central Station.

At Gara de Nord, there are enough fast food outlets for a bite, as well as a supermarket and plenty of smaller kiosks to stock up on some drinks and food for the journey. As Romanian trains don't have restaurant cars, it's strongly advisable to do so.

For arriving foreign tourists there is an exchange bureau with decent rates, as well as good links to public transport. Do note however that taxi drivers are a pain in the ... here with many trying to rip-off foreigners – always order a taxi by phone, one of the many Bucharest taxi apps, or through clearly marked taxi computer terminals which give you a receipt with a taxi number.

With Gara de Nord being a terminal station, the great bulk of trains finish or start the journey at the station. It means that some 15 to 20 minutes before departure, the trains are being rolled into the station from a nearby emplacement.

As I was running a bit late thanks to horrendous queues at the KFC, I quickly finished my food, bought two beers at a kiosk, and hopped on the train. Due to the rush unfortunately no picture of the exterior of the train!

When travelling alone I prefer socialising with other people above luxury – so I opted for a berth in a six-person couchette compartment. On this journey, I was joined by a friendly couple in their late 40s/early 50s who returned to Maramures after a holiday at the Romanian seaside, and a young student in his 20s who commuted each weekend to Maramures in the summer to sing in a traditional band at weddings.

As I'm a foreigner living and working in Romania – it was a great opportunity to practice my local language skills as the couple did not speak English and the student could aid me with translating whenever my Romanian language skills failed.

Especially the young student had an interesting tale, as performing each Saturday and Sunday at different weddings for every summer weekend is apparently that lucrative for him not to mind a 10-12 hour commute each Friday evening to Maramures, and back on Monday to Bucharest. I do like train travel, but for sure I would have gone crazy after a month!

As the compartment was already full when I entered, I did not take any pictures of the hard product of the train. The hard product also varies wildly depending on the age of your carriage, with the newer ones being used on more high-profile domestic and international routes instead of this secondary route to Maramures.

That said, even then trains mostly consist out of a variety of carriages and it can depend on sheer luck if you are assigned to an older carriage from the 1960s or to a brand new carriage next to it. From the outside, Romanian trains look like a random collection of carriages put together, each in a different colour and shape!

Some pictures from some earlier trips:



An older carriage (late 1960s more or less) with lots of wood, but fairly comfortable. This is a 2-bed sleeper compartment. If booked as one berth inside the compartment, you might luck out and have it for yourself, or share it with someone else. Single compartments are identical – you are just paying double the price to guarantee single occupancy.



A 4-bed sleeper compartment on a newer carriage, with loads of space in between the two sides and a double window. Six-person couchette compartments are smaller, and have an additional bunk in the middle and might be a little bit claustrophobic to some when sleeping.



A first class seating compartment. On overnight trains, just a normal seat is not recommended. Go for at least a couchette, and preferably a sleeper.

The odd thing is that both in 1st and 2nd class you do not know in advance if you have a train with enclosed compartments and an aisle at the side, or saloon seating with an aisle in the middle of the carriage.

Both 1st and 2nd class compartments usually have six seats, although on some really old Romanian trains (again, mostly on the more obscure routes) even eight persons can be cramped into a 2nd class seating compartment.

With saloon seating, 1st class carriages are usually 1+2 seats, with 2nd class always 2+2 seats on each side of the aisle.

In short – train travel is a giant bingo game. Although the pros known what to expect and able to make predictions, in the end it's anyone's guess what might turn up in front of you. Once I booked a bed in a 4-person sleeper, but ended up with a bed in a 2-person sleeper as my train did not have a carriage with 4-person sleepers.

So while they will never “downgrade” you from a 4-bed sleeper to let's say a couchette, upgrades are possible and last minute equipment swaps make it really unpredictable what you will end up with – to keep a bit of airline lingo in the trip report

Back to the trip! The journey to Viseu de Jos is 549 kilometres and takes 11 hours and 8 minutes. Do the maths – it won't go faster than 50kph – about the fastest a Romanian train will go on cross-country journeys...

The route of the train is as follows:



The first hour is north over the boring Wallachian plain towards the city of Ploiesti, famous for its oilfields which were massively bombarded by the Allies in WW II to deprive Hitler from some much-needed fuel.

From Ploiesti, the foothills of the Carpathians slowly come in sight. It doesn't take long before the train crosses the Carpathians into Transylvania, passing by the mountain resorts of Sinaia, Busteni and Predeal. Sinaia is the place where the Romanian royal family (the country used to be a monarchy) built a fairy tale castle which is a must-see sight for any tourist visiting the country.



Peles Castle in Sinaia, the summer residence of the Romanian royal family. Picture taken from an earlier trip

It takes three hours from Bucharest until the train reaches Brasov, the first major city in Transylvania and a beautiful place to visit in its own right as it is one of Romania's most historic cities. The scenery between Ploiesti and Brasov was lovely from the train as the train winds through a Carpathian valley linking the Wallachian plains with the Transylvanian plateau.



Picture taken somewhere after Sinaia in the Carpathian mountains



The train zigzags through a Carpathian forest.

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Besides watching the scenery and talking to my fellow passengers, I spend most my time drinking my two beers and reading a book: a scholarly work on the history of religion by Mircea Eliade.

Eliade is probably Romania's best ever novelist, as well as a historian of religion and philosopher who worked at the University of Chicago. For what it's worth, he was fluent in Romanian, French, German, Italian, English, Hebrew, Persian, and Sanskrit – as a foreigner having some difficulties learning Romanian, I'm jealous!



The sun is setting just as the train enters the Transylvanian plateau, some 5 to 10 minutes away from its stop in Brasov.



Brasov station, where the train halts for about 20 minutes. While the tracks go onward from here deeper into Transylvania to Sibiu or Sighisoara, on this route it reserves direction to take the branch line east to Sfantu Gheorge, and to go further north from there right through Szekely Land, the heartland of the Hungarian minority in Transylvania.

As the locomotive needs to be readjusted to the other side of the train in order to reverse direction, it's a great opportunity to stock up on more beers from one of the platform kiosks.

As the sun completely set after Brasov and it became dark, most people opted to sleep and went to the conductor to get their package of fresh bed sheets.

Given that I had a long week of work behind me and that at 5am I would have to get out of the train, I opted to go to sleep as well after saying goodnight and goodbye to the other passengers in my compartment, who all were lucky enough to be able to sleep for two hours more until the train's final stop in Sighetu Marmatiei on the Ukrainian border.


Next up, part III: Borşa and hiking in the Rodna Mountains.

RandomBaritone

Just lovely! I made the catastrophic mistake of driving from Bucharest to Sighisoara a while back, and nearly died twice. We thought we'd enjoy the freedom to stop enroute, but the aggressive drivers on the highway were legitimately terrifying. How I wish we had taken the train instead....

BuildingMyBento

Beton!

I visited Peleș Castle, Bușteni, and some other nearby town in January. The traffic between Sinaia and Bușteni was horrendous, cutting into the trip time, but it was still nice to be among the evergreens during a snowy day.

Do you fancy Bucharest?

Romanianflyer

RandomBaritone and BuildingMyBento - I agree that traffic at time can be horrendous.

While I wrote before that road conditions are not as bad as many guidebooks say it is, drivers can indeed be aggressive in the same style as eg. Italian or Greek drivers.

And yes - on a snowy day (especially on Friday evening or in the weekends!) the road out of Bucharest into the mountains can be horrendous with traffic (lots of people away on weekend trips).

Last year in November on the first day of snow I had to drive from Brasov to Bucharest, due to a fallen tree on the road the entire road between Busteni and Brasov was jammed with traffic. It doesn't help here that the road is for most just one lane in each direction. The construction of proper highways is moving on *very slowly*.

While in my opinion a car is a must-have if wanting to explore the countryside - it is not needed when only visiting the main cities like Bucharest and Transylvanian places like Brasov, Sighisoara, Sibiu and Cluj.

Romanianflyer

Part III: A day hiking in the Rodna Mountains

I was heading for the city of Borşa for day of easy hiking in the Rodna Mountains, a subdivision of the Carpathian Mountains that run across the entire of Romania from south-west to north-east in the shape of a scythe.

The main reason for the trip was some much needed mountain air and relaxation after too much work and too little fun in the last months.

And while my arrival at the small station of Vişeu de Jos was just after 5am, I did not mind the early wake up a single bit as soon as I could smell the fresh countryside air. These are the things you miss when living in a city where summer temperatures can easily reach a hot and stifling 40 degrees Celsius (that's 104 Fahrenheit for the Yankee Colonials across the pond).

One problem: I still had some 40 kilometres to go from Vişeu de Jos to Complex Borşa. In theory, there should be a bus waiting for the train service. In reality, it wasn't there. If wanting to visit the Romanian countryside, you really need a car.

There was only one other option in this sleepy little town with no taxi in sight: hitchhiking. It might sound weird to many, but in many rural parts of the country it is pretty normal and done by young and old from all social classes. Some drivers gladly take people for free as they know how bad or non-existing public transport can be between villages, while others might demand the equivalent of what you would pay for the bus if there would be one (2 or 3 EUR).

At the main road, I got into a conversation with an older woman from Cluj who was as surprised as I am that there was no bus. But luckily, even at 5.30am in the morning in a town of perhaps 200 souls we only had to wait for 15 minutes along the provincial road until a minivan stopped.

We dropped the woman off in Vişeu de Sus (higher Vişeu, as opposed to Vişeu de Jos which means lower Vişeu), and we drove onward to Borşa. It was fun talking to the driver in a mix of Romanian and German about the differences in life between Western Europe (where I'm originally from) and Romania. The 40-50 minute drive went by fast, and as promised I bought the driver a package of cigarettes for taking me along.

As the driver had to be in the nondescript town of Borşa, I had to find another ride to Complex Borşa, the small ski resort located some 10 kilometres to the East. After grabbing an omelet and coffee in a local cafe for the grand price of 3 EUR, I was happy to see that there was actually a bus service supposed to stop by in fifteen minutes. It was a minibus riding along Romania's Northern border from Sighetu Marmatiei to Suceava, taking in both intercity passengers as well as local commuters who just wanted to ride along for a kilometre or five. The minibus was as full as a can of sardines as at least a dozen people were standing, but emptied already a few kilometres out of Borşa. Some minutes later, I got out as well at Complex Borşa.

It was a lovely day in the mountains, with only a few clouds in the sky. As it was around 8am, I still had some time to kill before the chair lift would start running up the mountain. I went to the local supermarket to stock up on water and some fresh cheese and sausages, and admired the local wooden church.







The church at Complex Borşa

Wooden churches like this relatively newer one (only built a few decades earlier) are typical for Maramureş. The older churches are even UNESCO World Heritage listed.

At around 9am I went to the chair lift and was the one of the first passengers of the day to be taken up the mountain. It was funny to see that the chairs behind me were filled up with boxes of wood and drinks for the small cafe/shop up the mountain.



On top, there is yet another chair lift which takes you further up (if I remember correctly for a hike to a glacial like) – or you can start already at the first station for a popular and easy hike back into valley which passes by a beautiful waterfall. As I wanted to take it fairly easy, I opted for the latter hike.

The views near the upper chair lift station were already lovely at the start of the hike.







The hike from the chair lift station towards the waterfall – named Cascada Cailor – is some 15 to 20 minutes for fast hikers to half an hour on a relaxed stroll.

The path goes through a forest and at times has lovely views over the valley and pine-clad mountains.





After a short hike I arrived at the waterfall, which is located at an attitude of 1,300 metres (4,265 feet) and is 90 metres (295 feet) high. It was lovely to have the place all to myself. The silence and sounds of the falling water was only interrupted by a shepherd who walked across with his dogs and hundreds of sheep.









I walked a bit onwards to a meadow next to the river and had a small second breakfast of some homemade sausages, cheese and water which I bought in the village shop. Just perfect.





From here, it is an 1-2 hour walk down back to the village. Again, the views are great. I will let the pictures do the talking here.







The last picture I made at exactly the same spot as the picture above, with the difference that the lighting was completely different as now I was there in the morning, back then at sunset.







Having reached the village, it was about noon so time for a cold one and a hearty soup for lunch at one of the hotels in the town.




Next up, Part IV: Viseu de Sus, the Mocăniţa steam train and the overnight stay at a special “Train Hotel”

oneworld82

I read that Mircea Eliade book in college while studying Anthropology. Good read. Oh, great trip report, btw!!

kathykathy

I am blown away by the fabulous photos! As my ancestors are from this general area of Europe, I am especially interested in your trip report. While the accommodations on the train are a bit foreign to me (Hee), I would enjoy the trip after flying Business Class from Atlanta!