Oravița lies at the south-western edge of Romania, in the Banat hills where the land begins to fold up toward the Anina Mountains. It is a small town, twelve thousand people or so, and yet it holds a handful of distinctions that would suit a city ten times its size. The little theatre here, opened in 1817, is regarded as the oldest in Romania, a neat neoclassical hall with a horseshoe auditorium that has been restored and still hosts performances.
The industrial story is stranger still. The Habsburg empire mined copper, iron and coal across this part of the Banat, and in 1854 the first railway in what is now Romania opened here, linking Oravița with Baziaș on the Danube. A few years later, the mountain line from Oravița to Anina, built to carry coal, climbed through tunnels and over viaducts in a series of spirals and was nicknamed the Semmering of the Banat after the Alpine railway. Parts of it are still in use, and the cuttings and stone arches are worth finding in the woods.
The riding around Oravița is unhurried and rural. From town you can climb to Anina on a winding road through beech forest, then continue to the Nera Gorge, where the river has carved a deep canyon with waterfalls and one of the wildest corners of the Carpathians. Surfaces vary, and potholes appear in some villages, so give yourself time. South, the road to the Danube leads to the Iron Gates region, which is one of Europe's great river gorges.
The local population includes Romanians, Serbs, Czechs and Germans, who settled here over the centuries, and the cooking blends Banat and Central European traditions, with sausages, goulash, and rich cakes. Fuel is available in Oravița, though stations in the mountains are few.
The best seasons are late spring and early autumn. Summers are hot on the lower roads, while winter can bring ice on the high stretches.