The Orșova you ride into is not the old one. The original town lies under the Danube, drowned in the early 1970s when the Iron Gates I dam downstream raised the river by tens of metres, and the present town was rebuilt on the hillside above the new shoreline, with concrete blocks, a modern Catholic church shaped like a ship's prow, and a long waterfront promenade. The same flood swallowed Ada Kaleh, a small island just downstream that had been home to a Turkish community with a mosque, a bazaar and a reputation for coffee, figs and Turkish delight. People of a certain age in this part of Romania still talk about it with real sadness.
Orșova sits where the Cerna river joins the Danube, at the eastern end of the gorge stretch known as the Iron Gates, and it has always been a border town. Romans, Ottomans, Habsburgs and Serbs fought over this spot, and the frontier between Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire ran nearby for a long time. Across the water, the Serbian shore is close enough to see clearly, and the sense of being on the edge of something is strong.
For riders, Orșova is a natural base on the Danube road. Heading west upstream, the road runs along the Romanian bank toward Dubova and the Cazane gorge, where the river squeezes between cliffs and the road curves along the water with the hills rising steeply above. It is one of the great riverside rides of Europe, with long views across the water and plenty of curves, though the surface varies and the road is narrow in places. Heading east, the road leads to the dam at Drobeta-Turnu Severin and the border crossing to Serbia over the dam itself. To the north, the Cerna valley road climbs toward Băile Herculane, the old Habsburg spa.
Orșova has fuel, supermarkets, cafes and restaurants along the waterfront, and fish from the Danube is the local speciality, often grilled or in a sour soup called ciorbă. It is a relaxed place to spend an evening, watching the boats on the river and the light fade over the Serbian hills. Summers are hot and humid, and mosquitoes can be a nuisance near the water at dusk. Spring and autumn are the best times to ride the Danube road.