Sinaia is the royal resort of Romania, a mountain town on the Prahova Valley where the first king built his summer palace and the aristocracy followed with villas, a casino and a railway station fit for visiting monarchs. It sits at around eight hundred metres on the eastern side of the Bucegi, with the limestone wall of the massif rising straight above the town, and it is one of the places where Romania's turn-of-the-century ambitions are still visible in stone and timber.
The great sight is Peleș Castle, built for King Carol I in a mix of German Renaissance and every other style the architects could find, with turrets, half-timbering and an interior full of carved wood, armour and stained glass. It was one of the first castles in Europe to have electricity, generated on site. Below it lies the smaller Pelișor, and lower down in the town is Sinaia Monastery, founded in the late seventeenth century by a nobleman who had made a pilgrimage to Mount Sinai and named his foundation after it. The town took its name from the monastery.
For riders, Sinaia is the bottom of the Transbucegi, the high road that climbs from the town toward the Bucegi plateau. It switches back up through beech and spruce forest to the ski area at Cota 1400 and then above it toward the open plateau, with long views back down over the Prahova Valley. The surface and access higher up have varied over the years and sections may be closed or restricted, so check the current status before you commit. In good weather it is a wonderful climb, but cloud can sit on the plateau and the temperature drops sharply as you rise, so carry a warm layer even in August.
The main road through the valley, the DN1 from Bucharest to Brașov, is the less pleasant side of Sinaia. It is one of the busiest roads in the country, and on Fridays and Sundays traffic crawls through the resort towns, with lorries, impatient overtaking and police speed traps. Ride it early on a weekday if you can, or use it as briefly as possible.
Filling stations sit along the DN1 at both ends of town, and the old resort streets are lined with bakeries, terraces and grill houses, so a night here sets you up well for a day in the Bucegi. Expect crowds at Peleș at weekends and on holidays, and allow time to walk up from the town.