Câlnic, a small village south of Sebeș in Alba county, is home to one of the strangest fortresses among the Saxon sites of Transylvania. Unlike most of its neighbours, it began not as a fortified church but as a noble residence. In the thirteenth century a local count built a stone keep here, surrounded by walls and a moat. Later the villagers bought it, added a chapel and storerooms, and turned it into a peasant refuge, where families could shelter from raids behind the walls. The result, still ringed by water on parts of its perimeter, is part of the Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania World Heritage site.
The keep, a tall square tower with small windows, dominates the interior, and the courtyard is often quiet, with flowers and old wooden galleries. The village around it has the long, straight streets and gabled houses typical of Saxon settlements, though most of the original German-speaking families left after 1990.
What makes Câlnic stand out for riders is its location. A few kilometres away, Săsciori sits on the Transalpina, the road that climbs south from Sebeș over the Parâng mountains to Novaci in Oltenia. It is the highest paved road in Romania, peaking at over two thousand metres, and in good weather it is one of the great rides of Europe: a long climb through forest, past reservoirs, then up onto open alpine meadows with switchbacks, sheepfolds and enormous views. It closes in winter, usually from late autumn until late spring or early summer, and even in summer the weather at the top can turn cold and foggy in minutes. Watch out for sheep, dogs, and loose gravel on the hairpins, and for cars stopping suddenly to photograph the view.
The area around Câlnic is gentler, with rolling hills, orchards and vineyards along the Sebeș valley. Sebeș itself, a busy town with a fine Saxon church, is the main supply point, while Săsciori, about six kilometres away, has fuel and a few shops. Fill up before starting up the Transalpina, as there is nothing reliable on the high section. In the village, a quiet hour at the fortress and a picnic of bread, cheese and fruit is the ideal warm-up before the mountain.