Why this ride
A 265 km round trip from Sighișoara - roughly 5 h 44 in the saddle. On the way it passes Village of Dârjiu, Inlăceni - Cetate, Păuleni - Dealul Silaș and Sărățeni - Casa Sării.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Sighisoara day out · Sărățeni - Casa Sării
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 265 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 44
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Sighisoara
Sighișoara is one of those Transylvanian towns where the Middle Ages seem to have paused and never quite restarted. The citadel sits on a steep hill above the Târnava Mare river, with its walls, nine surviving towers and a covered wooden stairway of 175 steps climbing to the church on the hill. It was settled by Transylvanian Saxons, German-speaking merchants and craftsmen invited by the Hungarian kings in the twelfth century, and the guilds each looked after one of the towers. The clock tower, with its painted figures, is the symbol of the town.
Read the complete Sighisoara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sighisoara is where the day begins. Next is Village of Dârjiu.
2. Village of Dârjiu
Dârjiu is a Székely village of around eleven hundred people in Harghita county, and at its heart stands one of the fortified churches that UNESCO lists among the Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania. Most of those villages are Saxon and Lutheran; Dârjiu is Hungarian-speaking and Unitarian, which makes it something of an odd one out and all the more interesting. A ring of thick walls and towers encloses the church, built so that villagers could shelter from raiders, and the tradition of storing smoked bacon and grain in the fortress towers lasted here long into modern times.
Read the complete Village of Dârjiu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Village of Dârjiu comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Inlăceni - Cetate.
3. Inlăceni - Cetate
Székely Land, in the eastern part of Transylvania, is the home of a Hungarian-speaking community whose ancestors were placed here in the Middle Ages to guard the eastern frontier of the Kingdom of Hungary, and the same job had been done a thousand years earlier by the Romans. Near the village of Inlăceni, in the hills of Harghita county, stand the remains of a Roman fort, one of the eastern bastions of Dacia, facing the Carpathians and the passes beyond. The stone walls, gates and corner towers can still be traced in a meadow on a hilltop, and the setting, with forests all around and the mountains on the horizon, is one of the most beautiful of all the sites on the Dacian frontier listed by UNESCO.
Read the complete Inlăceni - Cetate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 82 km into the recorded legs you reach Inlăceni - Cetate. Next is Păuleni - Dealul Silaș.
4. Păuleni - Dealul Silaș
Corund is a village where almost every house seems to sell pottery. Stalls line the main road through this Székely community in Harghita county, piled high with plates, jugs and bowls in white, blue, green and brown, painted with flowers and birds. Pottery has been made here for centuries, using local clay, and the craft is still alive, though much of what is sold today is made for tourists. Păuleni and the hill called Dealul Silaș lie nearby, an archaeological site among many in this land of rolling hills and forested ridges, with little to see on the ground.
Read the complete Păuleni - Dealul Silaș write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Păuleni - Dealul Silaș, about halfway. Next is Sărățeni - Casa Sării.
5. Sărățeni - Casa Sării
Salt has shaped this corner of Transylvania for thousands of years. Beneath the hills of the Sovata and Praid area lies a huge salt dome, and in places it reaches the surface, creating salt cliffs, salty springs and lakes. Sărățeni, a village in the Târnava Mică valley, takes its name from the salt, and Casa Sării, the salt house, is the local name for the spot marked here. The Romans valued this salt as much as Dacian gold, and the eastern frontier of their province ran along these hills, with a fort at Sărățeni among the posts that watched the valleys and, no doubt, the salt routes.
Read the complete Sărățeni - Casa Sării write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sărățeni - Casa Sării sits at 106 km, about halfway. Next is back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș.
6. back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Păuleni - Dealul Silaș write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș comes up about 175 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Inlăceni - Cetate.
7. back through Inlăceni - Cetate
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Inlăceni - Cetate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 182 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Inlăceni - Cetate. Next is back through Village of Dârjiu.
8. back through Village of Dârjiu
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Village of Dârjiu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Village of Dârjiu, late in the day. Next is Sighisoara.
9. Sighisoara
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sighisoara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 265 km.
Leg by leg
Sighisoara to Village of Dârjiu
Sighisoara → Village of Dârjiu is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Village of Dârjiu to Inlăceni - Cetate
Village of Dârjiu → Inlăceni - Cetate is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Inlăceni - Cetate to Păuleni - Dealul Silaș
Inlăceni - Cetate → Păuleni - Dealul Silaș is 7 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Păuleni - Dealul Silaș to Sărățeni - Casa Sării
Păuleni - Dealul Silaș → Sărățeni - Casa Sării is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sărățeni - Casa Sării to back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș
Sărățeni - Casa Sării → back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș to back through Inlăceni - Cetate
back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș → back through Inlăceni - Cetate is 7 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Inlăceni - Cetate to back through Village of Dârjiu
back through Inlăceni - Cetate → back through Village of Dârjiu is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Village of Dârjiu to Sighisoara
back through Village of Dârjiu → Sighisoara is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.