Why this ride
A 484 km round trip from Timişoara - roughly 9 h 21 in the saddle. It goes by way of Berzovia - Berzobis, Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină, Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie and Vărădia - Chilii. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Timișoara day out · Vărădia - Chilii
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 484 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 21
- 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. Timișoara
Timișoara is a flat, orderly city in the western plain of Romania, the capital of the Banat, a region that has been Ottoman, Habsburg, Hungarian, Romanian and has a mixed memory to show for it. Romanians, Hungarians, Germans and Serbs have lived side by side here for centuries, and the city has the look of a small Vienna, with baroque squares, Secession façades, a big Orthodox cathedral and a handsome opera house with a flight of steps where people gather. It was the first city in continental Europe to light its streets with electricity, in the 1880s, and it also had one of the first horse-drawn trams.
Read the complete Timisoara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Timișoara is where the day begins. Next is Berzovia - Berzobis.
2. Berzovia - Berzobis
Only a handful of sentences survive from the Emperor Trajan's own account of his wars against the Dacians, and one of them mentions this place. Quoted by a later grammarian, it reads, in Latin, that from there we advanced to Berzobis, then to Aizi. Berzobis is the village now called Berzovia, in the Banat hills of south-western Romania, and the site of the Roman fort here, where the Fourth Legion Flavia Felix was stationed after the conquest, is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listing in Romania inscribed in 2024.
Read the complete Berzovia - Berzobis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Berzovia - Berzobis comes up about 64 km into the recorded legs. Next is Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină.
3. Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină
A hundred wells: that is the meaning of Centum Putea, the Latin name of a Roman fort in the hills of the Banat, near the village of Surducu Mare in Caraș-Severin county. It was one of the forts that guarded the road from the Danube to the heart of Roman Dacia after the emperor Trajan conquered the region in the early second century, and it is part of the line of sites listed by UNESCO as the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia. Little survives above ground, just traces of earthworks in the fields, but the name alone conjures a picture of a well-watered camp on the road north.
Read the complete Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 87 km into the recorded legs you reach Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină. Next is Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie.
4. Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie
Caput Bubali, the head of the buffalo, is a wonderfully odd Roman name, and it belongs to a station on the road that carried troops and supplies north from the Danube into the heart of Dacia after Trajan's conquest. The hill known as Cetățuie, near the villages of Brebu and Cornuțel in the Banat, holds the earthworks of a fort that guarded this route as it threaded through the hills towards Tibiscum, the important Roman centre near Caransebeș. It is part of the Dacian frontier group listed by UNESCO in 2024, and like much of it, it needs a little imagination and a good eye for ditches and banks.
Read the complete Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie, about halfway. Next is Vărădia - Chilii.
5. Vărădia - Chilii
Vărădia is a village in the Banat, in southwestern Romania, close to the Serbian border, where the hills of the Banat mountains descend towards the Pannonian plain. In Roman times, it was the site of Arcidava, a fort on the road that Trajan's legions built to advance from the Danube into Dacia during the wars of 101 to 106, and later a garrison on the frontier. The site at Chilii, near the village, is part of the UNESCO listing of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia. The fort's earthworks can be traced on a hill above the Caraș river, and the location, controlling the valley, explains why it was chosen.
Read the complete Vărădia - Chilii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vărădia - Chilii sits at 222 km, about halfway. Next is back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie.
6. back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie comes up about 320 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină.
7. back through Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 397 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină. Next is back through Berzovia - Berzobis.
8. back through Berzovia - Berzobis
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Berzovia - Berzobis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Berzovia - Berzobis, late in the day. Next is Timisoara.
9. Timișoara
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Timisoara 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 484 km.
Leg by leg
Timișoara to Berzovia - Berzobis
Timișoara → Berzovia - Berzobis is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Berzovia - Berzobis to Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină
Berzovia - Berzobis → Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină to Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie
Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină → Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie to Vărădia - Chilii
Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie → Vărădia - Chilii is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Vărădia - Chilii to back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie
Vărădia - Chilii → back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie to back through Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină
back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie → back through Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină is 77 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină to back through Berzovia - Berzobis
back through Surducu Mare - Centum Putea / Rovină → back through Berzovia - Berzobis is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Berzovia - Berzobis to Timisoara
back through Berzovia - Berzobis → Timisoara is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.