Why this ride
A 361 km round trip from Bistriţa - roughly 7 h 08 in the saddle. On the way it passes Salva - Roata lui Todoran, Dumbrăveni, Bârsău Mare - Cetate and Tihău - Grădiște. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 and Tihău - Grădiște
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 361 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 08
- 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. Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1
Bram Stoker sent Jonathan Harker to Bistritz, and the town of Bistrița, just a few kilometres from here, has never quite escaped the vampire. In the novel, Harker spends a night at the Golden Krone hotel before setting off towards the Borgo Pass and Count Dracula's castle, and today the town has a hotel of that name and the pass a hotel built to look like a castle. The real history is more interesting. Bistrița was one of the seven Saxon cities that gave Transylvania its German name, Siebenbürgen, a rich trading town with a big Gothic church, arcaded merchants' houses and a ring of walls, much of which has been lost.
Read the complete Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 is where the day begins. Next is Salva - Roata lui Todoran.
2. Salva - Roata lui Todoran
Salva is a railway village. Trains for the Maramureș line split off here from the route along the Someșul Mare, and the place has a slightly busy, crossroads feel for a commune of a little over four thousand people. The site called Roata lui Todoran, Todoran's wheel, sits right by the village in the Năsăud country of Bistrița-Năsăud, a region that marked the northern edge of Roman Dacia and later formed part of a Habsburg border regiment. Few places in Transylvania have been a frontier for quite so long.
Read the complete Salva - Roata lui Todoran write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Salva - Roata lui Todoran comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dumbrăveni.
3. Dumbrăveni
Dumbrăveni sits in the quiet hill country above the Someş Mare, where the river curves west towards Dej and the land folds into low ridges, orchards and small woods of oak and hornbeam. Like several places on these rides, it marks a point on the old northern edge of Roman Dacia, one of the scattered watchtower and earthwork sites listed in 2024 as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Expect a hill and a view rather than masonry, and enjoy the feeling of being somewhere few travellers bother to stop.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Dumbrăveni. Next is Bârsău Mare - Cetate.
4. Bârsău Mare - Cetate
In the north of Transylvania, the Someș river winds through a valley of green hills, woods and villages with wooden churches and haystacks, and on a hilltop near the village of Bârsău Mare, the faint remains of a Roman fortification overlook the valley. This was part of the northern frontier of Roman Dacia, the province created after Trajan's conquest in the early second century, and it is one of the sites included in the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia, listed by UNESCO in 2024.
Read the complete Bârsău Mare - Cetate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bârsău Mare - Cetate, about halfway. Next is Tihău - Grădiște.
5. Tihău - Grădiște
The Someș river makes its way through the hills of north-western Romania between Cluj and Baia Mare, and near the small town of Jibou, in Sălaj county, it passes through a narrow valley guarded on its slopes by the remains of a Roman fort. The site, known locally as Grădiște, which simply means old fort, lies above the village of Tihău, close to Surduc and Gâlgău Almașului.
Read the complete Tihău - Grădiște write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tihău - Grădiște sits at 139 km, about halfway. Next is back through Bârsău Mare - Cetate.
6. back through Bârsău Mare - Cetate
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bârsău Mare - Cetate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Bârsău Mare - Cetate comes up about 231 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Dumbrăveni.
7. back through Dumbrăveni
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 278 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Dumbrăveni. Next is back through Salva - Roata lui Todoran.
8. back through Salva - Roata lui Todoran
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Salva - Roata lui Todoran write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Salva - Roata lui Todoran, late in the day. Next is Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1.
9. Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 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 361 km.
Leg by leg
Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 to Salva - Roata lui Todoran
Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 → Salva - Roata lui Todoran is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Salva - Roata lui Todoran to Dumbrăveni
Salva - Roata lui Todoran → Dumbrăveni is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dumbrăveni to Bârsău Mare - Cetate
Dumbrăveni → Bârsău Mare - Cetate is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bârsău Mare - Cetate to Tihău - Grădiște
Bârsău Mare - Cetate → Tihău - Grădiște is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tihău - Grădiște to back through Bârsău Mare - Cetate
Tihău - Grădiște → back through Bârsău Mare - Cetate is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bârsău Mare - Cetate to back through Dumbrăveni
back through Bârsău Mare - Cetate → back through Dumbrăveni is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dumbrăveni to back through Salva - Roata lui Todoran
back through Dumbrăveni → back through Salva - Roata lui Todoran is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Salva - Roata lui Todoran to Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1
back through Salva - Roata lui Todoran → Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.