Cincșor - Cetate and Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
138 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 31
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.
138 km from Făgăraș to Făgăraș, about 2 h 31 of riding. It goes by way of Feldioara - Cetățeaua, Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude and back through Feldioara - Cetățeaua. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Scenic road chapters
Transfăgărășan
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 47 km this is Transfăgărășan, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
47 km
Named road
Transfăgărășan
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cincșor - Cetate
Between Sibiu and Făgăraș, the Olt flows through a broad valley, with the long wall of the Făgăraș mountains rising to the south, the highest in Romania, culminating in Moldoveanu at 2,544 metres. On the north bank, near the Saxon village of Cincșor, known in German as Kleinschenk, the Romans built a fort to guard the river crossing and the road along the valley. The site, known locally as Cetate, the fortress, lies in fields near the village, with only faint traces visible.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cincșor - Cetate is where the day begins. Next is Feldioara - Cetățeaua.
2. Feldioara - Cetățeaua
The Făgăraș mountains are the highest wall in Romania, and from the Olt valley at Ucea they rise like a grey and white curtain across the southern sky, with Moldoveanu and Negoiu, the country's two highest peaks, hidden somewhere in the ridge. Down in the valley, near the villages of Ucea de Jos and Feldioara, the Romans had a fort at a site called Cetățeaua, guarding the Olt route that formed part of the frontier system of Dacia. The remains, earthworks and fragments in the fields, are included in the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listing for Dacia, added by UNESCO in 2024.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Feldioara - Cetățeaua comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude.
3. Boița - Caput Stenarum / În Rude
The Olt does something improbable south of Sibiu. Instead of going around the Carpathians, it cuts straight through them, carving a deep, winding gorge between the Făgăraș and Lotru ranges, and for two thousand years that gorge has been one of the great gateways between Transylvania and Wallachia. At its northern mouth, near the village of Boița, the Romans built a fort they called Caput Stenarum, the head of the narrows, to guard the entrance.