Why this ride
It goes by way of Vârful lui Pătru, Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea, Capâlna and Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cugir - Bătrâna and Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 328 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 12 h 05
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.
Scenic road chapters
Romania Transalpina
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 38 km this is Romania Transalpina, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 38 km
- Named road
- Romania Transalpina
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cugir - Bătrâna
South of the town of Cugir, the land rises into the Șureanu mountains, a sprawling range of beech and spruce forests, high meadows and rounded summits in the heart of the Southern Carpathians. This is the country of the Dacians, the people who ruled much of present-day Romania before the Roman conquest in the early second century. Their capital, Sarmizegetusa Regia, and a ring of mountain fortresses lie in the Orăștie mountains to the west, and they are listed by UNESCO as the Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains. Bătrâna, on the high ground above the Cugir valley, belongs to the network of ancient sites scattered across these hills, where Dacians and Romans watched each other across the ridges.
Read the complete Cugir - Bătrâna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cugir - Bătrâna is where the day begins. Next is Vârful lui Pătru.
2. Vârful lui Pătru
Roman soldiers rarely chose to live above two thousand metres, but on Vârful lui Pătru, a broad grassy summit of the Șureanu mountains in southern Transylvania, they did. A small fortification on the top, part of the network that watched over the passes after Trajan conquered Dacia, is often described as one of the highest Roman military posts anywhere, and it now belongs to the World Heritage listing of the Dacian frontier. Imagine a winter up here in a wool cloak, with the wind coming straight off the Carpathians, and the posting suddenly sounds like a punishment.
Read the complete Vârful lui Pătru write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vârful lui Pătru comes up 24 km in. Next is Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea.
3. Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea
High above the Sebeș and Cugir valleys, where the Șureanu foothills fold into long grassy shoulders, the Romans kept watch over the southern approaches to their province of Dacia. The name on the map, Muncelu-Lăutaorea, belongs to the ridge country above Pianu de Jos, and it is one of the many small frontier points that archaeologists have tied to the Roman defensive system here. Do not expect walls to lean on. What survives on these hilltops is usually a faint platform, a ditch you notice only when the light is low, and a view that explains everything about why a sentry was posted there.
Read the complete Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
48 km in you reach Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea. Next is Capâlna.
4. Capâlna
The Dacians liked their fortresses high, hidden and hard to reach, which is why the Roman legions of Trajan took two bloody wars at the start of the second century to conquer them. Căpâlna stands on a steep wooded hill above the Sebeș valley, a Dacian citadel with stone walls built in the distinctive murus dacicus technique, blocks of cut stone tied together with timber beams, and a tower that served as the last refuge. It is one of the six Dacian fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains listed by UNESCO in 1999, along with the capital Sarmizegetusa Regia, and it is one of the easier ones to reach, with a path climbing through the forest from the valley road.
Read the complete Capâlna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Capâlna, about halfway. Next is Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1.
5. Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1
Alba Iulia wears its history in layers, and the bottom layer is Roman. The Legio XIII Gemina, the legion that held the heart of Dacia, was based here for over a century and a half, and around its fortress grew Apulum, one of the largest cities of the province. Excavations inside the modern citadel have revealed parts of the legionary fortress, and a Roman house, a domus, with its foundations, rooms and heating system, has been uncovered nearby, showing how the wealthier inhabitants lived. Together with the rest of the Dacian limes, these remains are now on the World Heritage list.
Read the complete Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 sits at 95 km, about halfway. Next is back through Capâlna.
6. back through Capâlna
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Capâlna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Capâlna comes up 119 km in. Next is back through Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea.
7. back through Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
143 km in you reach back through Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea. Next is back through Vârful lui Pătru.
8. back through Vârful lui Pătru
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vârful lui Pătru write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Vârful lui Pătru, late in the day. Next is Cugir - Bătrâna.
9. Cugir - Bătrâna
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cugir - Bătrâna 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 328 km.
Leg by leg
Cugir - Bătrâna to Vârful lui Pătru
Cugir - Bătrâna → Vârful lui Pătru is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vârful lui Pătru to Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea
Vârful lui Pătru → Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea to Capâlna
Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea → Capâlna is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Capâlna to Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1
Capâlna → Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 to back through Capâlna
Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 → back through Capâlna is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Capâlna to back through Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea
back through Capâlna → back through Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea to back through Vârful lui Pătru
back through Pianu de Jos - Muncelu-Lăutaorea → back through Vârful lui Pătru is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vârful lui Pătru to Cugir - Bătrâna
back through Vârful lui Pătru → Cugir - Bătrâna is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.