Why this ride
A 142 km round trip from Brâncoveneşti - roughly 3 h 22 in the saddle. On the way it passes Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică, Călugăreni - Cetate and back through Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ideciu de Sus - Dealul Custurii and Călugăreni - Cetate
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 142 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 22
- 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. Ideciu de Sus - Dealul Custurii
Salt has shaped this part of Transylvania as much as any river. The hills of the eastern Transylvanian basin sit on enormous salt deposits, and the springs and lakes are often salty, as in Sărățeni, whose name says it all, and where a small salt museum explains the history. Ideciu de Sus, a village in the Mureș valley above Reghin, lies in this country, and the hill of Dealul Custurii nearby carried a Roman watchtower on the eastern frontier of Dacia, included in UNESCO's inscription of 2024. The Romans valued salt highly, and controlling the deposits was one reason they kept a watchful eye on these hills.
Read the complete Ideciu de Sus - Dealul Custurii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ideciu de Sus - Dealul Custurii is where the day begins. Next is Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică.
2. Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică
Up the Gurghiu valley in Mureș County, the villages still wear wood: carved gates, shingled roofs, little wooden churches and stacks of firewood against every wall. Ibănești is one of the best known of them, a long village strung along the valley where traditional dress, music and crafts have hung on more stubbornly than in most of Transylvania. On a hill nearby, Cetățuia Mică, the little citadel, marks a point on the eastern frontier of Roman Dacia, where a chain of small forts and watchtowers looked toward the volcanic Gurghiu mountains and the lands beyond. These eastern posts are part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listing for Dacia, added by UNESCO in 2024, though on the ground they are grassy earthworks rather than walls.
Read the complete Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Călugăreni - Cetate.
3. Călugăreni - Cetate
Călugăreni lies in the Niraj valley in Mureș county, in the heart of the region known as Székely Land, and here the signs, the conversation and the church spires announce that you are in a Hungarian-speaking part of Romania. The Székelys are a Hungarian community who, for centuries, guarded the eastern borders of the kingdom, and their villages, with carved wooden gates and whitewashed churches, are among the most distinctive in Transylvania. In Hungarian, the village is called Mikháza.
Read the complete Călugăreni - Cetate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 71 km into the recorded legs you reach Călugăreni - Cetate. Next is back through Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică.
4. back through Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică, late in the day. Next is Ideciu de Sus - Dealul Custurii.
5. Ideciu de Sus - Dealul Custurii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ideciu de Sus - Dealul Custurii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Ideciu de Sus - Dealul Custurii. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Ideciu de Sus - Dealul Custurii to Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică
Ideciu de Sus - Dealul Custurii → Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică to Călugăreni - Cetate
Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică → Călugăreni - Cetate is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Călugăreni - Cetate to back through Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică
Călugăreni - Cetate → back through Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică to Ideciu de Sus - Dealul Custurii
back through Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică → Ideciu de Sus - Dealul Custurii is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.