Why this ride
From Mârţeşti it runs 316 km to Mârţeşti; allow about 6 h 35 of riding. The stops in between: Afrimești - Urluieni, Izbășești - Valea Albă, Mareș - La Stadion and Stolniceni - Buridava Romană. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Mârțești - Cetate and Stolniceni - Buridava Romană
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 316 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 35
- 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. Mârțești - Cetate
South of the Carpathians, where the Wallachian plain starts to lift into hills, there is a quiet stretch of the Argeș county, and this point lies near Lunca Corbului, in a landscape of low ridges, orchards and wide fields. The name Cetate simply means fortress or citadel in Romanian, and the label suggests a place where an old defensive site was recorded, whether Roman or older.
Read the complete Mârțești - Cetate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mârțești - Cetate is where the day begins. Next is Afrimești - Urluieni.
2. Afrimești - Urluieni
Flat. That is the first impression of this part of southern Romania, in Argeș county, where the land stretches away towards the Danube in wide fields of maize and sunflowers, broken only by lines of trees and small villages. But across this plain, in the second century AD, the Romans built a frontier: the Limes Transalutanus, a line of earthworks and forts running north to south east of the Olt river, protecting the province of Dacia. At Urluieni, near the village of Afrimești, stood one of its forts.
Read the complete Afrimești - Urluieni write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Afrimești - Urluieni comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Izbășești - Valea Albă.
3. Izbășești - Valea Albă
Between Pitești and Slatina, in the south of Romania, the land falls away from the Carpathian foothills towards the great Danube plain in a series of long, low ridges cut by streams. It is farming country, with fields of maize and sunflowers, orchards, vineyards and small villages strung along the valleys. Izbășești and the valley called Valea Albă, the White Valley, lie in this landscape near the small town of Stolnici, and the site recorded here is one of the many archaeological traces in the area, though there is probably little to see on the ground.
Read the complete Izbășești - Valea Albă write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 47 km into the recorded legs you reach Izbășești - Valea Albă. Next is Mareș - La Stadion.
4. Mareș - La Stadion
Pitești is the kind of city most riders pass through on the way somewhere else, and the somewhere else is usually the Transfăgărășan. The famous road over the Făgăraș mountains begins north of here, beyond Curtea de Argeș, and the hills of Argeș county around Albota and Mareș, just south-west of Pitești, are where many people start the day.
Read the complete Mareș - La Stadion write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mareș - La Stadion, about halfway. Next is Stolniceni - Buridava Romană.
5. Stolniceni - Buridava Romană
South of Râmnicu Vâlcea the Olt river leaves the mountains and broadens across a valley of orchards and villages, and on the terraces above it at Stolniceni lie the remains of Buridava, a Roman military settlement whose name the Romans borrowed from an older Dacian centre nearby. It sat on the Limes Alutanus, the frontier road along the Olt that guarded the eastern edge of Roman Dacia, and soldiers stationed here left inscriptions, bricks stamped with unit marks and the foundations of baths. The site is part of the Dacian frontier listing inscribed by UNESCO in 2024.
Read the complete Stolniceni - Buridava Romană write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stolniceni - Buridava Romană sits at 146 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mareș - La Stadion.
6. back through Mareș - La Stadion
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mareș - La Stadion write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mareș - La Stadion comes up about 247 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Izbășești - Valea Albă.
7. back through Izbășești - Valea Albă
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Izbășești - Valea Albă write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 271 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Izbășești - Valea Albă. Next is back through Afrimești - Urluieni.
8. back through Afrimești - Urluieni
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Afrimești - Urluieni write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Afrimești - Urluieni, late in the day. Next is Mârțești - Cetate.
9. Mârțești - Cetate
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mârțești - Cetate 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 316 km.
Leg by leg
Mârțești - Cetate to Afrimești - Urluieni
Mârțești - Cetate → Afrimești - Urluieni is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Afrimești - Urluieni to Izbășești - Valea Albă
Afrimești - Urluieni → Izbășești - Valea Albă is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Izbășești - Valea Albă to Mareș - La Stadion
Izbășești - Valea Albă → Mareș - La Stadion is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mareș - La Stadion to Stolniceni - Buridava Romană
Mareș - La Stadion → Stolniceni - Buridava Romană is 88 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Stolniceni - Buridava Romană to back through Mareș - La Stadion
Stolniceni - Buridava Romană → back through Mareș - La Stadion is 88 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Mareș - La Stadion to back through Izbășești - Valea Albă
back through Mareș - La Stadion → back through Izbășești - Valea Albă is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Izbășești - Valea Albă to back through Afrimești - Urluieni
back through Izbășești - Valea Albă → back through Afrimești - Urluieni is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Afrimești - Urluieni to Mârțești - Cetate
back through Afrimești - Urluieni → Mârțești - Cetate is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.