Why this ride
From Odorheiu Secuiesc it runs 234 km to Odorheiu Secuiesc; allow about 5 h 24 of riding. The stops in between: Păuleni - Dealul Silaș, Sărățeni - Casa Sării, Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică and back through Sărățeni - Casa Sării.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Odorheiu Secuiesc - Piatra Coțofană and Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 234 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 24
- 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. Odorheiu Secuiesc - Piatra Coțofană
Odorheiu Secuiesc is a town that answers to two names, and if you ask for directions you will probably hear the Hungarian one, Székelyudvarhely. This is the heart of Székely Land, the Hungarian-speaking corner of eastern Transylvania, and the signs, the church spires and the way people greet you all make that plain within a minute of arriving. Piatra Coțofană, the Magpie Stone, is one of the rocky heights on the hills around the town, a few kilometres out among pasture and beech woods.
Read the complete Odorheiu Secuiesc - Piatra Coțofană write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Odorheiu Secuiesc - Piatra Coțofană is where the day begins. Next is Păuleni - Dealul Silaș.
2. Păuleni - Dealul Silaș
Corund is a village where almost every house seems to sell pottery. Stalls line the main road through this Székely community in Harghita county, piled high with plates, jugs and bowls in white, blue, green and brown, painted with flowers and birds. Pottery has been made here for centuries, using local clay, and the craft is still alive, though much of what is sold today is made for tourists. Păuleni and the hill called Dealul Silaș lie nearby, an archaeological site among many in this land of rolling hills and forested ridges, with little to see on the ground.
Read the complete Păuleni - Dealul Silaș write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Păuleni - Dealul Silaș comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sărățeni - Casa Sării.
3. Sărățeni - Casa Sării
Salt has shaped this corner of Transylvania for thousands of years. Beneath the hills of the Sovata and Praid area lies a huge salt dome, and in places it reaches the surface, creating salt cliffs, salty springs and lakes. Sărățeni, a village in the Târnava Mică valley, takes its name from the salt, and Casa Sării, the salt house, is the local name for the spot marked here. The Romans valued this salt as much as Dacian gold, and the eastern frontier of their province ran along these hills, with a fort at Sărățeni among the posts that watched the valleys and, no doubt, the salt routes.
Read the complete Sărățeni - Casa Sării write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 60 km into the recorded legs you reach Sărățeni - Casa Sării. Next is Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Sărățeni - Casa Sării.
5. back through Sărățeni - Casa Sării
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sărățeni - Casa Sării write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sărățeni - Casa Sării sits at 113 km, about halfway. Next is back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș.
6. back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Păuleni - Dealul Silaș write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș comes up about 208 km into the recorded legs. Next is Odorheiu Secuiesc - Piatra Coțofană.
7. Odorheiu Secuiesc - Piatra Coțofană
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Odorheiu Secuiesc - Piatra Coțofană write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Odorheiu Secuiesc - Piatra Coțofană closes the day.
Leg by leg
Odorheiu Secuiesc - Piatra Coțofană to Păuleni - Dealul Silaș
Odorheiu Secuiesc - Piatra Coțofană → Păuleni - Dealul Silaș is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Păuleni - Dealul Silaș to Sărățeni - Casa Sării
Păuleni - Dealul Silaș → Sărățeni - Casa Sării is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sărățeni - Casa Sării to Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică
Sărățeni - Casa Sării → Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică to back through Sărățeni - Casa Sării
Ibănești - Cetățuia Mică → back through Sărățeni - Casa Sării is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sărățeni - Casa Sării to back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș
back through Sărățeni - Casa Sării → back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș to Odorheiu Secuiesc - Piatra Coțofană
back through Păuleni - Dealul Silaș → Odorheiu Secuiesc - Piatra Coțofană is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.