Râșnov - Cumidava / La Cetate and Voinești - Măilătoaia
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
258 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 17
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.
258 km from Vulcan to Vulcan, about 7 h 17 of riding. On the way it passes Codrul secular Șinca, Moieciu - Drumul Carului, Voinești - Măilătoaia and back through Moieciu - Drumul Carului. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,300 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Râșnov - Cumidava / La Cetate
The Roman fort of Cumidava stood on a terrace near the village of Vulcan, just west of Râșnov, at the southern end of the Bârsa Land, guarding the route from Transylvania through the mountains to Wallachia. It was one of the forts on the eastern frontier of Roman Dacia, and its name, recorded on an inscription, is believed to be Dacian in origin. The site is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia, added to the UNESCO list in 2024. Little stands above ground, but the setting, with the mountains rising to the south, makes it clear why the Romans chose this spot.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Râșnov - Cumidava / La Cetate is where the day begins. Next is Codrul secular Șinca.
2. Codrul secular Șinca
Codru is an old Romanian word for a deep forest, and the Codrul Secular Șinca, the ancient forest of Șinca, is exactly that: a stand of old-growth beech and fir on the northern slopes of the Făgăraș mountains in Brașov county, where trees have grown, died and fallen for centuries without being cut. It is part of the UNESCO listing of the ancient and primeval beech forests of Europe, a chain of protected forests across many countries that together tell the story of how beech spread across the continent after the last ice age. Walking among trees that are hundreds of years old, with fallen trunks covered in moss and fungi and the canopy closing high above, is a humbling experience.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Codrul secular Șinca comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Moieciu - Drumul Carului.
3. Moieciu - Drumul Carului
Between Bran and Rucăr, the road climbs over the saddle that separates the Bucegi mountains from Piatra Craiului, through a landscape of high meadows, hay barns, scattered farms and limestone peaks. The name Drumul Carului, the cart road, recalls the old route across this pass, which has linked Transylvania and Wallachia for centuries, and archaeologists have recorded a Roman-era site here, part of the network of frontier and road posts in Dacia. Fundata, at the top, is one of the highest villages in Romania, at around 1,350 metres, and the scattered houses of Moieciu, Peștera and Șirnea spread across the hills around it.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 68 km into the recorded legs you reach Moieciu - Drumul Carului. Next is Voinești - Măilătoaia.
4. Voinești - Măilătoaia
The Rucăr-Bran corridor is one of the oldest passages through the Carpathians, and at its southern end, in the hills around Câmpulung Muscel, the Romans built a frontier line to guard it. The Limes Transalutanus, the frontier east of the Olt, ran north through this area, and small forts and watchtowers like the one at Voinești-Măilătoaia watched the valleys and the approaches to the pass. The sites are now low earthworks in fields and forest edges, and they belong to the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listing for Dacia, added by UNESCO in 2024.