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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă and Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
547 km
Riding-time estimate
11 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.

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Why this ride

547 km from Vărădia to Vărădia, about 11 h 05 of riding. On the way it passes Cheile Nerei-Beușnița, Izvoarele Nerei, Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină and Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă

    Down in the southwestern corner of Romania, where the Banat plain gives way to the first hills of the Carpathians, the village of Vărădia sits on the edge of a gentle valley that opens toward Serbia. Here, at a place called Pustă, lie the remains of the Roman fort of Arcidava, one of the first stations on the road the Romans built from the Danube crossing at Lederata north into Dacia. Trajan's troops passed this way during the conquest, and the fort guarded the route for the century and a half that followed. Excavations have revealed the outline of the fortifications, and the site is now part of the UNESCO frontier listing.

    Read the complete Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă is where the day begins. Next is Cheile Nerei-Beușnița.

  2. 2. Cheile Nerei-Beușnița

    The water at Ochiul Beiului, the Bey's Eye, is such an intense turquoise that it looks dyed, and the legend says it formed from the tears of a Turkish nobleman mourning a lost love. It is one of the jewels of the Cheile Nerei-Beușnița National Park, in the mountains of Banat in south-western Romania, where the Nera river has cut a deep gorge through limestone over about twenty kilometres. The park's ancient beech forests are part of the UNESCO listing of primeval beech forests of the Carpathians and other regions of Europe, and the waterfalls, caves and karst springs make it one of the most beautiful corners of the country.

    Read the complete Cheile Nerei-Beușnița write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Cheile Nerei-Beușnița comes up 39 km in. Next is Izvoarele Nerei.

  3. 3. Izvoarele Nerei

    High in the Semenic mountains of south-western Romania, in the Banat region, the Nera river is born in a forest of ancient beech trees. The Izvoarele Nerei reserve, the springs of the Nera, protects one of the largest areas of virgin beech forest in Europe, with trees over thirty metres tall and centuries old, untouched by logging. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe.

    Read the complete Izvoarele Nerei write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    78 km in you reach Izvoarele Nerei. Next is Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină.

  4. 4. Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină

    The Cerna valley in south-western Romania has been a corridor for armies and travellers since antiquity. Between the Banat mountains and the Mehedinți plateau, the valley carried the Roman road from the Danube crossing at Drobeta northwards toward Tibiscum and the heart of Dacia. At Mehadia, the Romans built a fort known as Ad Mediam, and the remains called Praetorium or Zidină, meaning ruined walls, mark the site. The stone foundations are visible in places, and the site is one of the components of the Roman frontier in Dacia proposed for World Heritage status.

    Read the complete Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină, about halfway. Next is Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei.

  5. 5. Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei

    The Cerna is a mountain river in south-western Romania, flowing through a long, deep valley between the Mehedinți and Cerna mountains before reaching the old spa town of Băile Herculane. The Domogled-Valea Cernei National Park protects this valley and the mountains around it, a landscape of limestone cliffs, gorges, caves and some of the largest old-growth beech forests in Europe, part of the UNESCO site for the ancient and primeval beech forests of the Carpathians and other regions of Europe.

    Read the complete Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei sits at 155 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină.

  6. 6. back through Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină comes up 194 km in. Next is back through Izvoarele Nerei.

  7. 7. back through Izvoarele Nerei

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Izvoarele Nerei write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    233 km in you reach back through Izvoarele Nerei. Next is back through Cheile Nerei-Beușnița.

  8. 8. back through Cheile Nerei-Beușnița

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Cheile Nerei-Beușnița write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Cheile Nerei-Beușnița, late in the day. Next is Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă.

  9. 9. Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă 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 547 km.

Leg by leg

Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă to Cheile Nerei-Beușnița

Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă → Cheile Nerei-Beușnița is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Cheile Nerei-Beușnița to Izvoarele Nerei

Cheile Nerei-Beușnița → Izvoarele Nerei is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Izvoarele Nerei to Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină

Izvoarele Nerei → Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină to Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei

Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină → Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei to back through Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină

Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei → back through Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină to back through Izvoarele Nerei

back through Mehadia - Praetorium / Zidină → back through Izvoarele Nerei is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Izvoarele Nerei to back through Cheile Nerei-Beușnița

back through Izvoarele Nerei → back through Cheile Nerei-Beușnița is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Cheile Nerei-Beușnița to Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă

back through Cheile Nerei-Beușnița → Vărădia - Arcidava / Pustă is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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