Vărădia - Chilii and Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
413 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 19
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.
413 km from Vărădia to Vărădia, about 7 h 19 of riding. On the way it passes Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie, Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei and back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Vărădia - Chilii
Vărădia is a village in the Banat, in southwestern Romania, close to the Serbian border, where the hills of the Banat mountains descend towards the Pannonian plain. In Roman times, it was the site of Arcidava, a fort on the road that Trajan's legions built to advance from the Danube into Dacia during the wars of 101 to 106, and later a garrison on the frontier. The site at Chilii, near the village, is part of the UNESCO listing of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia. The fort's earthworks can be traced on a hill above the Caraș river, and the location, controlling the valley, explains why it was chosen.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vărădia - Chilii is where the day begins. Next is Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie.
2. Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie
Caput Bubali, the head of the buffalo, is a wonderfully odd Roman name, and it belongs to a station on the road that carried troops and supplies north from the Danube into the heart of Dacia after Trajan's conquest. The hill known as Cetățuie, near the villages of Brebu and Cornuțel in the Banat, holds the earthworks of a fort that guarded this route as it threaded through the hills towards Tibiscum, the important Roman centre near Caransebeș. It is part of the Dacian frontier group listed by UNESCO in 2024, and like much of it, it needs a little imagination and a good eye for ditches and banks.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie comes up 73 km in. Next is Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei.
3. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Vărădia - Chilii. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Vărădia - Chilii to Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie
Vărădia - Chilii → Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie to Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei
Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie → Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei to back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie
Domogled - Valea Cernei - Iauna Craiovei → back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie to Vărădia - Chilii
back through Brebu - Caput Bubali /Cetăţuie → Vărădia - Chilii is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.