Why this ride
From Veţel it runs 218 km to Veţel; allow about 4 h 26 of riding. It goes by way of Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor, Trâmpoiele - Grohașu Mic and back through Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Vețel - Micia / Grădiște and Trâmpoiele - Grohașu Mic
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 218 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 26
- 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. Vețel - Micia / Grădiște
The Mureș flows west across Transylvania towards Hungary, and near the village of Vețel, just west of Deva, the Romans built one of the most important forts in their province of Dacia. Micia guarded the river and the road along the valley, the main route between Transylvania and the Pannonian plain, and around the fort grew a large civil settlement with baths, temples and an amphitheatre. Excavations have revealed much of it, though part of the site lies under a power station built in the twentieth century.
Read the complete Vețel - Micia / Grădiște write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vețel - Micia / Grădiște is where the day begins. Next is Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor.
2. Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor
The Romans never met a hot spring they did not want to bathe in, and at Germisara, now Geoagiu-Băi, they found warm water bubbling from the ground in a valley at the edge of the Apuseni mountains. They built baths, carved pools into the rock and dedicated offerings to the nymphs and to the healing gods, including small gold plaques found by archaeologists in one of the pools. The site, called Dâmbul Romanilor, the Romans' hillock, sits on the World Heritage list as part of the Dacian frontier, together with the military fort of Germisara in the Mureș valley below. Today, Geoagiu-Băi is again a spa resort, with modern pools fed by the same warm springs.
Read the complete Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor comes up about 59 km into the recorded legs. Next is Trâmpoiele - Grohașu Mic.
3. Trâmpoiele - Grohașu Mic
In the Apuseni mountains of western Romania, gold has shaped the land and its people for two thousand years. The Romans came for it after conquering Dacia, organising the mining from a centre at Ampelum, today the town of Zlatna, whose name comes from the Slavic word for gold. Trâmpoiele, on the high ground near Almașu Mare, is one of the many small sites connected to that Roman presence, where mining, settlement and watch posts dotted the hills. A little further north, the mining landscape of Roșia Montană, with its Roman galleries cut deep into the rock, was listed by UNESCO in 2021 and gives the clearest idea of how the ancient gold was won.
Read the complete Trâmpoiele - Grohașu Mic write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 97 km into the recorded legs you reach Trâmpoiele - Grohașu Mic. Next is back through Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor.
4. back through Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor, late in the day. Next is Vețel - Micia / Grădiște.
5. Vețel - Micia / Grădiște
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vețel - Micia / Grădiște write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Vețel - Micia / Grădiște. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Vețel - Micia / Grădiște to Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor
Vețel - Micia / Grădiște → Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor to Trâmpoiele - Grohașu Mic
Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor → Trâmpoiele - Grohașu Mic is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Trâmpoiele - Grohașu Mic to back through Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor
Trâmpoiele - Grohașu Mic → back through Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor to Vețel - Micia / Grădiște
back through Geoagiu-Băi - Germisara / Dâmbul Romanilor → Vețel - Micia / Grădiște is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.