Romania: Road Biking the Transylvanian Alps

This fully supported tour uses a mix of roads ranging from very silky smooth roads of the Transalpina to country lanes and minor roads. This is a road bike trip and you will be fine on your favourite carbon steed in Romania. We will provide good quality road bikes as hire options. Romania is great terrain for road biking, and most of the roads we ride are in better condition than western Europe or the UK, but if you want to bring a gravel bike you are very welcome. There are climbs most days, and a few long days going upwards, so you should make sure you have enough gears (compact cranks and a 30+ tooth rear cassette at the back are recommended). We start riding in Cinsor, a four-hour drive north of Bucharest and end in Maldaresti, which is three hours west of Bucharest.

We have five full days of cycling, plus a warm-up ride on day one, and the full distance is approximately 500 km with just under 7000 metres vertical. Our biggest day is Day 6 when we ride the Transalpina - the full distance is 139 km with 3000 vertical metres, and as it is at the end of the ride, we can easily tailor the day for each rider and make it shorter and easier if necessary (or longer if you want). Other days range from 70-100 km, with 500-1800 metres climbing each day. As mentioned, the big climbs are the Transfagarasan (1850m vertical) on Day 2 and Transalpina on Day 6. Otherwise, we ride mostly on undulating roads, rolling through the countryside and villages. On most riding days, we start after breakfast at around 9 am and expect to ride for between 3-4 hours, with water stops. Lunch will either be en route or at our destination. We always hope most riders will complete the full distance, but there are a few shorter options and it is possible to skip the big climbs. We usually expect you to be able to ride comfortably at 23-25kph+ on the flat and average 18-20kph on hilly days. As we sometimes ride at different speeds, this will vary depending upon how the group feels on the day. Normally, the guides will ride through the group to check on everyone and make sure everyone knows where each rest stop is located so we can regroup and visit sites together. We never drop anyone or leave people riding alone, and always encourage our groups to ride together at sensible speeds so everyone can enjoy the riding, take in views and immerse themselves in their surroundings. Faster, fitter riders can go ahead and regroup at designated meeting points, and if you are having a bad day (remember a bad day on the bike is still better than a good day in the office), there is always the support van close at hand.

Suitability: This trip is suitable for intermediate and advanced level cyclists, and we expect participants to be regular riders or at least active people with a good fitness level. Overall, we will ride 500 km (310 miles) and climb just under 7,000 metres (22,000 feet) in 5 ½ -days.

Biking Conditions: This tour follows a range of roads, mostly quiet minor roads, a few country lanes, and one National Road (Transalpina). Generally, there is not much traffic, though when riding through towns or villages, it can become a bit busy.

Cycling Days: We have 5 1/2-riding days, with 3 days riding point to point and 2 looped rides. Usually, there will be one or two main stops planned each day for visits and local cultural experiences and several short stops to regroup, refuel or take-in-the-views before we reach our finish point.

Accommodation We use a range of beautiful accommodation including restored mediaeval guesthouses, 4 castles and 3-4 traditional rural hotels. The accommodation is 3-4 star level and of excellent quality.

Bikes

Because some people can't imagine going on a trip without their own beloved bicycle, we do not provide them as part of this tour. However, you can hire bikes locally for the price listed in the tour pricing section.

If you bring your own bike, please make sure it is a road bike in good mechanical order.

Bike Repairs

Basic spares and tools are carried by the guide and on the support vehicle, though we cannot guarantee having spares for every conceivable problem. Carrying a basic tool kit, a spare tube and a pump while riding is recommended.

Safety

Wearing a helmet is required on all our biking adventures and is non negotiable. If you do not wear a helmet you will not be allowed to cycle. Your tour leader is trained in first aid and emergency rescue, but to a large degree you must be responsible for your own safety while riding. It is therefore compulsory that you take out travel insurance that will cover you for a mountain biking tour.

Guides

You will be led by a local English-speaking guide and if the group is 9 people or more we will add another guide to the tour. All our guides are well informed in the history, culture and religions of the area where you are biking and are skilled at passing that knowledge on to you. Your guide is also medically trained and an experienced cyclist, able to handle most minor repairs en route.

If this is the tour for you here's what you need to do to confirm your place:

FLEXIBLE BOOKING CONDITIONS

CONFIRMING YOUR BOOKING

Just complete our online booking form or send your booking details offline (email or post), and we will confirm your participation. No deposit is needed to confirm your place on a SpiceRoads tour.

You are advised to read our Booking Conditions in full before you make your payment and should you require further clarifications of any of the conditions below, please email us or call our office.

TRIP STATUS

There is a minimum number of participants (usually 2) required to enable the trip to go ahead. Once the minimum number is reached, the trip status will change from 'Available' to 'Guaranteed to Depart'. Once a trip is guaranteed to depart you are free to book your flights and make other travel arrangements. If the trip status is ‘Limited’ will mean we have only a small number of spaces available for booking. If you are unsure about the trip status, please email us or call our office.

BOOKING ONLINE

From the tour page, click the 'Book Now' link. All departures for this tour will appear, just select the date you'd like to travel. For the next steps, you'll need to know the names of the people travelling. If you wish you can also provide extra details such as passport numbers, height (for bike hire), or you can add that later by logging into Manage My Trip (we'll set up an account for you automatically if you don't already have one). Our system will contact you from time to time to fill in the missing information, as it will be required before departure. However, if the trip that you are booking offers a child discount, you will have to fill out the date of birth of each rider (so we can calculate the appropriate discount).

If you are having any problems please send us an email, or give us a call (+66 026 3295) and one of our travel specialists will assist you with your booking.

BOOKING OFFLINE

Just call us or send an email indicating which trip you want to join and we will happily send you a list of questions and process your booking for you.

DEPOSITS AND PAYMENTS

We do not require a deposit or full payment to book a place for you on a tour.

The balance of the tour’s cost (final invoice) will need to be paid 60 days before the departure date with fees for any bicycle rental(s), single supplement(s) and extra hotel nights.

In the case where a booking is made when there are less than 60 days until the tour departure date, the tour’s cost should be paid in full within 72 hours of receiving an invoice from SpiceRoads. Payment can be made by credit card using our online payment gateway or by bank transfer. When making payment online you will need to confirm that you have read these booking conditions during the "checkout" process, which equates to agreeing to the terms of services and stipulations as indicated in this document.

In all cases, tour fees need to be paid “in full” before participation in a tour. No person(s) will be allowed to join a tour without fully settling their invoice and receiving a confirmation number from SpiceRoads.

The exception can be made for last-minute miscellaneous fees that can be paid locally (visas, additional local hotel bookings, etc.) can be settled on the day of arrival.

FULL FLEXIBILITY FOR TOUR CANCELATIONS

If the tour is cancelled or postponed by SpiceRoads because we didn't make the trip numbers and the tour can’t run, we will make a full cash refund (by bank transfer or on your credit card).

If the tour is cancelled for any other reason, including due to Covid related travel restrictions, we will give you a full credit (with no deductions for admin or any other small-print item) to use on any SpiceRoads tour with no time limit. (Exceptions being flights, special permits and other non-refundable items and these will be advised when booking the trip).

Before paying for your tour, you can cancel your booking with no charge and up until 40 days before departure, you can change your booking to another travel date or move your booking onto another SpiceRoads tour with no charges.

If you need to cancel after you have made full payment, please see our cancellation policy.

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The information in this document is given in good faith, and covers the average range of conditions likely to be found on this trip. Please note that the itinerary is subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances, however, we will always do our best to adhere to this original itinerary