Forget the crowds of the Camino de Santiago and walk Romania’s Via Transilvanica instead: a quieter, more affordable adventure, writes Nikki Birrell
“It’s not funny.”
That’s what the proprietor of our Viscri accommodation tells us over the phone when we’re slightly tickled by parts of his bear-vigilance spiel while arranging to drop off our bags.
We’d heard that Romania had a sizeable bear population, but it’s one of those details that doesn’t feel quite real until a local is lending you bear spray, demonstrating how to use it and telling you to make plenty of noise in wooded areas.
For our group, this translates into a lot of (bad) singing, clapping and the occasional shout of, “Here we come, Yogi!”
Fortunately, there is almost nobody around to hear us.
And that is one of the great pleasures of the Via Transilvanica, a 1600km long-distance trail developed by Romanian NGO Tasuleasa Social, linking 400 communities through some of the country’s most spectacular rural landscapes.
We’ve chosen a handful of stages through its Saxon heartland, taking in Viscri, Richiș, Biertan and Malancrav, villages settled by German-speaking Saxons from the 12th century and still anchored by the fortified churches they built.
In three days of walking, we encounter one other hiker. There are horse-drawn carts, a lone shepherd with a flock of horned rams and a fiercely protective dog, but otherwise we have the place almost entirely to ourselves.
And what a place it is. Grasshoppers spring around our feet like popcorn, in meadows carpeted with wildflowers, clusters of butterflies lift from the path and surround us, and dense forests give way to rolling green hills. Then come the Saxon villages, their pastel-coloured houses lining quiet streets, animals an integral part of daily life.
It’s idyllic, but we learn the hard way to stick to the waymarkers. The Via Transilvanica’s individually carved andesite milestones appear every kilometre, with orange-and-white markings on trees in between.
On day one, instead of walking the marked route from Criț to Viscri, we’re swayed by our host to go off-piste on a “much prettier trail” starting in Meșendorf. We eventually find ourselves bushwhacking through thick brambles before emerging into a wildflower meadow with no idea where we are. We stop for lunch. That’s when we notice the dark clouds gathering.
Minutes later, we’re being hammered by wind, rain and hail. Spotting a village in the distance, we trudge towards it, eventually shimmying under an electric fence and traipsing through someone’s backyard with a couple of untethered horses following our sodden, muddy little procession. And the village? It’s Meșendorf. Exactly where we started. We’re not ready to laugh yet.
Thankfully, we get a ride back to Viscri and, after hot tea and a shower, tuck into traditional dishes at Viscri 32 just down the road and make another happy discovery: how little some very good Romanian wine costs, like much else in this underrated country.
The next morning we pass King Charles III’s distinctive blue King’s House (Charles is a Romania fan from way back), but Viscri’s real showstopper sits above the village: its Unesco-listed fortified church, parts of which are thought to predate the arrival of the Saxons. Its survival isn’t accidental. The Mihai Eminescu Trust has spent decades restoring traditional buildings across the region, including the church, while supporting local craftspeople and tourism.
Chastened, we stick firmly to the path for the next two walks. Our bags are transported ahead while we walk from Richiș towards Biertan, every orange-and-white marker now absurdly reassuring. Near the end, Biertan appears between the trees below us, its Unesco-listed fortified church encircled by towers.
Our reward for the effort is another wonderfully restored Saxon set-up, our room all low beams, embroidered linen, tiled stove and wooden beds. Soon a local woman and her daughter appear in the kitchen and begin bustling around. Dinner is a vegetable soup topped with sour cream, roast chicken, potatoes, coleslaw and custard squares – simple food that tastes extraordinary after our day’s exertions.
The next morning our bags go ahead again, and we follow on foot to Malancrav. Overnight rain has made the steeper climbs slippery and the bear warnings suddenly feel less theoretical when we spot what looks very much like a huge paw print in the mud. We make it to the village without a sighting, exhilarated nonetheless.
Malancrav is barely more than a few rows of houses, with dogs wandering the roads, tethered horses, a sheep and some chickens that have us in hysterics with their weird tufts, feathered feet and naked necks. Unlike many Saxon villages, it still has a significant German community. Our host lived in Germany for years, she tells us, but eventually came back. “Malancrav is my home,” she says, hand on her heart, visibly fighting tears.
It is these quieter parts of Transylvania that stay with me most: the empty tracks, fortified churches, village streets and enormous green landscapes – and above all, the marvel of being able to walk for hours through countryside like this without seeing another traveller.
Just remember to stick to the waymarkers.
Details
Via Transilvanica can be walked for a few days or weeks, with individual stages graded for difficulty at viatransilvanica.com.
Download the free guide and GPX tracks before setting out.
The main towns are rail-connected, but transfers to smaller villages and luggage transport take more planning; we arranged ours through our accommodation or pre-arranged taxis.
Traditional guesthouses at experiencetransylvania.ro start from €30 ($59) per person, with meals available at an additional cost.
Romania uses the leu (RON); carry some cash for village spending.
Transylvania’s unmissable towns and cities
We bookended our quiet walking days with three of Transylvania’s livelier urban spots.
BRASOV
Ride the cable car up Tampa for sweeping views over the city and the Hollywood-style Brasov sign, then wander the lively main square. Don’t miss Catherine’s Gate and the Gothic Black Church.
Stay: Schuster Boarding House, a gorgeous restored 1914 Art Nouveau house. Our attic room tucked beneath the eaves looked across Brasov’s red rooftops to the sign on the hill. Beautifully designed interiors, excellent breakfast. schusterhotel.ro
Sighișoara
A still-inhabited, Unesco-listed medieval citadel and believed birthplace of Vlad the Impaler. Stroll the streets past pastel houses, medieval towers and the landmark Clock Tower, then tackle the covered Scholars’ Stairs leading up towards the Church on the Hill.
Stay: Boutique Hotel Von Graf, a rose-pink historic house documented from at least 1734. Staying inside the citadel means having its cobbled streets outside the door before the day-trippers arrive. boutiquehotelvongraf.ro
SIBIU
Explore Piata Mare and Piata Mica, cross the Bridge of Lies and look up for the famous “eyes of Sibiu” peering from the rooftops. Add Romanian wine at Wine Not and dinner at Kombinat, where contemporary spins on traditional ingredients and flavours are done with aplomb.
Stay: Art Hotel. Perfectly positioned on the edge of the old town, it gave us two nights of glorious privacy after days of walking and sharing accommodation. Our rooms were spacious and modern, but it was the thoughtful service that really stayed with us: when we had to leave before dawn for our train to Bucharest, staff had breakfast boxes waiting and even made us coffee at 4.30am.
The writer was partly hosted by Art Hotel in Sibiu and Schuster Boarding House in Brasov.