Hike Via Transilvanica in Bucovina – Romania

Hike on the Via Transilvanica in Bucovina, Romania for 66 kilometers. 3 days of meeting super friendly locals and seeing lots of stunning landscapes.

What is Via Transilvanica?

The Via Transilvanica is a hiking trail that is about 1200 kilometers long and starts in Putna in the North of Romania close to the Ukrainian border and ends in Drobeta Turnu-Severin at the Serbian Border. It is divided into sections of usually around 20 kilometer with each time a village at the start/end where you can book accomodation and eat something.

When I explain what the Via Transilvanica is to strangers I always tell them it’s the Santiago de Compostela from Romania.

Because I was limited in time I chose to hike on the Via Transilvanica in Bucovina for 3 days from Sadova to Poiana Negri. According to the people from the official Via Transilvanica Facebook group this was one of the most beautiful sections.

The signposts are very well done. Around every corner there’s a sign so getting lost is quite hard. Only in the city center of Vatra Dornei I took a wrong turn.

Bucovina section of the Via Transilvanica

The Bucovina region on the Via Transilvanica consists of 6 sections. Each section is about 20 kilometers long or about 8-9 hours walking. As I was limited in time I decided to hike the Via Transilvanica in Bucovina for only 3 days. From Sadova to Poiana Negri.

If you wish to have detailed information regarding accomodation and hiking trails you can consult the official Via Transilvanica traveler’s guide on their website.

The 6 sections of Bucovina with the distance and walking times according to the guide. Below you can find my Strava recordings for the last 3 days.

• Putna ‑ Suceviţa – 17 kilometers or 6 hours
• Suceviţa – Vatra Moldoviței – 21 kilometers or 9 hours
• Vatra Moldoviței – Sadova – 22 kilometers or 8,5 hours
• Sadova – Pasul Mestecăniș – 21 kilometers or 8 hours
• Pasul Mestecăniș – Vatra Dornei – 20 kilometers or 8 hours
• Vatra Dornei – Poiana Ngri – 21 kilometers or 8 hours

Arrival and hike preparations

Arrival in Sadova

The day before I was going to start to hike the Via Transilvanica in Bucovina I arrived in Sadova. As I arrived in the early afternoon I decided to explore a bit of the surrounding area before preparing for the 3-day hike.

In Sadova there are quite some beautiful landscapes but the best one is probably at Lacul Iezer. It’s a stunning lake that sits in front of an amazing backdrop. I walked until the other side of the lake where the horses were roaming freely. There’s also a sheppard’s cabin which adds something special to the view. The Via Transilvanica route from Vatra Moldoviței to Sadova passes actually by this lake.

As a backpack I chose the Wandrd Fernweh which is an adventure backpack that also looks good. It fits all my camera gear safely in an optional camera cube.

22-day road trip crossing some of the most beautiful areas in Romania, read all about it here: EPIC ROMANIA ROAD TRIP GUIDE – OFF THE BEATEN PATH ITINERARY

Accomodation in Sadova

Even though Sadova is a little village there are quite some options regarding accomodation. When reviewing different options Casa Ambra seemed the right one.

Important to me was that I could leave my car at the hotel for a few nights without worries. Casa Ambra had a closed off parking that seemed very safe.

The hotel is right across a small supermarket which is handy when preparing your meals for during the hike.

• Price: When I booked in the month of August (high season) I paid 180 Lei or 38 Euro / night for a double room with private bathroom and breakfast included.
• How to book: Booking.com page of Casa Ambra or call at +40743642315 (Andreea is fluent in English)
• Address: Strada Principala nr 501 Sadova, 725100 Sadova, Romania

Day 1 – Sadova to Pasul Mestecăniș

Hike details

Distance: The total distance for this hike is 23.7 kilometers
Elevation gain: The total incline was 1000 meters
Moving time: According to Strava my moving time was 5 hours and 25 minutes.
Difficulty: I would rate this as a moderate hike.
Start: 47°34’25.8″N 25°26’49.3″E

Download the GPX file right here: Via-Transilvanica-Sadova-to-Pasul-Mestecanis.gpx

If you use the GPX I recorded you will see that I actually started at Casa Ambra. The official start however is shown on the map below:

Around 7h30 in the morning I left Casa Ambra and started hiking. The hotel was about 2 kilometers way from the official starting point in Sadova so I had to walk through the village for about 30 minutes. During this part I saw some local farmers going about their daily lives. I even spotted a farmer with horse carriage. A scene that is still very common in Romania. I must say I loved seeing these while traveling in Romana. Of course I realize that these people do this out of necessity and not just because they prefer traveling with a horse. Fun fact: while driving in Romania, just before entering a highway, there are sometimes signs forbidding horse carriages.

Once I reached the official start I immediately had to hike uphill for a few kilometers. As there are bears in these areas I was constantly vigilant of noise around me. Also I was checking tracks in the mud. Spoiler alert: I didn’t see any bear tracks over the 3 days of my hike on the Via Transilvanica in Bucovina. A German friend that did the same route saw some tracks so there are definitely bears around.

A few kilometers into the route towards Pasul Mestecăniș you will reach open fields with beautiful meadows and mountains in the background. These scenes you find quite often in Romania. An overload of green with sheep grazing in the distance. This area was one of my favorites on the Via Transilvanica!

Not much further I got confused for a minute. The signs showed I had to take a right and climb a fence. The path was barely visible so I took another trail that also went right. A few minutes later I realized that I was moving away from the path shown in the official Via Transilvanica mobile app. Overall the trails are always marked clearly but I would still suggest to keep the app handy whenever in doubt.

After about 8 kilometers I made it back to civilization and passed through the town of Fundu Moldovei. Food and drinks are available in this town. I had my lunch just after crossing the town on a bench next to a natural water source. Perfect to refill my water supply.

After lunch I hiked a few kilometers on the same road which was honestly a bit boring, until I was invited in to a local family’s house. These people were amazing. They shared food and drinks with me and gave me a tour of their off-grid hydro powered cabin. As I’m quite interested in off-grid living I was amazed! Check out the film I made on my Youtube channel to see my whole experience:

After hanging out with Sergiu and his family for about an hour I embarked on the last leg of my journey to Pasul Mestecăniș.

In the late afternoon I reached the hotel in Pasul Mestecăniș. At first I thought there would be a village but apparently it was just a road through the mountains where there is a parking with a hotel and a bar.

Accomodation in Pasul Mestecăniș

In Pasul Mestecăniș there aren’t a lot of options of places to sleep/eat. There’s hotel Luceafarul that has its own restaurant and then there’s another restaurant next to it. I’m not sure how busy it gets but as there aren’t a lot of options I would definitely recommend to book in advance.

• Price: When I booked in the month of August (high season) I paid 100 Lei or 20 Euro / night for a double room with private bathroom.
• How to book: I booked by sending a Google translated text through Whatsapp on the number +40 744 779 768
• Address: Hotel Luceafarul – DN17, Romania

Day 2 – Pasul Mestecăniș to Vatra Dornei

Hike details

Distance: The total distance for this hike is 20.5 kilometers
Elevation gain: The total incline was 437 meters
Moving time: According to Strava my moving time was 4 hours and 19 minutes.
Difficulty: I would rate this as a moderate hike.
Start: Hotel Luceafarul – DN17, Romania

Download the GPX file right here: Via-Transilvanica-Pasul-Mestecanis-to-Vatra-Dornei.gpx

The hike starts by crossing the road next to hotel Luceafarul:

The start of the trail is right at the border of a forest that is quite well known for mushroom picking. After about 20 minutes hiking I met Marius who had gathered a rather large collection of mushrooms, impressive!

Most of this hiking day will be spent in the forest. When I think forest I think bears. And as Romania is well known for its brown bears I had my bear bell attached to my backpack at all times. Luckily I didn’t encounter any!

Whenever leaving the forest here were some beautiful landscapes over the surrounding valleys. Also sheep and horses were roaming around freely in some areas.

The advantage of this Via Transilvanica hiking day was that the elevation gain was quite limited. There was only one section around 9 kilometers that was a bit demanding. Apart from that it was mostly flat with an occasional short climb. The last 4 kilometers consist of a descend into the city of Vatra Dornei.

Right before entering the city of Vatra Dornei you’ll see on your lefthand side Pensiunea Elenuca. Conveniently it is located pretty much exactly next to the hiking trail.

Accomodation in Vatra Dornei

As Vatra Dornei is quite a large city there is a wide variety of accomodation available. The Via Transilvanica guide book recommends Pensiunea Elenuca. In my opinion this wasn’t the best option. The hike passes right through the city so you could easily book something else in the center that is not too far off from where the trails passes.

• Price: When I booked in the month of August (high season) I paid 100 Lei or 20 Euro / night for a double room with private bathroom.
• How to book: I booked by sending a Google translated text through Whatsapp on the number +40 755 277 954
• Address: Strada Bârnărel 39C, Vatra Dornei 725700, Romania

Day 3 – Vatra Dornei to Poiana Negri

Hike details

Distance: The total distance for this hike is 22.4 kilometers
Elevation gain: The total incline was 914 meters
Moving time: According to Strava my moving time was 4 hours and 49 minutes.
Difficulty: I would rate this as a moderate hike.
Start: Pensiunea Elenuca – Strada Bârnărel 39C, Vatra Dornei 725700, Romania

Download the GPX file right here: Via-Transilvanica-Vatra-Dornei-to-Poiana-Negri-.gpx

Start of the hike:

This section starts by crossing a small pedestrian bridge. After that you will cross the city center and walk towards the chairlifts of the only ski slope in Vatra Dornei. As you can imagine hiking up this slope is quite demanding. Especially early in the morning. You have to gain 400 meters of altitude over 4 kilometers. I had to do this while it was raining which didn’t make it any more fun. If you want to save yourself some time and energy you could use the chairlifts to get up there. One advantage is that after reaching this summit the rest of the day it’s a pretty chill hike with some small climbs but nothing exceptional.

After reaching the summit you will start walking in a forest that, according to the VT guide book has lots of wildlife. I didn’t see any but that could be because of the bear bell and the whistle I was using.

Only at around 17 kilometer into the hike you will reach a small village where there was a small shop so in case you would need some food or drinks you could buy it there. While walking through this village there’s a few kilometers of asphalted roads.

After leaving the village behind the route is almost all the time through meadows and farmland. A bit a different view from what I was used to on the previous days but very lovely nonetheless.

At a little over 22 kilometers I reached the restaurant called Poiana. It seems like a great place for dinner but I had arranged my pickup with Robert from Casa Ambra in Sadova where, upon arrival, I had a delicious soup!

Transportation back from Poiana Negri to Sadova

Because you’re walking point to point and depending where you stop, public transportation or taxi options might be very limited. I decided to research the options to get back from Poiana Negrii to Sadova in advance and came up with a few solutions:

• The first and most expensive solution is to call the taxi service in Vatra Dornei on the phone number: +40754929833 price is 150 Lei to get from Poiana Negrii to Sadova.
• The second option is to ask at your hotel, which is what I did. Andreea and her husband Robert from Casa Ambra in Sadova were more than happy to help me. After discussing the pick up location, Robert agreed to do it for 100 Lei.

Is it worth it to hike the Via Transilvanica in Romania?

In Short, Yes! I think the goal of this route is to make it as accessible as possible to a wide audience. Don’t expect to do any climbing or mountaineering. A basic fitness level is required, especially if you’re planning to hike multiple days in a row. What made the experience great for me is the combination of beautiful landscapes and friendly locals. Also in Bucovina there are lots of monasteries worth visiting. Most routes won’t take you whole day to complete so there’s plenty of time to take a break at some of these places!

I would surely suggest to check out the video on my Youtube channel to get a real feel of how it is.