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Discover Maramures by bike

7 days / 6 nights
Transylvania - Maramures - Leisure cycling - Road cycling - E-bike tours - Selg-guided cycling
Self-guided - Families - Singles - Comfort - Luggage transfer

price from 790 €

Maramures is situated in a hollow ground in the heart of the Romanian’s Northwest Carpathian Mountains. The inhabitants of this region have known how to preserve their traditions and their folklore and you can admire the woolen traditional costumes, the flowery skirts, the colored head scarves which cover women’s head and the traditional hats which crest the men’s ones.
Although surrounded by Ukraine, Hungary, and Transylvania, Maramures presents an unmistakably cultural unity. One of the aspects of this common heritage is the architecture: here, the majority of houses are wooden built, according to an ancestral and proven technique. All the villages count at least a few centuries old wooden church (among which some are registered with the UNESCO world heritage list).
The region lives essentially on its natural resources, especially on the farming and on the forest exploitation. Come and discover the sweet hills, and fields covered with flowers during the springtime, and forests with plenty of mushrooms and wild berries. The fieldworks reflect the seasons and add an updated charm to this bucolic region.

Your day by day program

1
Arrival in Sighetu Marmatiei

Arrival in Sighetu Marmatiei. Optionally, private transfer from Cluj Napoca Airport (3 hours) / Baia Mare Airport (1 hour 30 minutes) to your first accommodation, or train from Cluj (6 hours) or Bucharest (14 hours, sleeping car). Free evening. Dinner included. D

2
Immersion in Maramures

After breakfast, you begin your adventure with a loop which will bring you on the outskirts of the town of Sighetu Marmatiei, the old capital of Maramures: to visit the Memorial of the Communism Victims, a museum situated in the former political prison, which will give you a sad testimony of the Romanian dark years. You can then have a coffee break on the pedestrian street at one of the cafes and stroll through this city which is also a border point with Ukraine. This is also the hometown of Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize winner, Elie Wiesel. A first taste of the region’s landscape and charm. (~40km, +/-500m) BLD

3
Discovery of the traditional environment

Today, our route will bring us through typical and charming villages of the region. We can admire houses, churches and monumental portals with symbolic or everyday life scenes carved in wood. We will arrive in the charming village of Breb, a hidden gem surrounded by the Carpathians. We will spend the night at a traditional guesthouse. (~30km, +/-400m) BLD

4
Bucolic landscape

Today you will leave Breb and bike further on the Iza Valley. You will pass villages like Budesti and Valeni, where you will be able to admire the tranquillity of the Maramures' life. In the village of Barsana you can stop and admire the craftsmanship of the wooden church, located above the village. Your destination for today is the village of Botiza. (~40km, +/-600m) BLD

5
The oldest wooden church from Maramures

Moving further today to Viseu Valley. On your way you can stop and visit the church from Ieud, the oldest wooden church from Maramures, also part of UNESCO heritage. You'll cross Iza river and you'll be getting closer to the Ukrainian border, passing through beautiful villages. You arrive in Viseu de Sus, the home of the steam train Mocanita. (~47km, +/-400m) BLD

6
Steam train

In the morning, you'll ride the steam train from Viseu de Sus. It will take you through breat-taking landscapes, a cool forest that was once a battlefield in WWI and stop at the end of the track for lunch. While eating a delicious meal, you can closely admire the artwork of the steam engine. Once back, you take your bike and ride to a nearby village, where you'll spend the night. (~20 km, +/-100m) BLD

7
End of the trip

You leave your bikes today. Then, you will have a private transfer back to Sighetu Marmatieij. End of the tour. Breakfast included (Optionally, return to Bucharest by night train from Sighetu Marmatiei, to Cluj Airport by private transfer or train, or to Baia Mare Airport by private transfer) B

Departure board

From April to the end of October, response within 48 hours, from Monday to Friday.

Technical information

Fact sheet
Starting point
  • Sighetu Marmatiei (hotel / train station / bus stand). Optional transfers from Bucharest / Baia Mare / Cluj.
End
  • Sighetu Marmatiei (hotel / train station / bus stand). Optional transfers from Bucharest / Baia Mare / Cluj.
Accommodation
  • 6 Nights in guest-houses in double rooms, exceptionally shared facilities
Number of people
  • Minimum of 2 people.
Level of difficulty
  • 7 days of which 5 cycling. Medium level (40Km a day, with usually gentle climbs and a few steeper parts).
Carrying
  • Luggage will be transferred from one guesthouse to the other.
Options:
  • Bike rental during the trip : 180€
  • Single supplement : 190€
  • Single traveler supplement : 370€
  • Hike day with local guide & extra night in Botiza village, price per double room (2 persons) : 130€
  • Private transfer Cluj - Sighetu Marmatiei (one way, around 3 hours, 1-3 people): price / service : 270€
  • Train Cluj - Sighetu Marmatiei (train during the day, about 6 hours, one way): price / person : 12€
  • Train Bucharest - Sighetu Marmatiei (night train, sleeping car, about 14 hours, one way): price / person : 84€
  • Private transfer Baia Mare - Sighetu Marmatiei (one way, approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, 1-3 people): price / service : 105€
Included
  • The accommodations
  • meals (6 breakfasts, 5 picnics and 6 dinners in our guesthouses)
  • roadbook
  • maps
  • luggage transfer
  • permanent local assistance.
Not included
  • Bikes rental, transfer to the meeting point and to the drop off point, transfers which are not m mentioned, insurances, drinks, attractions entry fees and personal expenses.

Map

Testimonials

Jenny Parsons 03 August 2019

Hello Raluca-Maria … at last!

Our cycling holiday in Maramures … was everything we hoped it would be. Your attention to detail was excellent and we appreciated the phone-calls beforehand checking, for example, how fit we were and then slightly altering the chosen route to suit us … very thoughtful.

The Road Map was superb. Of course we went wrong a few times, but not seriously and it was always fun. We learned to read it very carefully!
The information about the various places, churches, monasteries, etc., we would see on the way (in green) was really useful and interesting. Our lack of Romanian language made this information really, really, useful!
Thank you too for highlighting our route and stops on the map given to us at the start.

The bikes were just right for the job with good off-road tyres, much needed on some of the rougher, stony tracks, which we found quite a challenge at the start, not being off-roaders ourselves, but we improved day by day and I only fell off once. I’m a horse-rider so expect the odd tumble.
Punctures … we had none, but the kit provided, patches, tools, inner-tubes and even a spare tyre was very re-assuring.

Accommodation … all but one of our overnight stays were excellent.
Th first one gave us our first taste of Maramures hospitality and it was very special. The guest house was superb, our hosts were extraordinarily kind and helpful, the room was lovely and the food simply delicious. Nothing was too much trouble for those lovely people. The bikes were delivered to us next morning and after a few adjustments, off we went, armed with a really good picnic.

The Mocanita … oh how we enjoyed the trip on that darling little steam train, the Mocanita. No-one should miss that. The sight and sound of all that puffing and whistling will stay in my head forever. Fabulous.

Maramures is the most wonderful, rural, scenic, unspoilt area. We were there at peak-haymaking time, which was fascinating to watch. They all work so hard. We passed hundreds and hundreds of those gorgeous, pointy, little haystacks and masses of drying racks piled with lucerne and grass. The small fields were brim-full of wild flowers. The views were breathtaking, especially when the far distance was where we’d cycled from that day. The hills … steep, hot and exhausting but always with such a sense of achievement at the top and the thought of that picnic, just over the brow, in the shade of an apple tree.

I would do it again tomorrow. It was an amazing holiday.

Thank you to the two Ralucas for making it work so well for us..

Jenny xx

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