Romania’s National Parks and Natural Wonders

Discover Romania’s National Parks and Natural Reservations, find out information about the place, how to get here, where to stay, what to do and many more! But first lets just specify a few facts about Romania and let us identify on a map Romania’s National and Natural Parks.

General facts about Romania

Before starting our virtual hike and meeting the wonders let’s start with some general facts about Romania. The country is situated in S-E Europe and has borders with Hungary (W), Ukraine (N), Republic of Moldova (E), Bulgaria (S) and Serbia (S). So you localized it. Good! Now if you are on the map you can probably notice that Romania has an even distribution of its landscape more precise, with 31% – mountains, 33% hills and 36% plains. Except that, we also have a mighty wonderful delta (Danube Delta), one of the largest undisturbed natural forests of Europe (covering 27% of the country’s surface) and also opening to the Black Sea. So basically, there is no way you can ever get bored of this country, there is no way to say it’s not my type because you really have it all!

The climate in Romania is mild temperate-continental with four seasons. Average lows are around 0°C in the winter and average highs of 28°C in the summer and keep in mind that more than half of the year you can get clear, sunny weather. In the mountains, you can expect temperatures of -20°C in the winter depending on altitude and alpine range but also 20°C or more in the summer. I strongly recommend consulting the local weather forecast before planning and attending a trip.

Mountain ranges

Because there is no other better place to hike then in the mountains, let me tell you about the alpine paradise in Romania. The Carpathian (Carpati in Romanian) mountain range arches for more than 1000 km in the center of the country and is divided into 3 main groups:

• East: Carpatii Orientali – more than 30% of all forests are here plenty of thermal water springs and mineral deposits.
• South: Carpatii Meridionali – include the highest peaks of over 2500 m altitude and more than 150 glacial lakes. You would be amazed of what you can find here.
• West: Carpatii Occidentali – the smallest of the ranges and densely settled – many remote villages with traditional lifestyles.

For the moment, let’s just get familiar with the places and position on the map.  Further we will cover the details about each place in several future articles. As we will go on and add the article you will be able to access via hyperlinks detailed information, pictures and good to know things about some or maybe all of the parks. Most of the National Parks, mountains or places we will discuss in the following articles have been covered by us on foot on more than one occasion. Each article that will follow keeps the same structure providing information about: the best and most accessible road to it, camping/accommodation, water sources, things to do there and average temperatures in the park.

So let’s begin our virtual journey with Romania’s National Parks.

Except national parks you can also find amazing places in Romania’s 16 Natural Parks: Cefa (1), Comana (2), Defileul Mureşului Superior (3), Dumbrava Sibiului (4), Grădiştea Muncelului Cioclovina (5), Ţara Haţegului (Dinosaur Geopark) (6), Lunca Joasă a Prutului Superior (7), Balta Mică a Brăilei (8), Lunca Mureşului (9), Putna-Vrancea (10) and Vânători-Neamţ (11).

Among these the most beautiful ones are:

• Parcul Natural Apuseni (12)
• Parcul Natural Bucegi (13)
• Parcul Natural Cindrel (14)
• Parcul Natural Porţile de Fier (15)
• Parcul Natural Munţii Maramureş (16)

The list could continue as Romania has over 900 reservations and protected natural areas but I do believe it would take you a lifetime to discover every little corner of Romania’s beauty.

We simply love them all, as such trying to create a Top List would be futile at our end. Maybe, after you read the articles, you can better decide what is best of interest for you and where you plan to go. If something you are interested in is not covered but it’s related to this topic, you can always drop a question in the comments section below and we will try get back to you as soon as possible!

Retezat National Park

Retezat National Park

Tarcu Mountains

Glacial lake Ochiul Beiului – Cheile Nerei National Park

Valea Cernei National Park

Alpine road – Semenic National Park

Apuseni National Park

Piatra Craiului National Park

Cheile Bicazului Hăşmaş National Park

Ceahlău National Park

Făgăraș Mountains

Rodnei National Park

Other great adventures