Jane NotRog
LIFE MEMBER
We’ve just finished almost a month in Romania and loved it. Romania is a country that differs considerably from its Eastern European neighbours. The language is Latinate, not so dissimilar to Italian - in fact, Romania feels as though its coast should be on the Adriatic rather than the Black Sea. The people are friendly and open, and the climate in summer and early autumn belongs there too.
Here’s a quick guide to motorhome travel in Romania.
Roads
Pretty standard for Eastern Europe - i.e. similar to Belgium. Lots of roads aren’t metalled (i.e. dirt tracks) but do have road numbers, so watch out for that. Our Garmin was particularly prone to taking them, but maybe just to justify its Overland moniker. Roads, especially in villages, can be narrow. We’re 2.2m wide, and if we were much wider I’d be planning fewer village roads or be prepared for scratches.
As for motorways and toll roads, even motorhomes of more than 3.5T are classed as Category A, the same as cars. There are options for validity periods of 1, 10, 30 or 60 days, or an annual pass. These can be purchased as e-vignettes online or the more traditional sticker type vignette at common points of sale like petrol stations. Our 30 day vignette cost €18.90
Romanian driving is exciting, and that’s the polite way of putting it. If you’re keeping to the speed limit on a mountain road, you will have a massive lorry behind you deciding to overtake on a blind corner, even though his speed limit is probably lower than yours.
Camping
In general, campsites in Romania achieve very high ratings on Park For Night, and those ratings are deserved. Usually they are also a fair bit cheaper than like for like in Western Europe. We liked them a lot - friendly, not too rigid, and with good facilities. (Although, with Jones, we hardly use showers any more, so not that much experience of that.)
There is not a system of aires as in France or Germany, but some campsites are close to towns, and often overnight parking is legal in car parks in or near towns.
Wild camping can be marred by rubbish, although this is not as much of a problem as it is in Bulgaria. Nevertheless we found some excellent spots, particularly in the mountains.
Special mentions to
Babou Maramures (http://baboumaramures.com, GPS: 47.746,23.894) - friendly Dutch owner, lovely rural spot in an idyllic village, village restaurant next door.
Camping Muddy Volcanoes (GPS: 45.347,26.709) - very reasonably priced, very relaxed, amazing landscape, village kitchen type restaurant serving some of the best local food we had in Romania.
GPS: 47.610,24.863 - a mountain with an amazing dawn view.
Rezervația Biosferei Delta Dunării (GPS: 44.463,28.805) - wild Black Sea coast
Sightseeing
Romania is stuffed with interesting places. If you’re into churches, there are the wooden ones of the Maramureș, the painted monasteries in the north-east, and don’t miss the Merry Cemetery in the north-west either.
Castles and fortresses abound too, from so-called Dracula’s castle in Bled, to the ultra-restored Corvin Castle. This is Enisala.
Then there’s the fortified Saxon churches and their bucolic villages, frozen in time. Viscri was a real highlight, with a free, peaceful car park just outside the town where we spent the night, and some lovely shops selling the best souvenirs we found in Romania.
We have a dog, so Bucharest was difficult for us, but I’d recommend planning ahead and booking the Palace of the Parliament, at least.
Two towns that did work, and we loved are -
Sighişoara - the old town within the citadel is well worth exploring. There’s a good campsite with a pool, but it’s more expensive than the norm. Aquaris Hotel & Camping (GPS: 46.223,24.796). Make sure you find the large meadow behind the hotel or you will be disappointed!
Sibiu - a Saxon town, lovely to stroll around and with some good restaurants. There’s a tucked away little car park that felt very secure, though at 6.8 m we were probably as long as it could accommodate. (26, Strada Constituției, Sibiu, GPS: 45.797,24.158)
Romania is also blessed with amazing mountains, with fantastic views and great walking. If you’re not nervous, the Transfăgărășan highway is a must.
The Black Sea coast was too built-up for us, but head for the wild camping over sandy tracks at the Rezervația Biosferei Delta Dunării (44.463,28.805) and you will have miles of empty beach almost to yourself (in September, anyway).
The Danube Delta is a bird watcher’s dream, and there are lots of lovely little campsites in Murighiol offering trips. We also went on a bear-viewing trip, which wasn’t super cheap at €25 each - though well worth it.
The muddy volcanoes are a very unusual phenomenon and well-worth a visit. Especially as the campsite is a strong recommendation too.
Food
Cooking for yourself is easy - Romania is scattered with Lidls which makes life easy - although I don’t rate their quality very highly. The veg tended to be a little tasteless, and we had a very odd beef burger from them. Hopefully the chicken is free-range unlike Lidl in the UK, though. Carrefour is variable, better sometimes, but also worse.
We never found a proper market, although we’re assured they exist, so we tried to buy veg from roadside sellers wherever possible. They were so much better than the supermarkets! The best big tomatoes, in many different varieties, lots of different types and colours of peppers too, and squashes. We still regret missing out on the ceps being sold at the sides of the road on our first day, before we had any Romanian currency. We’ve also bought honey, cheese and salami-type sausages at the side of the road, all excellent.
Restaurants are reasonably priced and the quality of the food is usually good. Special kudos to the campsite kitchen at Muddy Volcanoes which was amazing and good value too, and to our Bucharest choice, Lacrimi și Sfinți, which served traditional Romanian food with a twist.
Some dishes to try
Sarmale - cabbage rolls stuffed with mince and rice - are delicious.
Mici are minced pork and beef mixed into small sausages. Good, and commonly available from fast food stands. Plăcintă are cheese pastries that also make a good fast food lunch.
Ciorba de Burta is tripe soup, made with sour cream and usually served with bread and a chilli. The same soup base, sour creamy, is used in other soups such as with fish on the Black Sea coast, or with boiled pork meatballs and vegetables.
Tochitură is a stew made from smoked ham, pork loin, and sausages, stewed in a tomato sauce and then served with polenta covered in white cheese and topped with a fried egg.
Mamaliga is polenta - Italian! It accompanies a lot of dishes, such as trout, but you can also have it with cheese and cream as a vegetarian meal.
Papanasi are doughnuts made with cottage cheese and topped with cream and a kind of fresh jam - ours was cherry and was delicious.
Here’s a quick guide to motorhome travel in Romania.
Roads
Pretty standard for Eastern Europe - i.e. similar to Belgium. Lots of roads aren’t metalled (i.e. dirt tracks) but do have road numbers, so watch out for that. Our Garmin was particularly prone to taking them, but maybe just to justify its Overland moniker. Roads, especially in villages, can be narrow. We’re 2.2m wide, and if we were much wider I’d be planning fewer village roads or be prepared for scratches.
As for motorways and toll roads, even motorhomes of more than 3.5T are classed as Category A, the same as cars. There are options for validity periods of 1, 10, 30 or 60 days, or an annual pass. These can be purchased as e-vignettes online or the more traditional sticker type vignette at common points of sale like petrol stations. Our 30 day vignette cost €18.90
Romanian driving is exciting, and that’s the polite way of putting it. If you’re keeping to the speed limit on a mountain road, you will have a massive lorry behind you deciding to overtake on a blind corner, even though his speed limit is probably lower than yours.
Camping
In general, campsites in Romania achieve very high ratings on Park For Night, and those ratings are deserved. Usually they are also a fair bit cheaper than like for like in Western Europe. We liked them a lot - friendly, not too rigid, and with good facilities. (Although, with Jones, we hardly use showers any more, so not that much experience of that.)
There is not a system of aires as in France or Germany, but some campsites are close to towns, and often overnight parking is legal in car parks in or near towns.
Wild camping can be marred by rubbish, although this is not as much of a problem as it is in Bulgaria. Nevertheless we found some excellent spots, particularly in the mountains.
Special mentions to
Babou Maramures (http://baboumaramures.com, GPS: 47.746,23.894) - friendly Dutch owner, lovely rural spot in an idyllic village, village restaurant next door.
Camping Muddy Volcanoes (GPS: 45.347,26.709) - very reasonably priced, very relaxed, amazing landscape, village kitchen type restaurant serving some of the best local food we had in Romania.
GPS: 47.610,24.863 - a mountain with an amazing dawn view.
Rezervația Biosferei Delta Dunării (GPS: 44.463,28.805) - wild Black Sea coast
Sightseeing
Romania is stuffed with interesting places. If you’re into churches, there are the wooden ones of the Maramureș, the painted monasteries in the north-east, and don’t miss the Merry Cemetery in the north-west either.
Castles and fortresses abound too, from so-called Dracula’s castle in Bled, to the ultra-restored Corvin Castle. This is Enisala.
Then there’s the fortified Saxon churches and their bucolic villages, frozen in time. Viscri was a real highlight, with a free, peaceful car park just outside the town where we spent the night, and some lovely shops selling the best souvenirs we found in Romania.
We have a dog, so Bucharest was difficult for us, but I’d recommend planning ahead and booking the Palace of the Parliament, at least.
Two towns that did work, and we loved are -
Sighişoara - the old town within the citadel is well worth exploring. There’s a good campsite with a pool, but it’s more expensive than the norm. Aquaris Hotel & Camping (GPS: 46.223,24.796). Make sure you find the large meadow behind the hotel or you will be disappointed!
Sibiu - a Saxon town, lovely to stroll around and with some good restaurants. There’s a tucked away little car park that felt very secure, though at 6.8 m we were probably as long as it could accommodate. (26, Strada Constituției, Sibiu, GPS: 45.797,24.158)
Romania is also blessed with amazing mountains, with fantastic views and great walking. If you’re not nervous, the Transfăgărășan highway is a must.
The Black Sea coast was too built-up for us, but head for the wild camping over sandy tracks at the Rezervația Biosferei Delta Dunării (44.463,28.805) and you will have miles of empty beach almost to yourself (in September, anyway).
The Danube Delta is a bird watcher’s dream, and there are lots of lovely little campsites in Murighiol offering trips. We also went on a bear-viewing trip, which wasn’t super cheap at €25 each - though well worth it.
The muddy volcanoes are a very unusual phenomenon and well-worth a visit. Especially as the campsite is a strong recommendation too.
Food
Cooking for yourself is easy - Romania is scattered with Lidls which makes life easy - although I don’t rate their quality very highly. The veg tended to be a little tasteless, and we had a very odd beef burger from them. Hopefully the chicken is free-range unlike Lidl in the UK, though. Carrefour is variable, better sometimes, but also worse.
We never found a proper market, although we’re assured they exist, so we tried to buy veg from roadside sellers wherever possible. They were so much better than the supermarkets! The best big tomatoes, in many different varieties, lots of different types and colours of peppers too, and squashes. We still regret missing out on the ceps being sold at the sides of the road on our first day, before we had any Romanian currency. We’ve also bought honey, cheese and salami-type sausages at the side of the road, all excellent.
Restaurants are reasonably priced and the quality of the food is usually good. Special kudos to the campsite kitchen at Muddy Volcanoes which was amazing and good value too, and to our Bucharest choice, Lacrimi și Sfinți, which served traditional Romanian food with a twist.
Some dishes to try
Sarmale - cabbage rolls stuffed with mince and rice - are delicious.
Mici are minced pork and beef mixed into small sausages. Good, and commonly available from fast food stands. Plăcintă are cheese pastries that also make a good fast food lunch.
Ciorba de Burta is tripe soup, made with sour cream and usually served with bread and a chilli. The same soup base, sour creamy, is used in other soups such as with fish on the Black Sea coast, or with boiled pork meatballs and vegetables.
Tochitură is a stew made from smoked ham, pork loin, and sausages, stewed in a tomato sauce and then served with polenta covered in white cheese and topped with a fried egg.
Mamaliga is polenta - Italian! It accompanies a lot of dishes, such as trout, but you can also have it with cheese and cream as a vegetarian meal.
Papanasi are doughnuts made with cottage cheese and topped with cream and a kind of fresh jam - ours was cherry and was delicious.
