Vienna → Bukovina → Banat, 8 Days

The start is in Vienna: the motorway takes you through the Hungarian Pusta to Satu Mare, where shortly after the Romanian border you enjoy your first Romanian dinner with beer and schnapps. Around 570 kilometres.

This stage leads through the historic province of Maramureș with its wood culture, over the first Carpathian pass at 1,500 metres, into the landscape of the Bukovina monasteries. Around 320 kilometres.

On one of the least-known pass roads of the Carpathians the route crosses the Borgo Pass, where the Dracula legend originates, and continues through the Szekely Land into Transylvania. Around 350 kilometres.

Through Transylvania's gentle hill country, riding two scenic mountain roads and stopping at a fortified church, you reach the village of Bran, where Bran Castle awaits you in the afternoon.

Via the Bran Pass and Curtea de Argeș, the climb begins on the Transfagarasan pass road – Romania's most famous mountain road with spectacular switchbacks – before you spend the night in the old town of Sibiu (Hermannstadt).

The Transalpina pass road, Romania's highest mountain road, takes you up to 2,300 metres past remote shepherd villages to the Iron Gates of the Danube, where the Carpathians meet the mighty river.

This stage follows the Danube through the Banat and impressive mountain scenery to Timișoara, where the Romanian revolution against the Ceaușescu regime broke out in 1989. Around 310 kilometres.

To close out the week, your guide accompanies you to the Hungarian border, before you ride the final stage back to Vienna, either alone or together with the group. Around 500 kilometres.