T04 Between Apuseni and Parâng Mountains

676 Km
GPX
2145m
2 days
alltypes
asphalt

Day 1:

I proposed as a starting point the city of Alba Iulia because here it is worth staying at least one day and visiting the historical center of the city, recently renovated. From here we will head east and cross the gentle hills of the Târnavelor region. Then we will return to the West and shortly we will reach Turda where you can stop to see the salt mine or explore the Turzii Gorge.

We will then take it to the South, in order to enter the road that runs through the Vălișoarei Valley and to visit the village Rîmetea, recently introduced on the UNESCO lists. Then we will enter the valley of Arieș river and from here we will go upstream to Arieșeni where we can stay overnight. My recommendation is to try to arrive as early as possible in the area of ​​Arieșeni, in order to have time to visit the glacier of Scărișoara or the Poarta lui Ionele cave.

Day 2:

From Arieșeni, the first thing we have to do is cross the spectacular road between Vârtop and Băița: dozens of curves and hairpins in the splendid scenery of the Apuseni Mountains.

At Ștei turn left on DN76 towards Deva. The road would be nice and relaxing because the relief is one with hills and forests but unfortunately this road has been in repairs for more than 10 years.

In Deva you can climb to the fortress then in Hunedoara do not miss the Huniazilor Castle. Further on, we went to Petroșani from where we will enter the Jieț river valley towards Obârșia Lotrului. Again we have an extremely bad road but with great potential due to the extremely spectacular mountain landscape.

From Obârșia Lotrului we will enter the Transalpina road and take it to the North. If you still have time, you can run to Rânca to go through the most spectacular segment of Transalpina: The Urdele Pass.

Transalpina ends at Sebes and from here there are only a few kilometers to Alba-Iulia.