Forests and Bears

After breakfast you will be shown around the farm and introduced to the horses. Soon we take off for a first 3 h-ride passing beautiful hay meadows, ancient pastureland, and old beech forests. You will have time to get used to the horses, the equipment and the terrain. The hills offer a fantastic view over the area and the meadows invite for some first trot or canter. 

Upon return, after a short lunch, we will drive up a forest road to the famous virgin forest of Stramba Valley (UNESCO World Heritage Site). We will do a 2-hour hike, see these century old giant beech and fir trees (amongst them the tallest known tree of Romania), and learn about the ecosystem of the mixed mountain forests of the Carpathians.

Today we head off for a full day-ride along the meadows and through the forests at the foot of the mountains. We will have stunning views and lots of possibilities for canters over the meadows. You will be stunned by the variety of wild flowers and we might come across tracks of bears or wild boar.

We do our lunch breaks on beautiful meadows with spectacular views and return  in the afternoon back to the stable.

Today we give the horses a rest and experience the true history of Transylvania. We leave Sinca Noua and drive for about two hours through sleepy villages to the north, until we reach the medieval town of Sighisoara, one of the cultural centres of the Transylvanian Saxons.  

Thereafter, we continue to the village of Viscri with its famous fortified church (UNESCO World Heritage Site) from the times of the invasion of Turks. It is just  a gravel road, which gets us the last 10 kilometers to Viscri, a settlement of the German minority, founded 900 years ago. In 1990, most of the villagers have left to Germany, but a small number of people stayed to continue their traditional life. King Charles, who visited the village many times, is a great admirer of the village.

We will be served a traditional Saxon meal with food from own the own gardens and home-made wine and plum brandy: Thereafter, we visit the fortified church,  stroll through the village and return back to Sinca Noua until the evening. Our guide is passionate about the history of Transylvania and once you have spent the day there, you will be as well. 

A 50 km roundtrip leads us through the endless forests of Transylvania, home of  the large carnivores. We pass through forests and cross beautiful mountain meadows, will have the possibility for some long canters and arrive in the afternoon in an area, where people’s life has changed little since the Middle Ages. Their little mountain farms are still being worked with oxen or horses, people lack even facilities such as running water or electricity. Camp is being set for us at one of these farms with a fantastic view around. We will enjoy a rustic dinner cooked at the campfire and have a long evening around the fire to tell stories.  

If you don’t fancy camping out in tents, we are happy to pick you up after dinner  (20 min walk is necessary) and drive you to the guesthouse for the night and back  again the next morning.

The next morning we pack our stuff and ride along forest trails and roads through  the wild forests of Transylvania. We can enjoy the spectacular view over the  Carpathian Mountains and tracks of wolves or bears are commonly found along  the trails. In the afternoon, we arrive back at the guesthouse.  

On our last ride for the week, we ride for about 3 hours in a loop around Sinca Noua through wild forests, beautiful meadows, enjoy canters and great scenery. We are back for a late lunch, to continue in the afternoon to the nearby Bran castle, commonly known as Dracula’s castle. However, you will learn that the history is much more exciting than the legend …

In the evenings after dinner, you have the choice to watch video presentations about the conservation initiatives of our hosts or might opt to spend the evening at our willow pavilion on the open fire place or have a drink at the bar. 

After breakfast we pack our luggage and are being brought back to Bucharest.  

You might want to opt to spend some additional days for a unique wilderness experience. Please let us know if we can help you with this.