Transalpina Highway, Romania - travel experience, post, guide, blog and photos

Romania: Bran, Bucharest, Sibiu, Sighisoara, Transalpina Highway, Transfagarasan Highway

Transalpina Highway, Romania: The king's road
by Prakash Bang, Editor in Chief

The road was built under King Carol II. That’s the reason why Romanian locals in the area call it The King’s Road. It was opened in 1938, when it was inaugurated by King Charles II in Poiana Sibiu and it was rebuilt during World War II by German troops, when they needed a road for military purposes, but remained inaccessible for most normal drivers and vehicles until only a few years ago.

After breakfast and check-out from our hotel in Sibiu, we left to negotiate the scenic road.

Work began in 2007 to transform this spectacular road into a modern highway (148 km), allowing a rapid transit between Oltenia and Transylvania. In 2009 it was completely paved. The road was opened to traffic in 2012. Located in the Parang Mountains group, in the Southern Carpathians of Romania, it’s one of the most spectacular roads of the Carpathian Mountains. The road links Novaci, south of Parang Mountains and Sebes in the north.

This road is closed during the cold months of the year but it can be closed anytime when the access is not cleared of snow. The road has its highest point at Urdele Pass, where the elevation is 2145 metres above sea level. It’s quite famous and it attracts an impressive number of tourists due to the experience it provides - driving through a mountainous region and being surrounded by nature on all sides.

Negotiating through many quiet villages, herds of sheep, horse-driven wagons, unmindful (of the traffic) pedestrians we reached Bucharest in the evening, giving us enough time to freshen up and enjoy the sumptuous farewell dinner.

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