[Romania] Transfăgărășan and Bâlea Lake
If ever in Sibiu and you have a spare day, the best option is to have a trip to the Balea Lake and Balea Waterfall and also drive on one of the most impressive roads of Romania, the Transfăgărășan.
We went to the Balea Lake two weekends in a row in October. The first time it was full of snow everywhere, the second time the snow was gone, everything was green and the weather was warm like a nice spring day.
The Transfagarasan, the road that takes you to the Balea Lake, climbs to 2,034 meters altitude. The most spectacular route is from the North. It is a winding road, dotted with steep hairpin turns, long S-curves, and sharp descents. The Transfăgărășan is both an attraction and a challenge for hikers, cyclists, drivers and motorcycle enthusiasts alike. Due to the topography, the average speed is around 40 km/h.
At the highest point of the Transfagarasan lies the Balea Lake, a glaciar lake in the Fagaras Mountains. We first found it frozen, but next weekend it almost gave us the impression that we could have a swim.
On the way up to the lake, there is a sign pointing you to the Balea Waterfalls. After the parking place, you have to walk for about 30 minutes. It’s actually a hiking trail so you should have a proper equipment. Situated at about 1200m high, it has a fall of about 60m.
At the Balea Lake there are also cabans with restaurants, where you can spend the night or enjoy a nice meal with very tasty food. Also here, during winter an ice hotel is built.
The Chocolates Of Life 
[…] Curtea de Argeș is located at 100 minutes from Bucharest, 45 minutes from Râmnicu Vâlcea and 2 hours from Sibiu. Other interesting sites close by are the Poienari Fortress, Stan’s Valley and Vidraru Dam and further to the north, on the Transfagarasan Road, the Bâlea Lake. […]
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[…] meters high, but still close enough to civilization. You can easily get there by driving on the Transfăgărășan Road to the Bâlea Lake, park your car and hike for about 1h30 in the direction of the Capra Saddle (following the blue […]