Lunca Ilvei

No way! The new Via Transilvanica hiking trail is so well marked, that you almost never loose the path. Each post is unique and a small piece of art.
By chance, we found out about this trail: Sitting in our pilgrim's hut in Putna Monastery, we did some research how to get west. We wanted to go hiking again and checked all the train stops of the connection between Suceava and Cluj-Napoca. In the village of Lunca Ilvei, right in the Carpathians, we found an accommodation close to the train station. People wrote in the review that the trail Via Transilvanica is easy accessible. This sounded like the perfect option for us and we jumped on the train to Lunca Ilvei.

While we are having breakfast the next day, two guys tell us that Lunca Ilvei is the perfect place to do a 2-day round trip hike. No sooner said than done, we pack our backpacks, grab some food and start hiking. The views are overwhelming. Abandoned paths lead across cow pastures, through forests and past freshly mown grass. In the evening we are welcomed at the Camp with cold beer. We learn that the whole idea of Via Transilvanica was born exactly here. The trail connects rural areas of the whole country over a total length of about 1000 km. The project is maintained by the NGO Tăşuleasa Social, which also runs other social projects in Romania, such like the Christmas Truckers or forest planting actions. We are impressed! If you are interested in the hiking trail, have a look at this website: https://www.viatransilvanica.com/en

As we carried our tent with us, we decide to sleep in it once again. Dinner and breakfast are prepared in the Camp and we have nice talks with other hikers and the members of Tăşuleasa Social. The next day we hike back to Lunca Ilvei. Absorbed in conversation, we miss some posts and walk quite a diversion. We hope not to encounter any bears at evening dawn. One thing is clear: Some day we'll come back to explore more of the Via Transilvanica.Read more