Authorities reopen Romania’s famous mountain road Transfăgărăşan

Transfăgărăşan, probably Romania’s most famous high-altitude road, reopened for traffic on Wednesday morning, June 21. Transalpina, the other spectacular mountain road in the country, also reopened last week.

The mountain highway is usually closed from late October until late June because of the snow and bad weather.

“Wednesday, June 21, at 08:00, road traffic will be opened on Transfăgărășan (DN 7C), between Piscu Negru (km 104+000) and Cabana Bâlea Cascadă (km 130+800), for all categories of vehicles,” the national road company CNAIR announced.

Driving on Transfăgărășan is allowed only during the day, from 07:00 and 21:00, CNAIR also said, adding that the road could be temporarily closed in the case of unfavorable weather conditions.

The authorities also recommend that tourists drive carefully on the mountain road, especially as there’s been “an increase in the number of bears moving and even standing on the side of the road.” To avoid potentially dangerous incidents, it’s better to avoid interacting with the wild animals, including feeding them.

A project of late communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, the spectacular road that crosses the Carpathian Mountains has been a setting for drive tests, photo shootings, movies, and auto commercials for sports cars and motorcycles. Its popularity kind of spiked in 2009 when the famous British auto show Top Gear shot one of its episodes on Transfăgărăşan, naming it “the best road in the world.” Some also call it “The Road to the Sky.”

(Photo source: Dziewul/Dreamstime.com)