Going skiing in northern Romania
Northern Romania is a perfect place for practicing winter sports.
Daniel Onea, 11.02.2016, 14:23
Northern Romania is very popular with tourists particularly for its unique folk traditions. This time, however, we present you this region from a completely different perspective, as northern Romania is also a perfect place for practicing winter sports. The wonderful floodlit ski slopes here are attracting an increasing number of tourists.
We’d first like to present to you Cavnic, a former mining settlement at the foot of the Gutai Mountain in Maramures, where winters are the real deal, with ski slopes covered in thick layers of snow almost all throughout the winter. The snow layer in Cavnic is 70 centimeters thick at the moment. Here is Oana Poenar, marketing director of a travel compound at the foot of the ski slope in Cavnic.
Oana Poenar: “There are good conditions for skiing here in Cavnic as slopes are in a very good condition. All ski tracks, which total 7 kilometers, are open. Tourists who haven’t practiced skiing before can learn it here, as we have 20 instructors available. Although the weather is warmer the slopes are still covered in snow and we can also produce artificial snow. We have many tourists, especially from Hungary, who have booked most of our accommodation facilities between February 14th and 22nd. They like it here and they visit us every year.”
Tourists are advised to book accommodation some time in advance, particularly in winter, when almost all guesthouses are full. According to Oana Poenar, another reason why tourists come to Cavnic is because the resort is located right in the center of Maramures county, offering easy access to all tourist objectives, including artisan centers in the region. Traditional food takes pride of place in Maramures. Very popular with foreign tourists is a staple meal called ‘balmosh’, which is a mixture of polenta, butter, cream and sour milk.
Oana Poenar: “In Vatra Dornei you have pretty good skiing conditions, on two tracks, Parc and Veverita, which are medium difficulty. The Veverita track is 800 meters long, it has a ski lift, night lights, and artificial snow. The Parc track is 750 meters long, as and has a ski lift and a baby ski facility. We have ski rental centers to rent athletic materials, and, of course, tutoring for beginners. This is the place to get initiated into the secrets of skiing and snowboarding, under excellent conditions. You can take the ski lift even just to admire the scenery of the Dorna Depression, at an altitude of 1,301 meters. The trip takes about 25 minutes. The ski lift is 3 km in length. We also have open mountain tracks. Right now we don’t have any closed circuits, the area is mild, and there is no danger of avalanche. The snow is also quite shallow at these altitudes.”
During the winter holidays, the resort is occupied 90%, according to Petru Ariciuc, head of Mountain Rescue, but you should not have any trouble finding accommodation:
Petru Ariciuc: “Vatra Dornei can accommodate about 2,600 people and around 300 more in the Dorna basin. You can find accommodation from two to four stars. We are now planning to organize the Snow Celebrations on February 20th and 21st. The event will take place if we have snow. This year, the weather was quite moody, and it was hard to plan long term, but we’ll make a decision next week.”
Vatra Dornei has many cultural events, mountain tracks, with plenty of opportunities for active, spa and cultural tourism. If you don’t have the time to visit the famous monasteries of Bukovina, you can surely make time to see two museums in the resort, the Natural Science Museum and the Ethnographic Museum. You can also take horse rides for two or three hours, and even for half a day.
(Translated by Daniel Bilt)
