Holiday in Vatra Dornei

The resort of Vatra Dornei in Suceava County, northern Romania, is known as the “pearl of Bukovina.

Daniel Onea, 22.09.2016, 14:01

Vatra Dornei is situated in a breathtakingly beautiful area, at an altitude of 800 meters. Vatra Dornei is a beautiful town surrounded by wooded mountains, which makes the area ideal to practice sports such as rafting, mountain biking, extreme biking, paragliding and skiing.

Craciun Todasca, a teacher from Vatra Dornei, tells us more about this resort: “Vatra Dornei offers tourists many options to spend time in the middle of nature and practice winter sports, such as alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and mountain climbing, all these in a breathtaking scenery. No wonder that for over 200 years now, this area has been called Romania’s Tyrol. The resort is crowded with foreign visitors especially in summer, when we have attractive tourist offers. As I also work in the tourist field myself, I get in touch with many tourists from various countries. I was surprised to see that our visitors are not only from neighboring European countries, but also from Australia, Japan and North America. They all like it here and appreciate the beautiful landscapes, the fresh air, the mineral waters of exceptional quality and also the generous accommodation offer and options for spending free time, which have significantly diversified in the past few years. Many hotels in Vatra Dornei include SPA centers and all sort of equipment that helps tourists keep fit and healthy. River rafting can be practiced in Vatra Dornei at this time of the year. This area is one of the most privileged in Romania and central and eastern Europe in this respect as we have Bistrita, considered by many the fastest river in Romania.”

In terms of accommodation, the offer here is very diverse, adjusted to every pocket and taste. The Romanian gastronomy is another thing that tourists to Vatra Dornei should not miss . Craciun Todasca: “There are many restaurants in the area and many guest houses, some of them located several kilometers away from the town, in a very beautiful landscape. Most of them offer tourists traditional food specific to the area of Bukovina. And since Vatra Dornei is located right at the heart of Bukovina, it’s only natural that the regional cuisine is a tourist attraction in itself, although dishes from Moldova, Transylvania and Banat are also served. Finding accommodation in Vatra Dornei is easy, as there is a whole range of accommodation facilities here, from guest houses to four-star hotels.”

For the tourists interested in folklore and local customs and traditions, a visit to the Ethnographic Museum in town is a must. The price of a ticket is symbolic, 25 eurocents for children, students and pensioners and 75 eurocents for other categories of visitors. The museum is open from 10 am to 4 pm, Tuesday to Sunday. The museum hosts 2,000 highly valuable exhibits, from traditional costumes to households objects. The museum is located at the ground floor of the Vatra Dornei Town Hall, a heritage building dating back to the end of the 19th century.

Petru Ariciuc, the head of the Vatra Dornei Mountain Rescue Service, tells us more about the resort’s history: “Vatra Dornei was first established as a spa resort between 1880 and 1890, when the first buildings of the town were erected — The Post Office building, the Spa Centre, the Sentinela Spring and the Town Hall building. Around 1850, following some studies, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire decided to set up a resort here and they added some new buildings. Then, in the interwar period, the resort developed further and its treatment facilities were extended. After the fall of communism, in 1989, Vatra Dornei went through a period of decline, just like almost all resorts in Romania. Nevertheless, as of 2000, it started to win back its former glory. At present Vatra Dornei boasts three treatment centers and can accommodate over 2500 tourists. The trails in and around Vatra Dornei resort are surrounded by four mountain massifs: Suhard, Giumalau, Calimani and Bistrita. The mountain trails are generally easy, and take three, five and six hours, but mountain lovers can spend one entire week on the mountain.”

Petru Ariciuc tells us more about the health problems that can be treated in Vatra Dornei: “In the spa resort, health problems related to the peripheral nervous system and locomotor system can be treated. Also, the ozone level here is very high. Special routes are indicated for people who come here to treat various health problems.”

34 km away from Vatra Dornei you have the Rarau Massif, which has on its northern side one of the most interesting rock formations in the Eastern Carpathians, the Lady’s Rocks. Access there is possible on a road called Transrarau, considered one of the most spectacular mountain roads in the country, on a par with Transfagarasan and Transalpina.

(Translated by Elena Enache)