The Banat Honey Road
The Banat Honey Route is a new and innovative ecotourism and health tourism project.
Daniel Onea, 27.11.2025, 14:00
The Banat Honey Route is a new and innovative ecotourism and health tourism project. It seeks to promote local tourism, beekeeping traditions and the health benefits of beehive products, especially apitherapy and beehive aerosol therapy. The area where the project is carried out is also home to a whole array of tourist attractions. This unique tourist route is developed in partnership by the King Michael I University of Life Sciences in Timișoara, the Regional Development Agency in Pancevo, Serbia, and the beekeepers’ associations in Timiș and Caraș-Severin. Silvia Păturița, a university teacher at the King Michael I University of Life Sciences in Timișoara, told us more about the concept behind the project:
“The Banat honey route is actually a network of authentic apiaries, where apitherapy can be practiced with air directly from the hive. We aim to place trailers or multifunctional trailers equipped with equipment to be able to perform the apitherapy directly from the hive. All beekeeping products related to the honey route will be tested in a new laboratory at the Faculty of Animal Resources Bioengineering of the University of Life Sciences in Timișoara, to ensure high standards and real health benefits. At the same time, together with our partners, the beekeepers’ associations, the Timiș and Caraș branches, events and seminars will be organised that will promote the consumption of beekeeping products and health tourism.”
The vice-president of the Caraș-Severin and Timiș branch of the Association of Bee Keepers in Romania, Ida Șuță, explains what the aerosol therapy consist of:
“At each multifunctional trailer, there will probably be several beekeepers who will promote their products. The idea is to sell their beekeeping products and, at the same time, be able to provide treatment with aerosols from the hive. In fact, it is an inhalation of air from the hive, not precisely aerosols. There will be devices in which there will be bees with frames, with honeycombs, with pollen, with propolis, even with venom, but this is not recommended to do it on our own. Tourists come and watch the bees in the hive, and how they work and at the same time, through a disposable mask, they will inhale the air from the hive. The air from the hive contains volatile oils from propolis, the smell of pollen from different flowers and, of course, a smell of honey. Everything that is in the hive is very good and beneficial to health.”
The project, which is worth 800,000 euros, involves the placement of 21 containers for apitherapy and natural aerosol treatment and also includes the creation of a website. Here, beekeepers who are willing to open their doors to visitors, and host tastings of bee products and natural therapies. The Banat Honey Route will be operational in spring of next year and will not only be a health experience, but also an excellent starting point for discovering the cultural and natural riches of the region. Once in Banat de Munte, tourists can explore nearby attractions, such as the spectacular Almaju Valley. Claudiu Vatau, photographer and local tourism promoter, guides us through the area:
“Almaj Valley is home to a Czech village that is preserved just like in the time it was inhabited by Czechs, or rather the Pemi, which is how the Czech inhabitants of these lands were called. The old Czech language was preserved very well there, almost intact. They were not exposed to Serbian influences, like the villages in the Danube Gorges. They also preserved their traditions and customs. The village of Ravensca is an isolated village. It is located on a hill and on a clear sky, you can see all the way to the Danube river and a most beautiful sunset, in the Almaj Valley from the hill, towards the Danube.”
Another unique attraction in Europe, also located in the Almaju Valley, is the watermill complex at Eftimie Murgu, formerly known as “Rudăria”. Claudiu Vatau, a photographer and tourism promoter of the area, give us more details:
“The Rudăriei Gorges are home to the largest mill reserve in southeastern Europe, numbering 22 mills. Some are to be found in the village, in people’s yards, and are still in operation, but cannot be visited. Others can be visited and tourists, whether they come from Romania or abroad, are able to see how corn is ground and how white cornmeal is obtained, which is unique in the area and special, and how the mills are organised. Tourists can find out how 15 or 16 families are assigned to each mill, and are responsible for maintaining it and how they earn their living from the mills.”
These are not the only things visitors can see in the region, as Banatul Montan is a lively region, full of cultural events and with an impressive history, says Claudiu Vatau:
“Places like Anina, Oravița, Clisura Dunării, the Czech area, even downstream of the Nera Gorges are full of events and even international music festivals. They are also home to many artisans, like carvers. There is also a local food tradition. In summer, all kinds of festive meals are held in Rudăria, such as for example during the Lilly Festivala. The Banat Semering is also unique in Romania. It is the oldest mountain railway on Romanian territory, running between Anina and Oravița. Departures are from both cities. It has a diesel engine and the carriages are over 100 years old. The furniture in the carriages is made of wood. The landscape seen from the train, dotted with tunnels and viaducts built along the 34 km of railway, is dreamlike. It’s beautiful in spring and summer, when everything is green, as well as in autumn, with its different shades of yellow, red, green, brown, and in winter, when everything is covered in snow.”
So the Banat Honey Route is a complex experience, combining health benefits with tradition and tourism. The route will become available from 2026, and is a perfect means of becoming familiar with the entire Banat area. From therapeutic apiaries to the landscapes of the Almaju Valley and the impressive Banat Semering train, the region has lots of attractions that make for a memorable stay.
