Adventure Tourism in Romania
Of the many destinations they cater for, the head of an adventure tourism agency specializing in mountain areas, Radu Vatcu, proposes the south west of Romania: “Nera River crosses the Cheile Nerei National Park, a nature reserve, close to the Danube Cleft. This is a low difficulty trail, without large elevation differences, which is 20 km long. It can be a challenge for tourists in terms of endurance. We have various packages, one involves a night spent outdoors, in a tent, or a combination of trekking and rafting. We go up river, spending the night in Vogiun Grove. The place is named after its owner, an old man living alone in this isolated area. He offers a place for camping free of charge, in order to protect the area and enjoy the company. It is one of the few places open for camping in the Cheile Nerei park. It is not far from Devil’s Lake. This is a karst lake that formed when the roof of a cave collapsed. It is a very deep lake, with exceptionally clear waters, of an intense blue, so clear you can see the trout schools swimming. You can take a boat from there and go down Nera River, about 15 km.”
Daniel Onea, 24.03.2016, 15:29
Of the many destinations they cater for, the head of an adventure tourism agency specializing in mountain areas, Radu Vatcu, proposes the south west of Romania: “Nera River crosses the Cheile Nerei National Park, a nature reserve, close to the Danube Cleft. This is a low difficulty trail, without large elevation differences, which is 20 km long. It can be a challenge for tourists in terms of endurance. We have various packages, one involves a night spent outdoors, in a tent, or a combination of trekking and rafting. We go up river, spending the night in Vogiun Grove. The place is named after its owner, an old man living alone in this isolated area. He offers a place for camping free of charge, in order to protect the area and enjoy the company. It is one of the few places open for camping in the Cheile Nerei park. It is not far from Devil’s Lake. This is a karst lake that formed when the roof of a cave collapsed. It is a very deep lake, with exceptionally clear waters, of an intense blue, so clear you can see the trout schools swimming. You can take a boat from there and go down Nera River, about 15 km.”
The price for a package is 1,200 lei, about 270 Euro per person. This includes transportation from Bucharest. The distance to the destination is 600 km. In addition to mountain packages, Radu Vatcu also promotes packages for the Danube Delta, which are of great interest to foreign tourists: “Everyone who took advantage of these left satisfied. Romania has a few advantages compared to other European countries, its natural beauty and wild landscapes which no longer exist in other European countries, with the exception of northern countries. They do have such areas, but they have the disadvantage of weather. We had a large group of Belgian tourists, we have accompanied Israeli tourists, we’ve had tourists from all over Europe, and their number is growing.”
Adventure tourism can be one of Romania’s main engines for development, according to Dan Panturu, manager of another adventure tourism agency: “We are working on two lines: team building for companies in Romania, foreign and domestic. The second line of development for our business is adventure tourism for groups of friends, which is smaller, but more flexible. These two lines can sometimes blend. A smaller group which is into adventure tourism, there is a greater availability of sports with a higher degree of adrenaline. For larger groups, the adrenaline level is set depending on the aim established by the company, and the level of fitness of the participants. They like all the products, but some are better liked. I am referring to the way the customer reacts when engaging in a given type of sport. We, as an adventure tourism company, feed off the happiness of the tourists when they finish their engagement.”
Dan Panturu told us about their rafting package for Buzau river, accessible to a wide range of customers, children, adults, and even semi-professionals. It is level three in difficulty, from a scale of one to five. This is a team sport, which takes synchronicity and delegating a leader, and it brings satisfaction by the fact that you overcame difficulties with the team, colleagues and friends, a product accessible to anyone: “It costs about 200 lei per person, which includes the equipment and professional rafting boats. From our point of view, the most important things are guides that accompany the group, one per boat, and they are all accredited by the International Rafting Federation, 3rd class. This means that tourists are in good hands. In addition to these services, we offer technical assistance. We have a car that runs parallel to the river, ready to intervene in critical moments. If anyone wants to quit at any point, they can use that car. We offer transportation and we can film the activities from the shore or the boat.”
According to Dan Panturu, managing an adventure tourism company, there are tourists who come to Romania to discover its beauties: “They are into adventure tourism, and they seek out specific places, with licensed guides to take them there. Foreign tourists come from all over the world, a lot of them from Europe, because it is handy. It is interesting that they do research before coming to Romania, and sometimes they know about places that most Romanians don’t. They don’t look for highways, which we still don’t have enough of, they seek out the wild places, which we have plenty of. They want to see as much as they can, have as many activities as they can, come into contact with the locals. Places for rafting are often found in poorer places in Romania, but there you can find old time culture, authentic people, welcoming and open. Romania’s most beautiful areas start off 3 or 4 km away from national motorways. You discover a different Romania, another facet, as we knew it when we visited our grandparents up in the mountains.”
Here are just a few of the tourist offers in Romania for people interested in adventure tourism. In the hope we have aroused your interest, we will see you next time with another proposal.
