Journal · updated 5 September 2026

The Huțulca steam train with children: timetable, tickets, what to bring

The steam train from Moldovița runs rarely and fills up fast. How to get a seat and what to do afterwards.

The children who stay with us ask about the train before they ask about the mountain. The narrow-gauge train from Moldovița runs on a line built in 1888, on narrow track, and climbs the Moldovița valley through scenery you don't see from the road. There are a few things we've learned taking guests there, and that the official site doesn't tell you.

Book, even if it says you don't need to

In July and August the train fills up two or three days ahead. Call; don't count on tickets at the window. And if you go at the weekend, ask for seats in the open carriage: it's colder, but the children sit with their faces in the wind the whole way and stop asking anything for a full hour.

What to take with you

Something to put on over your clothes, even in August. The valley is shaded and the train goes slowly, and in the open carriage you feel it. Water and something to nibble, because there isn't much at the far end. And a damp handkerchief, if you sit near the locomotive: with steam, the soot gets everywhere.

Where the photograph comes from

Not from the train. When the set stops at the end and the locomotive moves to the front, get off and walk some thirty metres along the track, towards the curve. From there you catch the whole train with the hill behind it. You have about ten minutes, as long as the shunting takes.

The two routes, with prices

There are two different trains, and most people don't know it until they reach the ticket window. The steam one goes far and takes a whole morning; the diesel is short and fits if you want the monastery on the same day.

What to know beforehand

• Booking in advance is compulsory.
• Check the operating timetable before you book.
• Payment is cash only, on both routes.
• If you are not at the ticket window 15 minutes before departure, your booking is cancelled.
• Children under 3 travel free, accompanied by parents and without their own seat.
• Tickets are refunded only if the service is cancelled.

Where to park, so you don't pay 15 lei

At the entrance to the station road is the town hall car park, where the fee is 15 lei and where the staff flag you down. Keep going: cross the level crossing, turn right, then right again. Behind the station there is a new, larger car park at 9 lei.

The fares and rules above are those given by the railway's operator, checked in September 2026. They change from one season to the next.

What it goes with

Moldovița Monastery is a few hundred metres from the station, so it fits into the same morning: the train first, the wall with the Siege of Constantinople after. If the day allows, you climb the Ciumârna pass towards Sucevița, with a stop at Palma.

De la noi

Vatra Moldoviței is 31 minutes from the gate, on the DN17A. It is the shortest road between the house and a painted monastery, and the only one from which you can see a steam train.

The timetable changes from one season to the next, so check before you set off. For the rest of the valley, with the monastery's hours and what you see on its walls, we have written the Moldovița page.