Mountain trails · Guide
Children walk in the mountains better than we think, on three conditions: short slopes, something to discover every 20 minutes and endless snacks. The trails below have all three. The times are the „with children” ones from our own notes, that is, 1.5 times an adult's. And if one day it rains or the legs say enough, the Forest Coaster at Gura Humorului takes children from three, with an adult in the same sled.
A flat forest road up Valea Caselor, then the gorge: 60 m of high rock and only 4–5 m wide, with little wooden bridges and cold water. For children it's a cave without a ceiling. Stop at the gorge and turn back; the hard part is after.
600 m from the house: fill the bottles at the spring and climb gently through hay meadows. At the top, the Pietrele Doamnei on the horizon and the whole town. Picnic, descent, lunch at home.
The first hours of the trail through the old forest, out and back: 400-year-old spruces as thick as a car, lichens, mushrooms. The rule: on the path, no fire, no tent. The children count the giant trees.
Ride the gondola from Rarău Resort, then an hour through forest to the open ground below the rocks. The legend of Petru Rareș's wife is told on the way. Don't take children up the third rock.
By car to Cabana Rarău, 10 minutes on foot, the glass platform and the panorama over Giumalău. For days with small children or uncertain weather.
In the evening, at La Cuib: the trampoline, the fire and the bunk-bed house. They're asleep before the bedtime story.
We checked all of this in .
Once you're back down
The whole house is yours: wet boots by the door, packs in the hall, a late dinner. Parking in the yard and an early start, without waking anyone.
Via Transilvanica