Bâlea Lake

About Bâlea Lake

Bâlea Lake fills the floor of a glacial cirque in the Făgăraș Mountains, at 2,034 m, right below the main ridge. It is about 360 m long, covers 4.6 hectares and is more than 11 m deep. Together with around 180 hectares of the surrounding land, it was declared a scientific reserve as early as 1932, to protect its alpine flora and high-mountain wildlife.

People have been coming here for more than a century: the Transylvanian Carpathian Society built the first stone chalet in 1904–1905, on the small peninsula that juts into the lake. Access changed completely in the 1970s with the Transfăgărășan, which runs along the lakeshore, and with the cable car from Bâlea Cascadă, opened in 1975. This is also where Romania's deadliest avalanche struck, on 17 April 1977: 23 people, most of them pupils from a Sibiu secondary school, died under the snow that swept down from the Capra saddle.

In winter, when the road is closed, the lake can only be reached by cable car. Since 2006, in many winters an ice hotel has been built next to the lake from blocks cut out of its frozen surface, together with a church made of ice.

Good to know before you go

Getting there

By car: the lake lies right on the Transfăgărășan (DN7C). From the north, leave the DN1 (Sibiu–Brașov) for the DN7C at Cârțișoara, ~45 km from Sibiu and ~100 km from Brașov; from there it is ~35 km to the lake, the last stretch up the hairpin bends of the Bâlea valley. From the south, take the DN7C from Curtea de Argeș through Arefu and along Lake Vidraru (~85 km), then through the Capra–Bâlea tunnel. The mountain section is only open in summer and early autumn.

Public transport: there are no scheduled services. In summer a private tourist shuttle (Bâlea Bus) runs from Sibiu to Bâlea Cascadă, where you take the cable car up to the lake (~15 minutes).

Where to park

There are paid car parks next to the lake (in 2025, ~10 lei per hour for cars, with a ticket at the barrier) that fill up quickly on summer weekends; arrive early in the morning. When the road to the lake is closed, you can leave the car at Bâlea Cascadă, at the foot of the cable car.

Fees & discounts

Access to the lake is free. The Bâlea Cascadă – Bâlea Lake cable car costs ~80 lei each way for adults and ~40 lei for children aged 2–12, with a separate fare for large luggage and bikes; prices have changed often in recent years, so check them at the cable car station. The public toilets by the lake are paid.

Rules

The lake and its surroundings are a nature reserve: do not pick plants, do not leave litter and do not camp outside permitted areas. Do not feed bears (it carries a fine) and keep your distance from chamois. On the trails you need hiking boots and rain and wind gear; in winter, after snowfall, the slopes around the lake carry an avalanche risk — ask the Salvamont mountain rescue post before setting off. The cable car does not run with fewer than 10 passengers.

Facilities

Bâlea Lac and Paltinu chalets, with rooms and restaurants · paid public toilets · Salvamont mountain rescue post · weather station · cable car to Bâlea Cascadă · souvenir and local produce stalls in summer · no step-free access along the lakeshore