National parks and reserves

Protected areas cover a sizeable part of the Carpathians, the Danube Delta and a few lowland and coastal zones. The national parks of Romania are almost all in the mountains: Retezat, the country's first national park, the Rodna Mountains, Piatra Craiului, Ceahlău, Cheile Nerei–Beușnița or Domogled–Valea Cernei; to these come the nature parks, such as Bucegi, Apuseni or the Iron Gates, and the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, the largest protected area in the country. The rules are the same everywhere: marked paths, fires and tents only where allowed, nothing left behind.

You can get to know the parks without climbing a ridge. Bucura Lake is the heart of Retezat, Beușnița Waterfall gives its name to the park in the Banat, Cetățile Ponorului is the landmark of the Apuseni, and the Bucegi Sphinx is reached by cable car. The Danube Delta is explored by boat, while Lake Sfânta Ana, a nature reserve in Harghita, is the only volcanic lake in Romania.