# National parks and reserves — tourist attractions in Romania [Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) › [Categories](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/categories) > Protected areas, national parks and nature 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](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lacul-bucura) is the heart of Retezat, [Beușnița Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cascada-beusnita) gives its name to the park in the [Banat](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/banat), [Cetățile Ponorului](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatile-ponorului) is the landmark of the Apuseni, and [the Bucegi Sphinx](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/sfinxul-din-bucegi) is reached by cable car. The [Danube Delta](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/delta-dunarii) is explored by boat, while [Lake Sfânta Ana](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lacul-sfanta-ana), a nature reserve in Harghita, is the only volcanic lake in Romania. ## Tourist attractions 101 attractions - [Danube Delta](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/danube-delta) — Deltas · Tulcea County · 5 lei/day · 7½ – 8 hours · UNESCO World Heritage · Top 20 Europe's largest wetland, a biosphere reserve and UNESCO site: channels, lakes, reed beds and 365 bird species, from pelicans to egrets; visited by boat from Tulcea. - [Bâlea Lake](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/balea-lake) — Lakes · Sibiu County · Free · 1½ – 2 hours · Top 100 A glacial lake at 2,034 m in the Bâlea cirque of the Făgăraș Mountains, at the top of the Transfăgărășan; reachable by car in summer and by cable car all year round. - [Văcărești Nature Park (the Văcărești Delta)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/vacaresti-nature-park) — National parks and reserves · București · Free · 1½ – 2 hours · Top 100 Romania's first urban nature park: 183 ha of ponds, reed beds and willows inside an abandoned reservoir in southern Bucharest, home to over 180 bird species, otters and foxes, a few hundred metres from the tower blocks. - [Bears' Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/bears-cave) — Caves · Chișcău, BH · 40 lei · 45 min · Top 100 Romania's most visited cave: 488 m of lit galleries beneath the village of Chișcău, full of stalactites and stalagmites, with the bones of some 140 cave bears left where they were found. - [The Bucegi Sphinx](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/the-bucegi-sphinx) — Mountains and trails · Moroeni, DB · 10 lei · ½ – 1 hours · Top 100 An 8 m conglomerate rock shaped by wind, frost and rain that, from certain angles, looks like a human head; it stands on the Bucegi plateau at 2,216 m, next to Babele. - [Turda Gorge](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/turda-gorge) — Gorges and canyons · Mihai Viteazu, CJ · 2 – 2½ hours · Top 100 A limestone gorge 6 km from Turda, with walls over 100 m high, a lower trail with footbridges over the Hășdate river, caves and hundreds of climbing routes. - [Urlătoarea Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/urlatoarea-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Bușteni, PH · 10 lei · 2 – 2½ hours · Top 100 A roughly 15 m waterfall on the eastern slopes of the Bucegi Mountains, an hour's easy forest walk from Bușteni; the most visited waterfall in the massif and a classic outing on the Prahova Valley. - [God's Bridge](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/god-s-bridge) — National parks and reserves · Ponoarele, MH · Free · ½ – 1 hours · Top 100 Romania's largest natural bridge and the only one in the world carrying a public road: a 30 m limestone arch left standing after a cave roof collapsed, in the village of Ponoarele on the Mehedinți Plateau. - [Lake Sfânta Ana](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lake-sfanta-ana) — Lakes · Harghita County · 46 lei · 1½ – 2 hours · Top 100 Romania's only volcanic lake: an almost round sheet of water in the Ciomatu crater, ringed by forest, with a Catholic chapel on the shore and the Mohoș peat bog in the neighbouring crater. - [Scărișoara Ice Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/scarisoara-ice-cave) — Caves · Ghețari, AB · 45 min · Top 100 A cave in the Apuseni Mountains with the Scărișoara Glacier (Ghețarul Scărișoara), one of the largest underground glaciers in the world: a block of ice over 10,000 years old, reached by stairs down a 60 m wide shaft. - [Babele](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/babele) — Mountains and trails · Moroeni, DB · 10 lei · ½ – 1 hours · Top 100 The stone mushrooms of the Bucegi plateau, at ~2,200 m: conglomerate rocks worn by wind, frost and rain, a few minutes from the Bușteni cable car and the Sphinx. - [Berca Mud Volcanoes](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/berca-mud-volcanoes) — National parks and reserves · Berca, BZ · 4 lei · 1 – 1½ hours · Top 100 Two plateaus of cold-mud cones and craters, Pâclele Mari and Pâclele Mici, in a nature reserve in the Buzău Subcarpathians, with a lunar-landscape feel. - [Red Lake](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/red-lake) — Lakes · Lacu Roșu, HR · Free · 1½ – 2 hours · Top 100 A natural dam lake formed in 1837, when a mountainside blocked the Bicaz valley; the trunks of the drowned forest still rise from the water, at the upper end of the Bicaz Gorge. - [Retezat National Park](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/retezat-national-park) — National parks and reserves · Nucșoara, HD · 10 lei · 8½ – 9 hours · Top 100 Romania's first national park, created in 1935 in the Retezat Mountains: granite ridges above 2,000 m, Peleaga Peak (2,509 m) and more than 80 glacial lakes, crossed by waymarked trails. - [Beușnița Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/beusnita-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Caraș-Severin County · ~12 lei · 2½ – 3 hours · Top 100 A moss-clad tufa waterfall whose water fans out in dozens of threads over green steps, in the beech forest of the Cheile Nerei–Beușnița National Park, an hour's walk beyond Ochiul Beiului Lake. - [Danube Gorges (Cazanele Dunării)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/danube-gorges) — Gorges and canyons · Dubova, MH · Free · 3½ – 4 hours · Top 100 The narrowest stretch of the Danube Gorge, between Dubova and Ogradena: the river squeezes between limestone walls, with Serbia on the far bank, seen by boat or from Ciucaru Mare. - [Vaser Valley Forest Railway (Mocănița)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/vaser-valley-forest-railway) — Monuments and historic sites · Vișeu de Sus, MM · 136 lei · 5½ – 6 hours · Top 100 The last working forest railway in the Carpathians: a steam-hauled train climbs 21.6 km up the Vaser valley, through the Maramureș Mountains Nature Park, to Paltin station. - [Women's Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/women-s-cave) — Caves · Baia de Fier, GJ · 20 lei · 40 min · Top 100 A four-level cave at Baia de Fier, in the Galbenul Gorge at the foot of the Parâng Mountains, with 860 m of lit galleries, cave bear bones and some of the oldest modern human remains in Europe. - [Bigăr Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/bigar-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Bozovici, CS · ~12 lei · 45 min · Top 100 The moss-covered tufa waterfall in the Miniș gorge, exactly on the 45th parallel and once famous worldwide; it partly collapsed in 2021 and is regenerating naturally, a few steps from the DN57B road. - [Ceahlău Massif](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/ceahlau-massif) — Mountains and trails · Durău, NT · 10 lei · 7½ – 8 hours · Top 100 The “holy mountain” of Moldavia, with the Ocolașul Mare (1,907 m) and Toaca (1,904 m) peaks, legendary rocks, the Dochia Chalet and marked trails from Durău and Izvorul Muntelui, in the Ceahlău National Park. - [Cetățile Ponorului](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatile-ponorului) — Caves · Bihor County · Free · 3½ – 4 hours · Top 100 A karst complex on the Padiș Plateau: three huge sinkholes with walls over 200 m high and a portal 76 m tall where the Cetăților stream vanishes into the mountain. Seen from a marked hiking loop, not a show cave. - [Râpa Roșie](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/rapa-rosie) — National parks and reserves · Sebeș, AB · Free · 1 – 1½ hours An 800 m wall of red clay and sandstone on the edge of Sebeș, carved by rain into columns, towers and earth pyramids, a badlands landscape rare in Romania. - [Moldoveanu Peak](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/moldoveanu-peak) — Mountains and trails · Nucșoara, AG · Free · 7½ – 8 hours Romania's highest peak (2,544 m), in the Făgăraș Mountains, joined to Viștea Mare by a narrow ridge. It is climbed on long trails, from Valea Rea, the Sâmbăta Valley or the Viștea Valley. - [Neajlov Delta](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/neajlov-delta) — National parks and reserves · Comana, GR · 5 lei · 2½ – 3 hours The roughly 1,200 ha Neajlov marsh in Comana Natural Park, with channels, reed beds and waterbirds, less than an hour from Bucharest; seen by small boat, rowing boat or kayak. - [Strâmbu-Băiuț Ancient Forests](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/strambu-baiut-ancient-forests) — National parks and reserves · Băiuț, MM · 3½ – 4 hours · UNESCO World Heritage A primeval beech and beech-fir forest in Băiuț commune, Maramureș, part since 2017 of the UNESCO site of the ancient and primeval beech forests of Europe. - [Cailor Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cailor-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Borșa, MM · Free · 2 – 2½ hours A roughly 90 m waterfall that drops in several tiers down a limestone wall in the Rodna Mountains, above the resort of Borșa; reached by chairlift and a short forest walk. - [Valea Cetății Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/valea-cetatii-cave) — Caves · Râșnov, BV · 35 lei · ½ – 1 hours A lit cave on the slopes of Postăvarul, between Râșnov and Poiana Brașov, with a great hall over 20 m high, visited with a guide and sometimes used for concerts. - [2 Mai – Vama Veche Marine Reserve](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/2-mai-vama-veche-marine-reserve) — National parks and reserves · 2 Mai, CT · Free The only marine reserve on the Romanian coast: the waters between 2 Mai and the Bulgarian border, with stone reefs, brown seaweed beds and mussel banks to see with a mask or on a dive. - [Dâmbovicioara Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/dambovicioara-cave) — Caves · Dâmbovicioara, AG · 30 min A small, easy-to-visit cave on the Rucăr–Bran corridor, in Piatra Craiului National Park: a dry gallery carved by the Dâmbovicioara stream, with about 250 m laid out and lit. - [Balta Mică a Brăilei](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/balta-mica-a-brailei) — Deltas · Brăila, BR · 80 lei · 1½ – 2 hours The last stretch of free-flooding Danube floodplain between Giurgeni and Brăila: seven river islands, 52 lakes and over 200 bird species, reached only by boat. - [Racoș Basalt Columns](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/racos-basalt-columns) — National parks and reserves · Racoș, BV · 25 lei · 2 – 2½ hours A 10–12 m wall of columnar basalt at Racoș, a natural monument within a geological complex that also has an extinct volcano and the Emerald Lake; an easy circuit of about 2 hours takes in all three. - [Bolii Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/bolii-cave) — Caves · Bănița, HD · 10 lei · ½ – 1 hours A cave crossed by a mountain stream north of Petroșani, with a 20 m-wide portal and a gallery of about 466 m walked end to end on footbridges, beneath the Dacian fortress of Bănița. - [Domogled–Valea Cernei National Park](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/domogled-valea-cernei-national-park) — National parks and reserves · Băile Herculane, CS · 2 euro + TVA · 5 – 5½ hours · UNESCO World Heritage A national park of over 61,000 ha in the Cerna Valley above Băile Herculane: limestone cliffs with Banat black pine, gorges and ancient beech forests on the UNESCO list since 2017. - [Lake Bolboci](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lake-bolboci) — Lakes · Moroeni, DB · 10 lei · ½ – 1 hours A reservoir on the Ialomița at 1,438 m, in the heart of the Bucegi Mountains, held back by a 55 m stone dam and ringed by spruce forest, between the Tătaru and Zănoaga gorges. - [Lake Ursu](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lake-ursu) — Lakes · Sovata, MS A heliothermal salt lake in Sovata, formed in 1875 over a salt massif: beneath a thin layer of fresh water the salt water goes above 40 °C in summer; a lido runs on the shore in season. - [Padiș Plateau](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/padis-plateau) — National parks and reserves · Pietroasa, BH · Free · 7½ – 8 hours A karst plateau at around 1,200 m in the heart of Apuseni Natural Park, with meadows, sinkholes and spruce forest. Marked trails lead from Cabana Padiș to Cetățile Ponorului, the Galbena Gorge and Groapa de la Barsa. - [Rodna Mountains National Park](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/rodna-mountains-national-park) — National parks and reserves · Borșa, MM · 5 lei · 7½ – 8 hours The highest range in the Eastern Carpathians, with Pietrosul Rodnei Peak (2,303 m), glacial cirques and Iezer Lake; a national park and biosphere reserve, most often climbed from Borșa. - [Semenic – Caraș Gorge National Park](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/semenic-caras-gorge-national-park) — National parks and reserves · Carașova, CS · 2 euro + TVA · 4½ – 5 hours · UNESCO World Heritage A 36,000 ha national park in the Banat, with the 19 km Caraș Gorge, the Semenic plateau, over 800 caves and the virgin beech forest of Izvoarele Nerei, a UNESCO site. - [Vânturătoarea Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/vanturatoarea-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Băile Herculane, CS · Free · 2½ – 3 hours A two-tier waterfall of about 50 m in the Cerna Mountains, with Romania's longest free drop (~40 m), above Lake Prisaca; reached by a steep 1.5 km path from the Cerna valley road, 13 km from Băile Herculane. - [Caraorman Forest](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/caraorman-forest) — National parks and reserves · Caraorman, TL · 5 lei/day · 3½ – 4 hours · UNESCO World Heritage A strict nature reserve in the heart of the Danube Delta: oaks more than 400 years old, including the Kneeling Oak, and the highest sand dunes in the delta, on the Caraorman sand bank. - [Focul Viu Ice Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/focul-viu-ice-cave) — Caves · Pietroasa, BH · Free An ice cave in the forests of the Galbena Valley near Padiș, reached on foot along a marked trail. Around midday, light pours in through a hole in the roof and falls on the ice. - [Lolaia Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lolaia-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Nucșoara, HD · 10 lei · ½ – 1 hours A waterfall of about 15 m, split by a rock into two streams, in the Nucșoara valley in the north of Retezat National Park; a 15–20 minute walk from Cârnic. - [Meziad Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/meziad-cave) — Caves · Meziad, BH · 40 lei · 50 min One of Romania's oldest show caves, with a 16 m high entrance arch, vast chambers on two levels and one of the largest bat colonies in the country. - [Mount Tâmpa](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/mount-tampa) — Mountains and trails · Brașov, BV · 45 lei · 1½ – 2 hours The wooded 960 m mountain that rises straight out of central Brașov: the “BRAȘOV” letters, views over the old town, a nature reserve, marked trails and a cable car from its foot. - [Vadu Beach](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/vadu-beach) — Seaside · Vadu, CT · 5 lei · 3½ – 4 hours A wild beach of shell-strewn sand at the village of Vadu, inside the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve: low dunes, not a single building and an earth track down to the sea. - [Wind Cave (Peștera Vântului)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/wind-cave) — Caves · Șuncuiuș, BH · 1½ – 2 hours The longest known cave in Romania, with more than 42 km of passages on several levels, which can only be visited on caving tours with an accredited guide. - [Bat Cave at Moieciu](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/bat-cave-at-moieciu) — Caves · Peștera, BV · 45 min A natural cave 162 m long in the village of Peștera, Moieciu commune: a natural monument with bat colonies and traces of Palaeolithic occupation, a few minutes' walk from the village. - [Bucura Lake](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/bucura-lake) — Lakes · Hunedoara County · 10 lei · 6½ – 7 hours Romania's largest glacial lake, at 2,040 m in the heart of Retezat National Park; it can only be reached on foot, after a climb of about two hours from Poiana Pelegii. - [Coiba Mare Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/coiba-mare-cave) — Caves · Casa de Piatră, AB · Free An undeveloped cave in the Bihor Mountains near Casa de Piatră: a huge portal, 54 × 45 m, through which the Gârdișoara stream vanishes underground. - [Hațeg Country UNESCO Global Geopark](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/hateg-country-unesco-global-geopark) — National parks and reserves · Hațeg, HD · 7½ – 8 hours The land of dwarf dinosaurs around Hațeg, Romania's first geopark: small museums with reconstructions and fossils, themed trails through villages, palaeontological sites and traces of 70-million-year-old volcanoes. - [Neamț Bison Reserve](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/neamt-bison-reserve) — Zoos and aquariums · Vânători-Neamț, NT · 15 lei · 1 – 1½ hours The “Dragoș Vodă” reserve, founded in 1968 in Vânători-Neamț Nature Park: a small zoo with bison, deer and birds, at the edge of the forest where free-ranging bison live. - [Piatra Altarului Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/piatra-altarului-cave) — Caves · Răchițele, CJ A cave in the Bihor Mountains, discovered in 1984, with chambers richly decorated with calcite formations; a class A reserve, padlocked and open only to scientific research. - [Pietrosul Rodnei Peak](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pietrosul-rodnei-peak) — Mountains and trails · Borșa, MM · 5 lei · 7½ – 8 hours The highest peak in the Eastern Carpathians (2,303 m), above Borșa in the Rodna Mountains. It is climbed in 4–4.5 hours on the blue-stripe trail, past the weather station and Lake Iezer, shaped like a map of Romania. - [Trovants Museum (Muzeul Trovanților)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/trovants-museum) — National parks and reserves · Costești, VL · 45 min A geological reserve on the edge of the DN 67, near Horezu: dozens of trovants, the rounded sandstone “living stones”, emerging from the sand of a former quarry at Costești. - [Zeicu Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/zeicu-cave) — Caves · Câmpu lui Neag, HD · 5½ – 6 hours A speleological reserve in the Retezat Mountains, above the Scorota Valley, with a 6 × 8 m portal, a 50 m entrance hall, a chimney and a deep shaft; a vertical cave, closed to tourist visits. - [Cetatea Rădesei Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatea-radesei-cave) — Caves · Bihor County · 1½ – 2 hours A tunnel cave on the Padiș Plateau, with a portal of about 15 m and 260 m of underground route where the Rădeasa stream runs past boulders, roof openings and a narrow canyon. It is crossed on foot, through the water. - [Comarnic Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/comarnic-cave) — Caves · Iabalcea, CS · 35 lei · 1½ – 2 hours A wild, unlit cave in the Anina Mountains with more than 6 km of passages on three levels, 1,750 m of which you explore with a helmet and head torch, led by the national park's rangers. - [Corbu Beach](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/corbu-beach) — Seaside · Corbu, CT · 5 lei · 3½ – 4 hours The last wild beach at the southern edge of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve: shell-strewn sand, dunes and a low earth cliff, with no hotels, sunbeds or lifeguards. - [Dragons' Garden (Grădina Zmeilor)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/dragons-garden) — National parks and reserves · Gâlgău Almașului, SJ · ½ – 1 hours A geological reserve in Sălaj with 10–15 m sandstone towers and spurs, shaped by erosion and named by locals "the Dragon and the Dragoness", "Fata Cătanei" or "the Monks". - [Duruitoarea Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/duruitoarea-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Durău, NT · 10 lei · 3½ – 4 hours A 25 m, two-tier waterfall on the Rupturi stream, in the forests below Toaca peak in Ceahlău National Park; reached on foot from the Durău resort in about two hours. - [Hațeg Bison Reserve](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/hateg-bison-reserve) — Zoos and aquariums · Hațeg, HD · 45 min Romania's oldest European bison reserve, in the Slivuț forest near Hațeg: the first bison brought from Poland arrived here in 1958, and the herd can be watched from the fence of the enclosure. - [Lake Cuejdel](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lake-cuejdel) — Lakes · Gârcina, NT · Free · 2 – 2½ hours Romania's largest natural dam lake, formed by landslides between 1978 and 1991 in the Stânișoarei Mountains, with bare spruce trunks rising out of the water; reached on foot through the forest. - [Lake Techirghiol](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lake-techirghiol) — Lakes · Techirghiol, CT · Free Romania's largest salt lake, a former sea bay next to Eforie: cold mud baths on the Techirghiol shore in summer, flocks of rare birds on water that does not freeze in winter. - [Lotrișor Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lotrisor-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Călimănești, VL · 10 lei · 1½ – 2 hours A waterfall of about 30 m in Cozia National Park, where the stream bursts out of a tunnel cut through the rock; reached on foot along a gentle forest road through the Lotrișor Gorge. - [Măcin Mountains National Park](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/macin-mountains-national-park) — National parks and reserves · Greci, TL · 10 lei · 3½ – 4 hours Romania's oldest mountains, Hercynian granite worn down to 467 m, with rocky ridges, steppe and Balkan woodland, land tortoises and hundreds of migrating birds of prey. - [Nera Gorge](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/nera-gorge) — Gorges and canyons · Sasca Montană, CS · ~12 lei · 2½ – 3 hours · UNESCO World Heritage Romania's longest gorge, almost 20 km between Șopotu Nou and Sasca Română, with the Devil's Lake, tunnels cut into the rock and a trail crossed by no road at all. - [Vălul Miresei Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/valul-miresei-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Răchițele, CJ · Free · ½ – 1 hours A roughly 30 m, two-tiered waterfall at the foot of the Vlădeasa massif, on the Stanciului valley near Răchițele; the water fans out over the rock like a veil, and in winter the frozen wall is an ice-climbing spot. - [Vânătările Ponorului Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/vanatarile-ponorului-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Dumești, AB · Free · ½ – 1 hours A 70–80 m chain of waterfalls, with a 25 m main drop, plunging into a huge sinkhole in the Trascău Mountains and vanishing underground; seen from a wooden balcony a short walk from the road. - [Vârtop Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/vartop-cave) — Caves · Casa de Piatră, AB · 15 lei An undeveloped cave in the Bihor Mountains, with ice at the entrance and white formations, where a Neanderthal footprint at least 62,000 years old was found in 1974. - [Zănoaga Lake](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/zanoaga-lake) — Lakes · Hunedoara County · 10 lei · 8½ – 9 hours Romania's deepest glacial lake, 29 m deep, at almost 2,000 m in the south-west of Retezat National Park; it can only be reached on foot, on a long day hike. - [Zărnești Gorge (Prăpăstiile Zărneștilor)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/zarnesti-gorge) — Gorges and canyons · Zărnești, BV · 10 lei · 2 – 2½ hours A dry limestone gorge in Piatra Craiului National Park, with vertical walls and layers of Jurassic limestone, walked on an easy forest road that also suits children. - [Agigea Marine Dunes Reserve](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/agigea-marine-dunes-reserve) — National parks and reserves · Agigea, CT · Free The only marine dunes left on the Romanian coast, protected since 1939 in the grounds of the Agigea Marine Biological Station: rare sand plants, tortoises and a free themed trail. - [Buzău Land UNESCO Global Geopark](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/buzau-land-unesco-global-geopark) — National parks and reserves · Berca, BZ · 7½ – 8 hours A UNESCO Geopark since 2022 in the hills and mountains of Buzău: eternal flames, trovants, salt mountains, red amber, rock-cut hermitages and interactive museums across 18 communes. - [Cioclovina Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cioclovina-cave) — Caves · Cioclovina, HD · ½ – 1 hours A karst reserve in the Șureanu Mountains: a 6.7 km underground traverse along the Ponorici stream and the fossil cave where the roughly 33,000-year-old “Cioclovina 1” skull was found; access for authorised cavers only. - [Cloșani Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/closani-cave) — Caves · Cloșani, GJ A cave with white and reddish calcite formations above the village of Cloșani, an underground laboratory of the Emil Racoviță Institute of Speleology since 1959; closed to the public, entry only with the institute's approval. - [Coliboaia Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/coliboaia-cave) — Caves · Câmpani, BH A cave in the Sighiștel Valley, in the Bihor Mountains, with charcoal cave drawings some 32,000–36,000 years old, considered the oldest in Central Europe; closed to the public. - [Cozia National Park](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cozia-national-park) — National parks and reserves · Călimănești, VL · 10 lei · 7½ – 8 hours · UNESCO World Heritage Steep gneiss mountains above the Olt Gorge, with Cozia Peak at 1,668 m, a chalet on the ridge and ancient beech forests on the UNESCO World Heritage List. - [Crystal Cave of the Farcu Mine](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/crystal-cave-of-the-farcu-mine) — Caves · Roșia, BH · 40 lei · 25 min A small cave lined with calcite crystals, broken into by miners in a gallery of the Farcu bauxite mine; it is visited with a guide, after an exhibition on mining. - [Dâmbovicioara Gorge](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/dambovicioara-gorge) — Gorges and canyons · Dâmbovicioara, AG · 45 min A 2.4 km limestone gorge carved by the Dâmbovicioara stream on the southern edge of Piatra Craiului National Park, with the road from Podu Dâmboviței to Dâmbovicioara running through it. - [Focul Viu (Living Fire) of Andreiașu de Jos](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/focul-viu-of-andreiasu-de-jos) — National parks and reserves · Andreiașu de Jos, VN · 30 min A nature reserve in the Vrancea Subcarpathians where methane gas seeps out of the ground and burns by itself, in small flames best seen in dry weather and towards evening. - [Focul Viu (Living Fire) of Lopătari](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/focul-viu-of-lopatari) — National parks and reserves · Lopătari, BZ · 1½ – 2 hours Flames rising straight out of the ground on a hillside above the village of Terca, fed by methane from deep below, in the Buzău Land UNESCO Geopark. - [Groșii Țibleșului Ancient Beech Forests](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/grosii-tiblesului-ancient-beech-forests) — National parks and reserves · Groșii Țibleșului, MM · 7½ – 8 hours · UNESCO World Heritage Two tracts of primeval beech forest on the slopes of the Țibleș Mountains, Izvorul Șurii and Preluci, on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2017, with trees two to three centuries old and bears, wolves and lynx. - [Gura Dobrogei Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/gura-dobrogei-cave) — Caves · Târgușor, CT · 45 min A cave reserve in the limestone plateau of Dobruja, also called the Bat Cave, with three entrances, more than 480 m of passages and colonies of protected bats; people sheltered here as early as the Palaeolithic. - [Huda lui Papară Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/huda-lui-papara-cave) — Caves · Sub Piatră, AB · 300 lei · 3 – 3½ hours An active cave in the Trascău Mountains, with a portal almost 40 m high in the limestone wall and an underground river of lakes and waterfalls, visited only on guided tours in a wetsuit. - [Izvorul Tăușoarelor Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/izvorul-tausoarelor-cave) — Caves · Rebrișoara, BN A very deep cave in the southern Rodna Mountains, with gypsum flowers, mirabilite, the “Tăușoare balls” and cave bear bones; a reserve closed to ordinary tourism. - [Letea Forest](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/letea-forest) — National parks and reserves · Letea, TL · 2½ – 3 hours · UNESCO World Heritage One of Romania's first nature reserves, protected since 1938: ancient oaks draped in lianas, sand dunes and herds of feral horses on the Letea sand bank in the north of the Danube Delta. - [Limanu Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/limanu-cave) — Caves · Limanu, CT A labyrinth of galleries nearly 4 km long, cut into the limestone beneath the plateau of Limanu commune, close to Mangalia; a nature monument and bat shelter, not a cave developed for tourists. - [Mlaștina Hergheliei Nature Reserve](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/mlastina-hergheliei-nature-reserve) — National parks and reserves · Mangalia, CT · Free · ½ – 1 hours A 98-hectare former lagoon between Saturn and Venus, with reed beds, open water and sulphur springs where swans, egrets and black-winged stilts stop over; you watch it from the surrounding roads. - [Movile Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/movile-cave) — Caves · Mangalia, CT A cave near Mangalia, sealed off from the surface, where life depends on chemosynthesis rather than sunlight; closed to the public, open only to researchers with permission. - [Omu Peak](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/omu-peak) — Mountains and trails · Bușteni, PH · 10 lei · 7½ – 8 hours The highest point in the Bucegi Mountains (2,507 m), a stony plateau with the Omu Chalet and a weather station. It is climbed from Bușteni, Peștera or Padina on marked trails of 2–7 hours. - [Piatra Craiului National Park](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/piatra-craiului-national-park) — National parks and reserves · Zărnești, BV · 10 lei · 4½ – 5 hours Romania's longest and highest limestone ridge, 25 km long, with La Om Peak at 2,238 m, the Zărnești Gorge, Curmătura Chalet and trails for every level. - [Pietrele Doamnei](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pietrele-doamnei) — Mountains and trails · Câmpulung Moldovenesc, SV · 1 – 1½ hours Limestone towers set with corals and ammonites, from under 10 m to over 70 m high, on the northern slope of the Rarău Massif. A short marked circuit leads to them from the Alpin Hotel. - [Pișoaia Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pisoaia-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Vidra, AB · Free · 45 min An 18 m waterfall spilling down a limestone wall in the Țara Moților region, near the village of Nemeși in Vidra commune; a landscape reserve 500 m from the road to Avram Iancu. - [Poarta lui Ionele Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/poarta-lui-ionele-cave) — Caves · Gârda de Sus, AB · 45 min A show cave in the Ordâncușa Valley near Gârda de Sus, with a 22 m high entrance portal, a stream that runs through it all year and small tufa cascades right at the entrance. - [Polovragi Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/polovragi-cave) — Caves · Polovragi, GJ · 20 lei · 45 min A cave more than 10 km long, carved by the Olteț river into the limestone of the Olteț Gorge, with 800 m of gallery open to visitors and legends about Zalmoxis, a kilometre from Polovragi Monastery. - [Putna Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/putna-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Lepșa, VN · 2 lei · 45 min A series of steps and potholes where the Putna river drops 14 m over about 80 m between sandstone walls, near Lepșa; a nature reserve since 1973, minutes from the DN2D. - [Șugău Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/sugau-cave) — Caves · Suseni, HR · 25 lei · 45 min A cave reserve in the Giurgeu Mountains, with over 1,000 m of passages on four levels, visited only with a guide on a torch-lit route, among stalactites, columns and aragonite crystals. - [Topolnița Cave](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/topolnita-cave) — Caves · Cireșu, MH · ½ – 1 hours One of the longest caves in Romania, with more than 20 km of passages on four levels, on the Mehedinți Plateau; the interior is a protected area with no tourist route, but the Gura Prosacului portal can be seen from a short trail. - [Vânători-Neamț Natural Park](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/vanatori-neamt-natural-park) — National parks and reserves · Vânători-Neamț, NT · 10 lei · 3½ – 4 hours Nearly 31,000 hectares of forest in northern Neamț, where European bison roam free again, with woodland trails between monasteries, sessile oak and oak reserves and an interactive visitor centre. - [Vârciorog Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/varciorog-waterfall) — Waterfalls · Arieșeni, AB · Free · 2 – 2½ hours A waterfall of about 15 m on the Vârciorog stream, tucked into a spruce forest below Piatra Grăitoare, near Arieșeni; reached up a wooded valley on foot or by horse cart. - [Vârghiș Gorge](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/varghis-gorge) — Gorges and canyons · Merești, HR · 3½ – 4 hours A limestone gorge about 3 km long, with 70–80 m walls and over a hundred caves, between Merești (Harghita) and Vârghiș (Covasna); visited on foot, on marked trails. --- Full page: https://peplaiuri.ro/en/national-parks-and-reserves Other languages: Română: https://peplaiuri.ro/parcuri-nationale-si-rezervatii.md · Deutsch: https://peplaiuri.ro/de/nationalparks-und-naturschutzgebiete.md · Italiano: https://peplaiuri.ro/it/parchi-nazionali-e-riserve.md · Français: https://peplaiuri.ro/fr/parcs-nationaux-et-reserves.md · Español: https://peplaiuri.ro/es/parques-nacionales-y-reservas.md · Magyar: https://peplaiuri.ro/hu/nemzeti-parkok-es-rezervatumok.md Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania