National parks and reserves

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.