Last weekend we went for a drive, to visit the wonderful Avrig valley, that is situated at the foot of the Făgăraș Mountains. We should have had a meeting in Avrig on Saturday, which got cancelled on Friday night, but we went ahead with our plan of going to Avrig anyway. Europe has been hit by a heat wave and staying in any city during the weekend, when you have a nice alternative like going to the mountains, is a mistake.
Located in the heart of Transylvania, 25 km from Sibiu, the Valea Avrigului tourist area is the perfect destination for tourists who want to escape into nature and change the daily routine with a stay that will recharge their batteries.
Located at the foot of the Făgăraș Mountains, Valea Avrigului is the place where nature constantly makes its presence felt, and the clean mountain air is incomparable to any other therapy for a healthy life. From welcoming hosts, to outdoor activities that are meant to connect you with nature, the tourist area provides you with all the amenities of a fairytale stay at the foot of the mountain. source
The above text sounds like the typical tourist attracting brochure, but what they say it's actually true.
How To Get There
Once you get to Avrig, the rout is fairly easy. You take the county road DJ105F to Valea Avrigului.
The road is paved till one point, then you enter the country road, which is not highway quality, but it's still good. It's the quality you see on the photo above. The truth is, if you go there, the view and nature takes priority over the need to drive like a maniac, so turn off the air conditioning in the car and enjoy the fresh, mountain air right from the beginning.
Pine trees are a sign that mountains are near and trust me, you can feel it in the air.
Along the road runs the Avrig river, which makes the place perfect for camping. The place is perfect for nordic walking, trekking and mountain biking as well.
There's a privately owned lot, dedicated to camping. You pay and you have a place to ark your RV or your tent.
Or you can park your car and set up your tent where you can find a suitable place for you.
After a 14km drive, we arrived to the Poiana Neamtului guesthouse, where we parked the car, with the intention of continuing on foot and have lunch when we get back.
The Făgăraș Mountains are clearly visible from there and the view is spectacular.
This is the Poiana Neamtului guesthouse, with a big parking lot available for those who'd like to enjoy lunch, dinner, or stay there for one night or for a longer period.
The road continues upwards after you leave the guesthouse. There was this off road car parked along the road. The truth is, you need one if you want to drive further.
There are lovely, plane areas, richly covered with green grass, perfect for camping, but you need to be careful as those may be private properties that are off limits to tourists.
Most likely this was the last house and after that, there's only nature and the wilderness.
Then the road ended for cars. There was a pine tree on the road, blocking it completely. I don't know for how long it was there though.
Walking along the road you can admire the wild flowers and the raspberries, which were just about to flower. That zone is at a higher altitude, summer is short and colder, so berries are not abundant and ripe late.
Mountain rivers and creeks are always a joy for me, even though the water can be icy. We washed our hands here, but that was all.
The perfect place for mountain biking, even though the photo is ... as it is.
Poiana Neamtului Guesthouse
After our walk, we went back to the guesthouse, to have lunch. As you could see in the photos above, there are rooms with nice balconies on one side and there's the restaurant with some other rooms on the other side. The restaurant has a nice, rustic, covered terrace, where you can not only serve a nice meal, but you can also admire the gorgeous view.
There were two tables on the grass, for those who wanted to touch grass 😃.
The best thing about the place is the view and the fresh air.
Look at that view!
The menu was pretty simple. They had 2 soups, 3 main courses, which was beef, pork, chicken grill, French fries, French fries sprinkled with grated cheese and cabbage salad. So choosing was an easy job.
I opted for tripe soup, which was served with sour cream and hot pepper. Most of the time I'm ordering tripe soup as that's the only soup I'm not willing to cook at home.
For the main course, I had French fries, grilled chicken and cabbage salad.
After such a meal, a lemonade seemed like a good idea.
To give you the full tour of the place, here's how the other side of the guesthouse looked like. There were rooms at the ground floor anf the upper floor too.
There was no reason to serve lunch inside, when you had a gorgeous view and good weather, but I wanted to check the restaurant anyway.
The interior design is definitely interesting, split between rustic and a bit elegant. I would not have changed that black and white wall for something simple, but it was not my choice :).
Prices were a bit high in my opinion, there's not much variety to choose from, but the view worth it.
All in all it was a good choice. If you're in the area, I recommend Poiana Neamtului guesthouse over Ghiocelul, any day.
There's a deer farm in the area as well, which we could not visit as we were told it was too hot for the deer. The visit would have been available later in the afternoon, but we had to hit the road after lunch.
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