The Transfagarasan

DN7C in Romania is also known as Transfagarasan Road. The renown road crosses the Southern Carpathians from Pitesti to Sibiu in a twists and turns run. Between 1970 and 1974, during Nicolae Ceausescu's rule, DN7C was constructed in military purpose. Today I will write a possible road trip that you can make on Transfagarasan because, from where I stand, the experience of seeing the places it crosses is unforgettable.

A - You will start your journey from Pitesti and you go towards Curtea de Argeș.
B - This small town was the capital of Wallachia and is home to the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral. Legends says that ruler of Wallachia, Radu Negru employed Manole to build him the cathedral but what he and his man build during the day was always destroyed during the night. Manole felt he had no choice but to build the cathedral using a human sacrifice by placing the first woman who comes to bring the workers food in the foundation of the building. To his horror the first woman to come was his wife so he sacrificed her.
After finishing the building Manole told Radu Negru that he and his man can always build a bigger church and in fear that might happen the ruler stranded them on the roof. From there they tried to escape by building wooden wings but felt to the ground.

C - After you make sure to see the place where this legend might have taken place, you continue to the village of Capataneni where you will find Poenari Castle, the property of Vlad III the Impaler. Vlad the Impaler was the inspiration of Bram Stoker's Dracula. He took the name Impaler because he used to punish murderers, thieves and other criminals by impaling them.

D - After the visit to Dracula's castle you will reach the Vidraru Lake, an artificial lake built for the purpose of creating electricity. On the lake you can practice also extreme sports including bungee jumping.

E - From this lake the road takes you to another lake, the glacier lake Balea. The landscape I have seen here is mind blowing! Up at 2034 meters in the Fagaras Mountains, the lake looks like it's situated in a magical place. Since 2006 here you will find a hotel built from ice. You can continue your road on Transfagarasan or you can use a cable car to go down to the Balea Waterfall.

F - Your journey will end in Cârțișoara and here you can choose to either go towards Brasov or Sibiu, they are both extraordinary cities and I would recommend you to spend some days exploring their beauty!

What you also need to know about Transfagarasan is that in 2009 the crew from Top Gear filmed here on the wheel of three of the world most wanted cars: Aston Martin DBS Volante, Ferrari California and a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder.Less