The Wonderland of the Nera Valley

The amazing Nera Valley has been on my list since forever and I finally made it happen last summer, when a group of 9 friends and I embarked on a cross-country road trip to visit this particularly beautiful region of Romania. I’m not gonna lie, it was quite far from the city we live in (6+hours), but even though we merely stayed 3 days the trip was totally worth it! Even the drive towards our destination was lovely:

Before departure I was the only one to check the route towards the camp and although I couldn’t find the exact way anywhere, all the blogs and sites said that there are signposts everywhere and no one can actually get lost. Their only advice was NOT to ask the locals in the surrounding villages because they apparently didn’t know where the campsite was.

With a very positive attitude we began our journey before noon, and after a couple of coffee breaks and stops to admire the surroundings, we were reaching our final destination for the day. Or so we thought. It turned out that all the bloggers wrote down the directions wrong, since on the way they were sending us the campsite could only be reached by foot, and not by car. After more than an hour of going back and forth between 2 villages and asking around (without getting any useful info), one of our friends spotted a half-bent, half-broken sign which eventually showed us the correct way to our campsite of choice. Below you can find the proper way drawn in in red:

I have two important mentions to anyone aiming to visit this area. One of the most important things is that the road leading up to the campsite is plain dirt road! And it’s also pretty narrow, so you’ll have to have patience (and a proper car) to travel 4 kilometers in more than half an hour.

Another very important thing: there are 2 campsites in this area. The good one, in which we stayed is right next to the trout rearing (Pastravarie in Romanian, you can find it on the map below my ill-drawn X). The other one is in Cantonul Damian, located on a meadow with 2 run-down buildings. Although the surroundings are very beautiful, the place can only be reached in an hours’ trek and not at all by car. Also, practically no one stays there and it’s pretty much governed by viper snakes. So yeah, the campsite at the Pastravarie is the place to spend the night!

The Good: Campsite at the Pastravaria, Nera Valley

The Bad: Campsite at Cantonul Damian, Nera Valley

The Road leading to Cantonul Damian:

Now that we’ve got the logistics out of the way, let me tell you a bit about the things you can see and do here. The area is known for its natural beauty, and of course the most stunning places are easily reachable through a short hike from the campsite. I’ve decided to present the two highlights in a separate post, which will be live later this week so stay tuned!

Until then, you can find a few photos of the beautiful Vaioaga Falls located on the road upward to the campsite and the trek called “La Tunele” = The Tunnels, a complex of 7 or so tunnels which can be found just before the crossroads when you need to turn left on the dirt road towards the campsite.

CAUTION!

Whatever you do, WATCH YOUR STEP! Because of the proximity to water, viper snakes roam around the area, and are very well camouflaged, so you need to be very careful! We actually saw one right at the spring where we filled our water bottles up.

Don’t forget, the best is yet to come! The Nera Valley Highlights will be presented in a separate article this weekend! Can’t wait to show you guys! Don’t hesitate to check out The Famous Bigar Falls – a must-see in this area! Also, if you don’t have any time now, you can always PIN the photo below and read it later! See you in the weekend!

Related posts:

Nera Valley Highlights The Famous Bigar Falls A Weekend Getaway to Busteni, Romania Colibita Lake Mornings – Photo Diary