Hiking in Padis: the heart of the Apuseni

After my three-day hike through the Vladeasa Mountains I went straight on into the heart of the Apuseni Mountains: Zona Padis, as the Romanians call it. Padis is a green karst plateau full of surprises. Its mysterious forests hide many a cave (and possibly also many a bear); spectacular dolines connected by underground rivers make for challenging hikes. Overall, hiking in Padis is very easy, because most of Padis consists of large pastures, where you can camp with the cows if you like. It’s very suitable for day trips with children or for newbie hikers, but also for multi-day hikes, as you will see below.

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Hiking in the Vladeasa Mountains

Normally I try to squeeze an entire hike into one blog post, but my first multi-stage trek of the season was way too eventful to do that. So I’ve decided to split it up. So here’s Part One: hiking in the Vladeasa Mountains. Sprinkled with a good dose of snow and peppered with adventure and beauty!

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The Galbena Gorge: an exhilarating hike in the Apuseni

I’ve written about the Apuseni before, but I promised to write more – and there is lots more. I haven’t been able to explore everything but there is one route that stays with me: the fabulous hike through the Galbena Gorge. The Apuseni generally makes for gentle walking, but this circular route is a good deal more challenging than most. So if you want to combine some easy hiking through the hills of the Apuseni with some clambering, this one is for you.

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The Apuseni Mountains: an itinerary

I’m supposed to be writing about the mountains mostly, but I just noticed none of my last three posts deal with the mountains in any major way. Time for an itinerary again – through the Apuseni Mountains this time. Not the highest of mountains, but certainly not the least among them in terms of beauty and surprises. I’d been wanting to visit them for a long time – and I finally got to explore them in July. And I was pleased with what I found. Here is an itinerary through the delightful Padiş region.

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