So what makes a road the best road in the world? This Romanian highway is a 90km long stretch of pavement through the tallest section of the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, connecting the historic regions of Transylvania and Wallachia. It features constant twists and sharp turns, 5 tunnels, access to Balea Lake (a glacier lake that is over a 1000 years old) and reaches an altitude of 2,034 metres.
Built in in the early 1970s, it took four years to complete, used over 6 million kilograms of dynamite and claimed the lives of 40 workers. It was used originally for military purposes; it was built as a response to the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union and used to provide quick access across the mountains.
The road now attracts motorcyclists, cyclists, hikers, drivers and thrill seekers from all around the world. Along with the many bends, curves and natural beauty the road offers these ehnthusiastics some history as well. Along it you can find the ruins of the Poienari fortress. This castle was home to Vlad III the Impaler, who was the prince that inspired Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'.
So I guess to go back to the question asked earlier of 'what makes a road the best road in the world?' the answer is variety. Where else other than the Transfagarasan road in Romania can you find this many twists, turns, tunnels, mountains, a glacier lake and some vampire history all in a 90km stretch of man made highway.
A good explanation on the history of the road and the region.
ReplyDeleteIn the worlddddd. I love Top Gear! Great post, I've always wanted to rip through either here, or the Stelvio Pass in Italy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stelvio_Pass
ReplyDeleteI would definitely love to do this tour, except someone else would have to drive. I would be way to distracted with the views!
ReplyDeleteA couple years ago, I drove the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia and always thought about how awesome it would have been to be on a bike. I came across this blog: http://cabottrailbiker.com. Worth checking out.
Oh wow, this road looks like all kinds of fun!
ReplyDeleteThat looks spectacular Ellen! Thanks for the post, I may have to add this to my bucket list now.
ReplyDeletewow, this road looks amazing. I would really like to do this tour one day .
ReplyDeleteEast side of Stelvio is very similar indeed to this road,(west side of course looks spectacular in photos but endless switchbacks actually sucked on a motorcycle)
ReplyDeleteI like to enjoy the feeling of defying gravity in corners when leaning the bike and the centrifugal force is holding the bike up from falling down - so the radius and length of the corners are important (to me). I used to try take corners faster imitating my motogp heroes but a bit slower actually provides more "hang time" not to mention is a whole lot safer on public roads.
I can show you a couple of roads here where I guarantee you would be grinning like a fool and shouting out yippee inside your helmet each corner such is the perfect radius and camber :)