Transylvanian Rock Climbing School For Beginners

  Hungary

Budapest

  Romania

Cluj-Napoca,  Turda

Dates: From May until September, starting every Saturday

Description: Our Rock Climbing School offers students professional tuition in some of Europe's most remarkable natural environments, Romania's Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians remain largely undiscovered by the outside world, covering approximately one third of the country's entire land mass, the region is adorned with forest, waterfalls, fresh water springs and ancient ruins. This Adventure Travel Tour aims to enrich and refine your experience by including visits to historical sites and offering our guests the chance to absorb some of Transylvania's diverse cultures.

Day by day itinerary:

Day 1 Saturday - Budapest - Cluj Napoca
Arrive in Budapest. From Budapest you will be driven to the ancient Roman city of Cluj Napoca (around 250 miles), a buzzing university/student city. You will stay in a good quality 2* hotel with basic amenities.

Day 2 Sunday - Cluj Napoca - Turda - Turda Gorge - Buru
From Cluj, it is a 30minute drive to Turda, the birth place of the Unitarian religion. In the morning we will visit Turda Salt Mine, one of the oldest and best preserved mines of its kind in Europe, with its long and narrow underground tunnels, 'frozen' cascades of salt crystal waterfalls and resounding acoustics chambers. Our next stop is Turda Gorge, one of the best known climbing areas in Romania. Here you will be taught how to use basic climbing equipment, as well as learning and testing out some basic climbing techniques. For the evening you can settle into the 2* Hotel in Buru, situated in the mountains approximately 10 miles from Turda Gorge. All the rooms include en-suite bathrooms and the hotel has its own bar; note that the average price for a half-litre of beer in Romania is approximately 0.39 GBP/0.73 USD/0.57 EURO.

Optional: when returning to the hotel, you can walk part of the route back and take a shower under a stunning, cascading waterfall.

Day 3 Monday - Buru - Turda Gorge - Buru
For the second days' climbing at Turda Gorge you will learn the two most important techniques used in rock climbing: "belaying" and "abseiling". "Belaying", is the technique of securing the other climber using the harness and rope. "Abseiling", is the technique of lowering yourself down from a rock face. Return to the 2* hotel in Buru for the evening.

Optional: On the way to the cabin, you will again have the option to walk part of the way and shower under the waterfall.

Day 4 Tuesday - Buru -Rimetea - Valisoarei Gorge - Buru
Today you will try another climbing area, the Valisoarei Gorge, which is very popular for Transylvanian climbers and one of the birth places of rock climbing in Romania. On the way there, our first stop is Rimetea, a remote and traditional village with an ethnographic museum relevant to that area. The village is surrounded by mountains and has the oldest peasant house in Transylvania.

After Rimetea, we will drive to Coltesti village, above which lies the famous Coltesti castle ruins. The castle was built between 1240-1270 for the Thoroczkay noble family, and then, in 1703 it was conquered by an Austrian general, General Tiege. From Coltesti it is a short drive to Valisoarei Gorge. Here you will have the opportunity to climb on a different type of limestone rock-formation to put into practice, reaffirm and fine tune all you have learned up until now. In the evening, drive back to the hotel in Buru.

Day 5 Wednesday - Buru - Aiud - Ramet Gorge - Buru
Again you will have the opportunity to try a new climbing area at Ramet Gorge, one of the wildest and most spectacular gorges of Transylvania. En route towards Ramet Gorge, we will stop at the Town of Aiud to visit the, still intact, medieval citadel. Inside the citadel there stands a protestant church, formerly roman catholic. From Aiud we will drive directly to Ramet Monastery, located at the entrance of the Gorge. After visiting the monastery we will start climbing in the gorge and try some new climbing routes. Tonight, you will return to Buru for the last night.

Day 6 Thursday - Buru - Turda Gorge - Cluj Napoca
On the final day of climbing, you will concentrate on reaffirming and consolidating all the techniques you have learned and experienced on varying rock surfaces. For the course finale, we offer you the opportunity to be assessed; to help evaluate your skills and offer advice on how to improve on your overall climbing capabilities - from fitness to more specialized climbing techniques. The idea is to help prepare you for your next climbing adventure, wherever that may be; after all, practice makes perfect.

Accommodation will be in a 2* hotel in Cluj Napoca, offering you an opportunity to explore the night life in one of Romania's our most important student cities.

Day 7 Friday - Cluj Napoca - Budapest
Depart from Cluj, drive through western Transylvania, and arrive at a 2* hotel in Budapest, a genuine paradise for thermal spas. Budapest, also known as the City of Nine Bridges, lies on the Danube River and boasts a whole host of sites and activities; many buildings of significant historical importance, hundreds of thermal springs, great-value shopping and wonderful vistas from virtually anywhere in the city.

Day 8 Saturday Budapest - Home
After breakfast, depart from Budapest.

Highlights:
* Climbing in Three Limestone Areas: Turda Gorge (Cheile Turzii), Valisoarei Gorge (Cheile Valisoarei), Ramet Gorge (Cheile Ramet)
* Turda Gorge; a true climbing paradise with high limestone walls exceeding 200m and a very beautiful nature reserve with nearly 1000 different varieties of plant species.
* Ramet Gorge; one of Romania's most impressive gorges, it is set in a truly wild part of the Carpathian Mountains
* The Oldest Peasant House in Transylvania, in Rimetea village
* The Oldest Wooden Church in Transylvania in Ramet Gorges
* Budapest the city of baths

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Participants Travel Independently

Typically Participants Work in Groups of 14

Application Process Involves:

• Written Application

Transylvania Live, Tour Operator and Member of American Society for Travel Agents's Mission Statement: Transylvania-Live it is simply the most spectacular way to discover Transylvania. Our aim is to introduce you to genuine Transylvania. Helping preserve beautiful traditions, thousands of years old, keeping alive the culture of different areas by introducing you to locals, assuring that Transylvania will always welcome you with pine flavor and thick forests, making sure that in a village "grandmother" waits you with a slice of traditional pie is not at all difficult. We are the only Romanian tour operator offering the possibility of enjoying Transylvanian Festivals live, both making use and preserving Transylvanian traditions and mythology! Our offer includes cultural holidays that take you to genuine Transylvanian Festivals to celebrate together our songs, dances, see the work of the shepherds, admire the mastery of our craftsmen. Transylvania Live appeals only to the help of local guides both in Romania and Hungary; we work only with local suppliers, so that money will stay where needed. We're supporting "Saint Daniel's Foundation" program which already built a house for the elderly and now is trying to build the second one for both old people and children in the program entitled - "A grandfather for a nephew - A nephew for a grandfather". Sustaining our region through involvement in civic projects is another priority for us. Transylvania Live is co initiator of the "Tourism Information Centre" in Turda, sponsor of belles-lettres national magazine "Echinox" and student's theatre festival "Alterego" as well as sustainer of "Transylvania Riders" motor club.

Year Founded: 1995