Ciucaș Mountains

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All 49 photos in Eastern Romania

Brașov, Bucegi, Piatra Craiului, Ciucaș, Bicaz and Dobruja · 2020 – 2026 · 49 photos

This series gathers short trips through the eastern half of Romania, east of the Rucăr–Bran corridor. Photos from the same place stand together, so the same mountains appear in different seasons. In winter, Poiana Brașov and the Bucegi above Sinaia are in the middle of the ski season or still under snow, while in summer the Bucegi plateau leads to the Sphinx, at about 2,216 m. In spring comes Comana Natural Park, in the Neajlov floodplain, and at the end of summer Rupea Fortress, first recorded in the 14th century and built on a basalt hill. In autumn, the road leads into Buzău Land, to Babele de la Ulmet, near Bozioru.

Poiana Brașov

Snow-laden firs above the slope, skiers further down and the Bârsa plain stretching to the horizon.

Poiana Brașov, Brașov, Romania

Bucegi Mountains

Wide white slopes under a clear sky in two winters, then, in summer, the Sphinx rock, snow left on the plateau and deep valleys at its edge.

Bucegi Mountains, Sinaia, Romania
Bucegi Mountains, Sinaia, Romania
The Sphinx, Bucegi, Romania
Bucegi Plateau, Bucegi, Romania
Bucegi Plateau, Bucegi, Romania

Comana

A wooden boardwalk that crosses the reeds and disappears among the trees of the forest.

Comana, Romania

Rupea Fortress

The towers and walls of the fortress, with the path climbing to the gate under a clear sky.

Rupea Fortress, Rupea, Romania

Babele de la Ulmet

Large sandstone boulders, rounded by erosion, along the trails through the beech forest, and wooded hills in autumn colors.

Bozioru, Romania
Babele de la Ulmet, Bozioru, Romania
Babele de la Ulmet, Bozioru, Romania

Bunloc lies above Săcele. Then, at Berca, the Mud Volcanoes: gas from deep below pushes mud to the surface. In spring comes the Black Sea shore at Costinești and Mangalia, then Racoș, in the Perșani Mountains, with traces of old volcanic activity and a lake formed in a former quarry. Summer brings Călugăreni, where Michael the Brave fought his battle of 1595.

Bunloc

The chairlift climbing the slope, with the town and the plain below, and a meadow of half-melted snow facing the mountains.

Bunloc, Săcele, Romania
Bunloc, Săcele, Romania

The Mud Volcanoes

Cones and craters of gray mud, with pools of liquid mud, on cracked, bare ground.

The Mud Volcanoes, Berca, Romania
The Mud Volcanoes, Berca, Romania

Costinești

Stones at the water's edge and small waves, with the resort buildings in the evening light.

Costinești, Romania

Mangalia

Rocks and turquoise water near the shore, with the town in the distance.

Mangalia, Romania

Racoș

A wall of basalt columns and the Emerald Lake, with green water below walls of rock.

The basalt columns, Racoș, Romania
The Emerald Lake, Racoș, Romania

Călugăreni

A sunset with glowing clouds, mirrored in the still water.

Călugăreni, Romania

The Ciucaș appears in three seasons. In summer, a day in the mountains, in autumn, the road to Cheia, at the foot of the massif, and in spring, a hike among the conglomerate towers of the massif, which rises to 1,954 m. Next come Lake Râușor, in northern Argeș, and, in autumn, Lake Sfânta Ana, formed in the crater of an extinct volcano.

Ciucaș Mountains

Peaks under summer clouds, a beech forest in autumn colors on the road to Muntele Roșu and, in spring, trails with patches of snow below the rocks and wooded ridges far into the distance.

Ciucaș Mountains, Măneciu, Romania
Beech forest, Cheia, Romania
Beech forest, Cheia, Romania
Ciucaș Mountains, Măneciu, Romania
Ciucaș Mountains, Măneciu, Romania
Ciucaș Mountains, Măneciu, Romania
Ciucaș Mountains, Măneciu, Romania
Ciucaș Mountains, Măneciu, Romania
Ciucaș Mountains, Măneciu, Romania
Ciucaș Mountains, Măneciu, Romania
Ciucaș Mountains, Măneciu, Romania
Ciucaș Mountains, Măneciu, Romania
Ciucaș Mountains, Măneciu, Romania

Lake Râușor

The reservoir on the Târgului River, seen from the dam, between wooded slopes under a heavy evening sky.

Lake Râușor, Lerești, Romania

Lake Sfânta Ana

The still water, with the forest on its shores starting to turn and mirrored in it.

Lake Sfânta Ana, Harghita, Romania

In spring, the series also reaches Dobruja: the medieval fortress of Enisala above Lake Razim, then Histria, on the shore of Lake Sinoe, the oldest Greek colony on the Romanian coast, founded in the 7th century BC. In summer comes Dâmbovicioara, and in early autumn Viscri, a Saxon village whose fortified church is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Brașov is seen from Tâmpa. Izvoarele, in Giurgiu County, appears at a summer sunset.

Enisala Fortress

The walls and tower of the fortress on a green hill, with the lake in the distance.

Enisala Fortress, Enisala, Romania

Histria

A shore of reeds and green shrubs under a pale evening sky.

Histria, Istria, Romania

Dâmbovicioara

Green meadows and hills, with the mountains hidden under heavy summer clouds.

Dâmbovicioara, Romania

Viscri

A house painted blue, with dark windows and shutters, in the evening light.

Viscri, Romania

Brașov

The roofs of the old town right below, with the neighborhoods spreading toward the Bârsa plain.

Tâmpa, Brașov, Romania

Izvoarele

The low sun between the slender trunks of a lowland forest, with dry grass and long shadows.

Izvoarele, Romania
Izvoarele, Romania

In spring, the road climbs the Doftana Valley to Lake Paltinu. To the north, through the Eastern Carpathians, the series reaches the Red Lake, formed in 1837 by a landslide, then goes on east to Bicaz, where a dam holds back the Bistrița in Lake Izvorul Muntelui. The series ends at Lake Siriu, in the Buzău valley. The clips filmed by drone at Bicaz and at Siriu look down on the lakes and mountains.

Lake Paltinu

The water between forested hills, with a green meadow on the shore under a cloudy sky.

Lake Paltinu, Doftana Valley, Romania
Lake Paltinu, Doftana Valley, Romania

Red Lake

Wide conifer forests, then the blue-green water of the lake, with the trunks of drowned trees rising from it, spruces on the shores and limestone cliffs above.