Our trips

Trip’s highlights:

• wild life tracking
• admire the typical landscapes of Apuseni Mountains
• discover and learn about the nature wonders of karst world
• meet people and communities where old customs, traditions and crafts are still alive, despite the challenges of modern times.

Trip details:

Start/end: Oradea or Cluj-Napoca (Timisoara or Budapest airports options available too).
Trip length: 7 days/ 6 nights
Activity level: moderate
Group size: min. 2 – max. 10

Availability 2015:

• January 5^th-11^th,
• January 19^th-25^th,
• February 2^nd-8^th,
• February 16^th-22^nd,
• March 2^nd-8^th,
• March 9^th-15^th,
• December 7^th-13^th,

Price: 567 euros/person

Trip Option: customize your trip

Day 1 & 2 | Albac – Runc hamlet - Ghetar plateau

Hike through forests and glades with large perspectives upon Bihor Mountains. Rest in a relaxing atmosphere in Runc hamlet, a typical mountain settlement, hidden somewhere in the heart of the mountains. Take your snowshoes to get to Ghetar hamlet. Enjoy the company of your hosts, a young family of moti and find out more about population of the Apuseni Mountains.

Day 3 & 4 | Scarisoara ice cave - Casa de Piatra hamlet

Listen to the sound of tulnic (the local version of the alpenhorn). Watch a woodcarving demonstration and find the secrets of wood making objects. Visit the Scarisoara ice cave, the largest underground glacier in the world. Hike across the mountain through one of the most beautiful glades in Apuseni Mountains - Calineasa Glade. End your day with a delicious dinner in Casa de Piatra hamlet, an isolated and picturesque settlement.

Day 5 & 6 | Tauz karst spring & Vartop ice cave

Explore the surroundings of Casa de Piatra hamlet: Coiba Mare and Coiba Mica Caves, Sohodoale and Hodobana hamlets, following paths known only by locals. Admire the Tauz karst spring (a green lake surrounded by white, vertical stone walls), the deepest karst spring in Romania. Visit the Vartop ice cave famous for its limestone jewelleries and the 25000 years old footprints in the limestone ground left by Homo Fossilis.

Day 7 | Departure

Take a three hours trip on snowshoes through a changing landscape towards Garda de Sus village. Visit the old wooden church, raised in 1792 and painted in 1804, with a large collection of Orthodox icons dated three centuries ago.

Trip: Snowshoeing in the highlands of Western Carpathians

• January 5^th-11^th,
• January 19^th-25^th,
• February 2^nd-8^th,
• February 16^th-22^nd,
• March 2^nd-8^th,
• March 9^th-15^th,
• December 7^th-13^th,

Price: 567 euros/person

Group size: min. 2 – max. 10

Other Options: Don’t see a date that fits your schedule? Have a group of friends and the willing to make this trip a custom one? Contact us, let us know your ideas and wishes and we’ll come back to you with a confirmation.

The price includes:

• transportation by car from the airport to Albac village and from Garda de Sus village
• back to the airport
• 3 meals per day (starting with lunch on arrival day and ending with lunch on departure day)
• accommodation 6 nights in local guesthouses ranked at 2 and 3 daisies, on double rooms with ensuite and shared bathroom
• snowshoeing equipments (snowshoes and trekking poles)
• caves’ entrance fees
• guidance and all expenses related with the guide
• costs related to trip preparation
• the knowledge, support, and camaraderie of experienced guides

The price does not include: personal drinks and refreshments, insurance, souvenirs and personal items purchased during the trip, lodging before and after the trip, gratuities for Apuseni Experience guides, other personal costs.

Note: We are always open to our customer’s demands and needs. Therefore, the itinerary described above can be adjusted accordingly in what regards the period and the activities included. Please contact us for more details.

Runc guesthouse| Runc hamlet | Bihor Mountains

Runc is a little hamlet situated in a typical Apuseni Mountains landscape, with spruce tree forests and large glades. 

The family run guesthouse – a wonderful place to spend a few days of your life close to the nature, somewhere in the heart of the mountains – has a room with a double bed each, a room with two single beds and a room with three beds situated at the attic; central heating, running cold and hot water, shared bathroom, a small kitchen and a terrace that is used during summer time. The food – mainly from organic ingredients (for instance most families in the area have cows and thus the delicious dairy products are home made) – is cooked by the hosts but the kitchen can be used also by the tourists.

Scarisoara guesthouse | Ghetar Hamlet | Bihor Mountains

Nestled in the tiny village of Ghetar, only a short distance from the famous Scarisoara Ice Cave lays Scarisoara guesthouse. A family run guesthouse recently extended, in which one can still feel the smell of the fir-tree largely used for construction. The owners, a Moţi family, are well known for their warm hospitality.

The guesthouse has rooms with double beds and en suite bathroom, rooms with three beds with shared bathroom and an apartment with 2 rooms with en suite bathroom. It also has a terrace, a large living-room and a room for meetings and conferences. Facilities include central heating, running cold and hot water, access to the kitchen (fridge also) and wash-house.

Close to the guesthouse there is the family’s animal’s farm and a restored old traditional house while in the large, picturesque surrounding glades you can see hayricks raised by the family during summer. Iuliana is famous for the traditional cheese and blueberry-pies she makes and most of the ingredients she uses in the meals she cooks are originally from the animals they breed.

Gligor guesthouse | Casa de Piatra | Bihor Mountains

This family owned and operated guesthouse is located in the heart of the hamlet of Casa de Piatra. The guesthouse has simple but yet comfortable rooms decorated with wood and accented by charming details. The whole area is very romantic and picturesque; a little hamlet with just few houses spread here and there, surrounded by rocky forested mountain heights.

The food is cooked by Tanti Dorica, the landlady and the soul of the whole place – a mountain woman full of joy and energy, always kind and smiling – but the kitchen can be used also by the guest for whatever cooking needs they have.

The family’s little animal farm and wood workshop will give, to those willing, the opportunity to witness and learn about a Moţi family’s everyday life in this specific environment.

"Snowshoeing over Ghetar karst plateau on a windless, sunny day. Spectacular! The scenery and being able to walk every day without any time constraints, we just love it!"

Lucas, 34, Belgium.