All the cycling data and info you'll need to climb Transfagarasan South

Cycling Romania’s amazing Transfagarasan from the north and south.

Photo of the summit and Bâlea Lake (north).

Transfagarasan (officially DN7C) is considered the most famous road in Romania, connecting the regions of Transylvania and Wallachia in the Carpathian Mountain region.  The road was built between 1970 and 1974 as a defensive measure in the event the Soviet Union chose to invade Romania as it just had done in Czechoslovakia.

The climb from the north is the classic climb which ends at Bâlea Lake, before the kilometer-long tunnel connecting the north and south summits. On this climb you ride 29 kilometers, gaining 1,500 meters at 5.1% average grade (18 miles/4,920’).

From the south you will ride 23 kilometers, gaining 1,150 meters at 4.9% (14.25 miles/3,773’).

Photos provided by Patrick Morris (veloasia.com and indochinatravel.com).