Dâmbovicioara Cave, Piatra Craiului Mountains

1. Dâmbovicioara Cave

From the valley of the Dâmbovicioara river, a concrete staircase with a handrail leads up past a shop to the kiosk at the cave entrance, where we buy tickets. The entrance ticket costs 15 RON. Visiting hours: Monday - Thursday 9:30 - 17, Friday 9:30 - 16, Saturday - Sunday 9 - 19. The guide was a student working as a volunteer guide.

Dâmbovicioara Cave is a warm cave with a temperature of about 12 °C and moderate humidity. The cave is 'dry', the stream that formed it no longer flows through the cave. The cave is colorfully illuminated. In the cave you can admire the formations called mammoth, snake's head, zebra's head, Chinese writing, pistol, goat, bear's paw, bear's den, leopard's skin, elephant, fish, duck's head, hermit's shrine. In the cave there are fossil remains of the cave bear. It takes 30 minutes to visit the cave.

2. Brusturet Pass

From the Dâmbovicioara Cave we start on foot, in the deep Dâmbovicioara Valley, following the road we came on, which is also practicable for cars. On the way we will see the blue stripe, but you can't go wrong. We pass by a small trogir and quickly reach an area where there are a few houses and hostels. A path marked with a red triangle branches off to the left. Immediately after the constructions, to the left in our direction of travel is a powerful spring with a small waterfall, called the Plai Spring. Then the Brusturetului Gorges begin, flanking our path with steep limestone walls. To the left at one point we see a path that climbs steeply up to the Dracilor Cave, part of the Amfiteatrului Dracilor, where Denisa and I also went with. But be very careful both on the way up and especially on the way down, not recommended for those with inappropriate footwear. On the left follows the cliff of the Salvamontiștilor and Pintenul Muierii, then we pass a fenced area where there are the springs of La Gâlgoaie. After the cliff of La Șoricel, still on the left, at the exit of the quays, on the right is another very good spring. After the quays a wide glen opens up, which fills with tents and barbecues and cars. At Brusturet there is also a closed hut. From here several trails start up the heights of the Pietrei Craiului ridge. The return trip we took the same route.

3. Dâmbovicioarei Gorges

Downstream from Dâmbovicioara Cave and the village of Dâmbovicioara are the Dâmbovicioara Gorges. These we traveled by car, but making several stops for photos. The Gorges are even narrower and steeper than the Brusturet Gorges and end at the entrance to the village of Podu Dâmboboviței, where the Dâmbovicioara River flows into the Dâmbovița River and will form other particularly spectacular and hard to reach gorges. From the cave to the exit of the gorge is 4 km.