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Poiana Brasov
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The resort of
POIANA BRASOV
is set at an altitude of 1000m, at the foot of the spectacular Mount Postavaru, 12km southwest of Brasov (bus #20 every half-hour from Livada Postei, by the Parc Central). There is
skiing
here from December to March on a variety of runs: the
Intim
and
Drum Rosu
are the easy ones, the
Lupului
and
Sub Teleferic
the steepest. While it's considered a great place to learn to ski, with lots of keen English-speaking instructors, experienced skiers are likely to get bored. Lessons are organized by the
tourist office
(daily 8am-8pm) in the Complex Favorit, which can also arrange guides for year-round
hiking. Skiing equipment
can be rented at the
Alpin, Ciucas, Soimul
and
Sport
hotels,
mountain bikes
are available at the
Caraiman
, and
car rental
is available through Budget at the
Alpin
.
The hotels are mostly filled by ski-package groups from Britain and elsewhere, but they may have space, especially outside the ski season. The best hotels are the privatized Alpin (tel 068/262 343, fax 262 111, www.ronline.ro/poianacibela ; $35-45) and Sport (tel 068/262 313; $45-60), the latter being the oldest and most attractive hotel in the resort, ideally placed for the slopes. The other hotels are all of a slightly lower, but still perfectly acceptable, standard, with the Poiana (tel 068/262 252, fax 262 130; $15-20) offering tennis courts, the Soimul (tel 068/262 111, fax 262 154; $15-20) saunas and massage, and the Bradul (tel 068/262 313; $15-20) a crA?che. The tourist office may be able to find you cheaper rooms in a villa or at the Cabana Caprioara (tel 068/475 947; under $6), over a kilometre along the road back to Brasov, but the only truly budget places to stay are the two cabanas on the high slopes of Mount Cristianu (1960m), reached by the Kanzel cable car and gondola: the Postavarul (tel 068/186 356; under $6) and the Cristianul Mare (tel 068/186 545; under $6). The resort's restaurants (11am-midnight) go in for "folk" architecture and local cuisine, as you'd expect with names like Sura Dacilor (Dacians' Grange) and Coliba Haiducilor (Outlaws' Hut); the StA?na Turistica is a sheepfold a couple of kilometres away where groups are taken to enjoy fresh milk, cheese and slabs of meat, paying through the nose for the "authentic" dAİcor.
The
discos
in the
Sport, Bradul
and
Soimul
hotels run from 10pm to 4am, and
folk-dancing
shows are laid on for groups at the
Miorita
hotel. The rustic-looking
Capra Neagra
is in fact is a
nightclub
, open until 1am, with the same tacky floorshows as in the Bucharest clubs; the
Favorit
, in the commercial centre, has a less exotic variety programme, as well as
bowling
and
dancing
. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Romania,
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