Three autumn forest walks from Brasov

Brasov sits in a bowl of beech forest, and for a few weeks every autumn the whole bowl changes colour. The beech goes first, copper and then gold, while the spruce higher up stays dark, so the slopes come out striped. It usually peaks in the middle of October, a little earlier on the high ground and a little later down by the town.

You do not need a car or a full day to see it. These are three walks we send friends on, in order of effort.

Tâmpa: an hour above the old town

The mountain behind the Brasov sign starts at the edge of the old town, by the medieval walls. The zigzag path up through the forest is wide and well kept, about an hour to the top and four hundred metres of climbing, and the view from the summit looks straight down on the roofs of the old town.

• Good for: a morning or a late afternoon, anyone who walks regularly.
• Way down: the same path, or the cable car if it is running.
• Watch for: wet leaves on the steeper stretches. They are slicker than they look.

Piatra Mare and the Seven Ladders

Half an hour from town, Piatra Mare is the gentlest real mountain day near Brasov. A forest track climbs to Șapte Scări, the canyon where a chain of waterfalls is climbed on fixed ladders and walkways, with beech on every side. In October the water is low and the light comes down into the gorge at a slant.

• Good for: families, first mountain walks, a half day.
• Distance: roughly eight kilometres and three hundred metres of climbing on the loop we walk.
• Watch for: the ladders can close after a hard frost. Check before you set off.

This is also the walk we run most often: the guided Piatra Mare day picks you up from your accommodation and runs four days a week, all year.

Postăvarul from Poiana Brașov

For a proper day, start from Poiana Brașov and climb Postăvarul through the forest to the open ground near the top, at about eighteen hundred metres. This is the walk for colour from above: the beech below you, the spruce around you, and on a clear day the Bucegi and the Piatra Craiului on the horizon.

• Good for: fit walkers with a full day.
• Climb: around eight hundred metres from the resort.
• Watch for: the top is ten degrees colder than town, and the light goes early. Start in the morning.

A word about bears

All three walks are in bear country. Bears near Brasov are used to people and rarely a problem, but give them no reason to come closer: walk and talk, keep food sealed, do not walk the forest at dusk, and never approach one for a photograph. If you meet one, stay calm, do not run, and back away slowly the way you came.

Before you go

October days are short and the weather turns fast above the trees. The basics are on our October packing list: a warm layer, a waterproof, a headtorch, and a time you agree to turn back.

If you would rather someone else watched the clock, the map and the bears, walk Piatra Mare with us. Tudor leads it most weeks.