Saturday 7 May 2022
Meeting of all participants in Viseu de Sus in the late afternoon. There are the following options for arrival: either completely individually with your own car (by the way, Viseu is a safe car parking area ...!), or by train to Viseu de Jos, only a few km from Viseu de Sus. There we will pick you up by taxi or bus). You can also fly to Cluj (Lufthansa and Wizzair offer very good connections from Germany, Austria and Switzerland to Cluj) and take the Tanago tour bus directly to Cluj. In the evening, dinner together in the dining car of the hotel train to get to know each other in the group.

Overnight stay in typical guesthouses selected by us near the railway in Viseu de Sus.
Meals: Dinner.

Sunday 8 May 2022
After breakfast, a Resita pulls our authentic forest train high into the mountains (Viseu - Faina). Far after the tourist end of the railway we reach the logging camp where logging will take place the following day. We spend the night in the forester's house in Faina (this night is only possible in double or triple rooms). A housekeeper who travels with us takes care of us and cooks for us. In the evening, campfire in front of our resita, which we will set up and photograph in the firelight.
Overnight stay in Faina, full board.

Monday 9 May 2022
After a rustic breakfast in our accommodation we steam up to the loggers, who will cut trees out of the forest for us today and bring them down to the valley on horses. Afterwards, the logs are loaded by hand onto the waiting timber wagon via a loading ramp. Then we steam back to Viseu on our train. However, we are involved in the production process, so it is quite possible that we will have to take loaded timber wagons down into the valley. At photo stops we cannot back up, we can only let the train pass us and then rejoin it. In the late afternoon we reach Viseu, where a sumptuous dinner awaits us in our accommodation.
Overnight in Viseu, full board.

Tuesday 10 May 2022
Another Resita will be stringing our authentic forest train from Viseu to Botizu today. We spend the whole day along the track - there are plenty of photo opportunities.

Overnight in Viseu, full board.

Wednesday 11 May 2022
On the 4th and last day on the Vaser Valley Railway, we travel up to Botizu with a typical passenger train made up of green carriages. In the past, forest workers used to travel up to the mountains on Monday mornings, where they worked and lived all week. In the evening, we end the days on the Wassertalbahn with a stove evening in Viseu. On the tour 4 years ago, we were lucky enough to load a complete mountain pasture (cows, horses and all the farmers' belongings) onto a goods wagon and follow it photographically. Should this happen again in the run-up to the tour, we will do our utmost to organise such a train. Unfortunately, we cannot promise this.

Overnight stay in Viseu, full board.

Thursday 12 May 2022
In the morning transfer with the Tanago tour bus to Moldovita /drive time about 4 hours, there an authentic forest train is hauled by a Resita for the afternoon round. Along a typical Romanian settlement there is much to discover and photograph. If we are lucky, we will meet one of the typical horse-drawn carriages along the road. Overnight in Moldovita, lunch (possibly packed), dinner in the guesthouse.

Friday 13 May 2022
After breakfast we take our steam locomotive to the morning motifs along the route, before returning to Cluj with our tour bus (duration about 4 - 5 hours), where we will spend the night. 
Overnight stay in Cluj; lunch (possibly packed), dinner at the guesthouse.  

Saturday 14 May 2022
After breakfast free time or possibility to visit the tramway in Cluj, then transfer to the airport and flight home.

End of the event.

Travel price

• 1,680 Euro per person for accommodation in typical guesthouses (1/2 quintal) for bookings made by 31 October 2021
• 1,880 Euro per person for accommodation in typical guesthouses (1/2 quintal) for bookings made from 1 November 2021 
•    200 Euro single room surcharge
•    350 Euro - Flight from all German airports with LH to Cluj and back, we charge you at the time of your booking, the then valid tariff, which may also become cheaper.

Our services

• Special trains on the Vaser Valley Railway and in Moldovita, as described in the programme;
• Transfer from/to Cluj airport in the Tanago tour bus,
• all necessary transfers, entrance and visit fees;
• Overnight stays in typical guesthouses in 1/2 double room with shower/WC, one night in a simple lumberjack's accommodation in a double or triple room
• Full board, without drinks
• Knowledgeable and experienced Tanago tour guide (English speaking) plus local guide.

Not included in the tour price are tips, alcoholic beverages, personal expenses, arrival and departure from Cluj airport.

The trip planning is designed for maximum photo and video yield and therefore for dedicated photographers and videographers. We will start early in the morning, we will take lunch mostly packed, in the evening we will enjoy the Romanian cuisine!

There have been many reports in the past about the narrow gauge railways in Romania, many of them strangely enough very negative. The very fast dismantling of most of the railways after the fall of the wall in Romania and the partly mafia-like circumstances of the often failed efforts to preserve the railways have certainly contributed to consolidate the image of Romania.

Today, the situation is completely different with the railways we visited: supported by the commitment of private initiatives, fundamental groundwork is being done here to ensure the sustainable operation of tourism. Our travellers in recent years have also shown that the railways are facing a very positive time, and both operators and museum railway operators are looking to the future with optimism. Especially in the Vaser Valley, the railways can no longer escape the onslaught of "normal tourists" and in summer, special trains are on the move almost every day.

Travel options
the official meeting point for all participants is Viseu de Sus, accessible either directly by car or by train via Viseu de Jos. If you arrive with your own car, you can park your car safely in the fenced and guarded yard of the Vaser Valley Railway and in the backyard of the guesthouses. By train there are very good connections via Budapest. Destinations can be either Viseu de Jos or Cluj. From both places we arrange a taxi transfer to Viseu de Sus.
Cluj can also be reached by plane: Lufthansa flies to the city several times a day from many airports in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We will be happy to book a flight for you; the cost, depending on the airline and departure point, is about 350-400 Euro per person including all taxes and fees.

Hospitality is an important part of the country's culture. Romania is a very traditional travel country, modern Romania shows itself especially in the capital Bucharest, while the rural areas still convey the original attitude to life. The regulation mania of the EU is not yet evident on every corner, but nevertheless the changes are tangible almost everywhere. Even in the provinces a 40-ton truck suddenly turns the corner instead of the horse and cart. The infrastructure for accommodation and overnight stays has become much better: our guesthouses in Viseu de Sus and Moldovita are simple and clean, the food there is plentiful. We will spend one night in lumberjack hostels in the Vaser Valley: here too everything is not luxurious, but clean and functional. In Viseu we will also have a standard gauge sleeping car at our disposal.

Experience the real Romania!

Temperatures & Technology
In early summer we can expect similar temperatures as in our country. Please note that jackets or trousers in bright colours have no place on a train journey!

Entry requirements
For a tourist visit to Romania there is no visa requirement for German citizens. Please check the possibly differing regulations for your home country!

See you soon in Romania!