After exploring the north of Romania, we moved the Hoppetosse to Brasov – after a day of driving we were there.
Brasov is a city with around 250,000 inhabitants and is considered to be the most beautifully renovated city in the country. Even when it was founded in the 13th century, the city was conveniently located at a crossroads of trade routes. Today, the automotive industry and its suppliers and tourism are important employers. Everything seems much more modern, tidy and prosperous compared to the northern region near the Ukrainian border.
After a short ride with Uber, we were in the city from our parking space and first visited the Protestant ‘black church’ (Biserica Negra). The church was consecrated in 1383 after a hundred years of construction and has seen a lot in the course of history.
It was given its name ‘Biserica Negra’ after a town fire in 1689, as the outer walls were black as a result.
In the evening, the historic organ was played as part of a concert and we even got to enjoy this musical treat!
The tour of the old town was also a pleasure, we enjoyed strolling around, drinking coffee and eating out.
As a medieval festival was being held on the site of the fortified church in Harman (Honigberg) the following day, we visited this fortified church, which was on our to-see list anyway.
Unfortunately, the guided tours of the church and all the other information were only in Romanian, but we did get some information from the supervisory staff. Most of the people were Transylvanian Saxons – both locals and those who were on vacation.
Then it was off into the bushes – we drove an easy track through the forest to get a little closer to off-road driving with the Hoppetosse.
The ‘Pistenkuh’ book came in handy here. We thought we would start with what is described there as difficulty level 1 and then work our way up from difficulty level to difficulty level.
After a Hoppetosse office day above Codela (Zeiden) – where we found a very well-kept picnic area – we continued with a cultural treat:
Viscri (Deutsch-Weisskirch) is a Unesco-awarded village where all the buildings and courtyards have been preserved in their original state since the Middle Ages. Today there are no people of German origin living in the courtyards, they are Romanians who are very keen to preserve the cultural heritage.
We were only able to walk around the fortified church as the interior was not accessible due to an event.
There is some tourism in Viscri – which is good because the people who maintain the village should also benefit from it. But it’s all very relaxed and not at all crowded.
As a video can tell so much more – check out our Youtube channel!
Last but not least the routes we did:
