"As we had limited time on our first trip to Romania, and did not know the area, we decided to hire a local guide to take us up the mountain. A web-search (see at https://www.toursbylocals.com/VladeasaMountains) found us a guide - Camelia Matis, who lives locally. She proved to be an excellent choice - intelligent, engaging and full of local knowledge. We parked by a barn a few hundred metres up a stony track above the end of the tarmac road, in the upper reaches of the strung-out village of Rogojel. Following the route marked with red on a white background, we continued on the track as it wound up through hay-pastures into the extensive conifer forests on the flanks of the mountain. After several kilometres, we emerged into a wide open meadow with a number of houses situated on it - the largest the Cabana Vladeasa, a mountain hut open all year, with drinks, food and accommodation. After a tasty fruit tea in the company of the large friendly dog who lives there, we took a fainter trail steeply up behind the hut, heading for the tree-line on the north ridge of the mountain. There we joined another stony track that swung south past a minor summit onto the north top of Vladeasa, on ..." — marktrengove • Sep 6, 2019