tymes tours
travel agent & tour operator in Timişoara, Romania
sightseeing tours, cultural trips, nature tours and active travel
Active tours in Romania
hiking in the Carpathians, trekking, nature tours
The mountains of Romania – the Carpathians, are famous as being a truly natural landscape, like very few others in Europe. On the other hand, in the mountain villages the traveller still encounters living traditions, perpetuated by friendly locals. Also, many sites of cultural significance (valuable monuments, some even belonging to the UNESCO-heritage) lie at the foothills of the Carpathians.
Basically, we organize three types of active tours:
- Hiking & Culture, in comfort: daily hikes (easy or middle-level), with many cultural highlights (visits) in between.
- Hiking and Trekking, mostly comfort: a bit harder, sometimes 2-3 days with backpack; cultural sightseeing mostly at the beginning or end of the trip.
- Wild-Trekking: with the whole logistics on our back or on horse, in mountain areas with little to no infrastructure at all.
The hiking and trekking tour from Tymes Tours don't focus on athletic goals; an average physical condition will do just fine, in most cases. Flexibility and team spirit matter most. In most cases, we sell the tours through our partners in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We are currently (2012) looking for partner-agents in the UK. Yet, we can arrange a customized active trip for you at any time.
You can watch the album here on the left; also, a few tour samples will be posted further down the page, soon.
photo: tymes tours
Culture & hiking, in comfort
Such meadows, beautiful as a postcard, make up an important point of our active tours. But there's more to it: behind the next hill follows the descent to the Moldoviţa monastery, adorned with outside frescoes. This hike takes place in the (sub-)region Bucovina, part of the Moldova region in north-eastern Romania within an active tour of the first type (see left): many cultural highlights, easy hikes (often from one monument to the next one), a lot of contact to the local inhabitants, accommodation as often as possible in pensions in villages, or homestays.
Maramures and Bucovina – sightseeing and easy hikes in famous regions
The two regions in northern Romania are famous destinations for cultural sightseeing: the steep-roofed wooden churches in the Maramureş, as well as the colourful monasteries with outer paintings (frescoes) in the Bucovina; most of these monuments are included on the UNESCO-list of world heritage. We combine the visits with easy hikes: this are mild mountains, covered with bucolic meadows as well as old forests (fir and beech). Accommodation mostly in villages, which allows a thorough look into countryside.
Logistics: comfort & genuine homestays || Outdoor: easy hikes || Culture: many visits.
[ Tour description (PDF file) coming soon! ... ]
Retezat Mountains, Cerna Valley and the Iron Gates of the Danube – hiking tour in Europe's secret garden
The area is virtually unknown for tourism; and yet, we've been organizing this tour since six years now and the guests are always enthusiastic. The tour comprises three national parks, with stunningly different landscapes: the Retezat with alpine scenery, Cerna Valley with karst and (very) remote hamlets and, finally, the Danube area (the "Iron Gates") where the big river cuts deep into the mountain range. Cultural highlights: Hunedoara castle, ancient church of Densuş, "Herkulesbad" – the spa resort of the Habsburgs, the small jewel-theatre of Oraviţa and the big city Timişoara, with its loads of Art Nouveau.
Logistics: comfort || Outdoor: daily hikes, intermediate level || Culture: relatively many visits.
[ Tour description (PDF file) coming soon! ... ]
Hiking, trekking, culture & history in Transylvania: Făgăraş Mountains, Piatra Craiului and Saxon heritage
This active tour combines trekking on the main ridge of the Fagaras Mountains (highest in Romania) with a few days of hiking in the spectacular Piatra Craiului ("King's Stone" a very steep limestone ridge). The cultural sites don't come short, with focus on the Saxon heritage: Sibiu, Brasov, Sighisoara and some famous fortress-churches of the Transylvanian Saxons, plus a detour into Wallachia, to visit a precious Orthodox monastery.
Logistics: mostly comfort, also 2x simple mountain lodges || Outdoor: rather advanced hikes (details in pdf), Trekking || Culture: many visits at beginning and end of the tour.
[ Tour description (PDF file) coming soon! ... ]
tymes tours is owned by SC Tymes Globetrotter SRL
Str. Lisabona nr. 7/1A, Timisoara, RO 300603, info@tymestours.ro
Tourism licence no. 3196/2004