Martin Cycling Adventures

Silviu set us up with great road bikes and some great routes for our self guided biking week.. Romanian drivers drive fast and with aggression, so the quieter routes were much more enjoyable. With hindsight we would have requested that Silviu keep us off extended rides on major highways with no shoulder, as riding those roads can be frightening and dangerous. Silviu’s selected hotels and guest houses were excellent, as were his restaurant recommendations which we requested. We would have liked to see more detail in our itinerary for restaurants, points of interest, rest spots, etc.
Silviu also set up a driving week for us. Again excellent lodgings and restaurant recommendations, when requested. We rented the car ourselves, through a major international rental agency, and were shocked to learn at pick up that an international drivers licence was required. We were able to switch last minute to a local rental agency that didn’t required the international licence, which was a godsend, although our vehicle was smaller and cost more.
Romania is a very interesting country to visit, with many buildings and fortifications, dating from the 15th century, which blend seamlessly into modern life. Food is excellent, as is wine and beer, and all very reasonably priced. We highly recommend Romania, and Transylvania in particular, as a great place to visit.

The KimKim portal turned out to be an excellent tool to work with Silviu during the planning stages of the trip. It is easy to navigate and by keeping and allowing full access to the running dialogue, I found it a very good repository for reference and sharing with the rest of our group.

Silviu was responsive and very willing to tailor the trip to our requirements. He included everything that we had set out for him as our "wish list" for the trip and offered some options for our consideration as we planned the journey which was very helpful landing on our final itineray.

Silviu was very accommodating during the planning phase as well as throughout the trip. He was knowledgeable about the countryside while sharing history of the various towns, villages and regions while we were on tour. The accommodations were well appointed, comfortable with great amenities and the food was beyond our expectations. The bicycles that Silviu provided and maintained were very good quality road bikes that performed excellent.

His transport vehicle was comfortable for the transfers that we made between cities.

The Saxon villages of Transylvania sounded to me like an intriguing place to visit on a bike. it is marketed as a region full of history, social upheaval and change, all set to a backdrop of stunning scenery. it is all of these things and more, the little medieval villages inhabited by industrious saxon farmers for over eight hundred years lie in amongst the pretty wooded meadows and valleys.
Due to economic deprivation over many years, these once prosperous villages are now set in a time freeze. unchanged in over a century. beautiful castles and fortified churches sit beside well constructed houses set out in the neat linear fashion of the Saxon village.
Since the communist era many of the Saxon people left their houses and businesses and returned to Germany . much of the land is common ground, grazed by the romany shepherds with their flocks of sheep, usually assisted by half a dozen big dogs helping to guard against the bears and wolves also living in the area!
Poverty is evident in this area, the villages and churches are very run down, though there are signs of funding and investment to repair and maintain.

It is a fabulous place to tour on a gravel bike, in fact just made for gravel bike touring! some of the roads are well surfaced, but many are either really badly potholed or just clay and rubble surfaces. there are many footpaths throughout the region which make great cycling in dry weather, beware though, when it rains the mud becomes a tenacious sticky clay that will stop any bike in its tracks! The topography is gently rolling hills with some steep but short climbs. all the while travelling through open meadows, woods and forests.

So its a great place to cycle tour, but if like me you prefer to stay in bed and breakfasts rather than camp then logistically its very difficult to make a plan. I was unable to confirm any bookings until I contacted Silviu Martin of Martin Adventures. Silviu was terrific, he arranged all the accommodation along the way , no mean feat as even with use of the native language tying down bookings was difficult. Silvui is the consummate professional, he is conscientious, and really cares that his clients get a good experience. We were a self guided group, but Silvui kept in touch to ensure everything went smoothly. I would highly recommend Martin Adventures

Had a great time, Silviu was very helpful and kept in touch with our progress, he was very professional. We will recommend you and Silviu. Thanks again. Steve, and rest of group.