What you should consider on your motorcycle trip through Romania 🇷🇴

Be aware of the dogs

Forget the bears in RO. Anyone who travels off-road or on-road in Romania must be prepared to see dogs on the road at any time (!!!).

While the dogs were predictable off-road when driving over alpine pastures and meadows, on-road they would suddenly come charging out of the hedge. Unfortunately, not all of them are friendly. Many Romanians tell me of attacks on cyclists and joggers.

On my trip I had contact with dogs almost every day - fortunately without any accidents (on both sides).

Above all, the shepherd dogs or the "wild" dog packs should not be underestimated.

My recipe: stay calm and concentrate on driving quickly - don't swerve under any circumstances, keep your limbs on the bike. The dogs usually left me alone after 10 meters - maybe it was because of the heat and the fact that I left quickly. You should have very good control of your bike, especially off-road. I left the engine running off-road during photo sessions or short breaks.

In the mountains - watch out for cattle and horses!

You can find them on-road and off-road.

They were peaceful towards me, but getting around them is unavoidable, so keep an eye on your speed.

If you see dirt spots (cow pats, mud) on the road, you get a good indicator.

Attention! Forest workers!

I often thought I was alone off-road in the forest - until I met a group of forest workers in the next clearing - or rather their equipment:

Timber truck, excavator, flatbed truck or Dacia Logan. So expect oncoming traffic on gravel roads too. Possible indicator: dust development

Vegetation extending into the roadway

Nobody cuts back trees and bushes here. Be careful: on side roads, a branch or bush can easily extend into the road.

In any case, visibility is severely impaired, which can have extremely unfortunate consequences when combined with cows, horses, tractors or carts.

Romanians cut the curves

For whatever reason, the curve is often shortened despite the solid line - to the detriment of oncoming traffic.

This is often the case, especially in the mountains. In situations where things got too crazy for me, I switched on my additional light on the motorcycle - I had the feeling that it helped.

Because the oncoming Romanian (out of shock 😜) often seemed to correct his driving line.

Tractors and other slow vehicles

Yes, they still exist here: horse-drawn carts.

Just like tractors, they are very slow. They can have one thing in common: they are over-loaded with straw and lurk around every bend, both on and off-road. Romanians are generally not interested in signs prohibiting tractors and other vehicles on the road 😅