Ride Overview

The Carpathian Mountains represent the largest area of pristine nature in Central and Eastern Europe. More than one third of all wolves, bears, and lynx west of Russia roam these impressive mountains. At the foot of the Carpathians is the village of Sinca Noua, “New Shinca”, a small and picturesque village of some 2,000 inhabitants.

Time stands still here, shepherds take their flocks in the mountains as they did for centuries, in the evenings, cows and water buffaloes are brought back from the pastures to the village and there is little noise except the buzzing of insects and the twittering of sparrows and swallows. Hoopoes, bee-eaters, black storks or lesser spotted eagles are commonly sighted and the area has an incredible richness of flowers in all colors.

Your base for the week, a well appointed and comfortable guesthouse, combines local traditions with a Western standard. The center has a guesthouse with private bathrooms and offers organic food mainly from the garden onsite, their own chickens and pigs, or from surrounding local farms.

The horses are Arab and Shagya-Arab, Kisberi, Gidran, and other Hungarian breeds. This mixture offers a suitable horse for everybody from calm horses for the lesser experienced to fast and fiery horses for the demanding rider. But all horses have stamina and are used to the mountainous terrain. This is a week of riding in one of the most amazing areas of Europe,
but is also at a unique place that is an integral part of the largest conservation programes in the Carpathian Mountains.

2025 Dates: May 3-10, May 10-17, May 31-June 7, June 14-21, June 28-July 5, July 12-19, July 26-Aug. 2, Aug. 9-16, Aug. 23-30, Sept. 6-13, Oct. 4-11, Oct. 18-25, Nov. 1-8

Rates: April/May/Oct.: $1,565.00 USD or 1305,00€
June-Sept.: $1,775.00 USD or 1480,00€
Single Supplement: $140.00 USD or 120,00€
Non rider sharing a room with a rider: $1,050.00 USD or 880,00€

Included

  • 7 nights accommodation
  • 5 days of guided trail riding
  • All meals
  • Horse and all tack
  • Camping excursion on a small hilltop
  • Guiding services
  • A cultural guided day trip to Sighisoara and Viscri (UNESCO world heritage sites)
  • A trip to Bran castle
  • Transfer to/from Bucharest Airport at pre set time
  • An excursion to a wildlife hide, where you can see brown bears in their natural habitat
  • All local taxes

Not Included

  • Airfare
  • Travel Insurance
  • Beverages outside of meals
  • Gratuities for the team at the end of the program

Day 1 - Arrival

We fly to Bucharest airport, where we will be picked up and transferred through the spectacular mountains to our guesthouse (ca. 3 hours). You will receive a welcome drink, a great dinner and will spend the evening with the staff to discuss the coming week.

Day 2: Half-day ride and a visit to a virgin forest

After breakfast you will be shown around the farm and introduced to the horses. Soon we take off for a first 3 h-ride passing beautiful hay meadows, ancient pastureland, and old beech forests. You will have time to get used to the horses, the equipment and the terrain. The hills offer a fantastic view over the area and the meadows invite for some first trot or canter.

Upon return, after a short lunch, we will drive up a forest road to the famous virgin forest of Stramba Valley (UNESCO World Heritage Site). We will do a 2-hour hike, see these century old giant beech and fir trees (amongst them the tallest known tree of Romania), and learn about the ecosystem of the mixed mountain forests of the Carpathians.

Day 3: Over the hills and into the mountains

Today we head off for a full day-ride along the meadows and through the forests at the foot of the mountains. We will have stunning views and lots of possibilities for canters over the meadows. You will be stunned by the variety of wild flowers and we might come across tracks of bears or wild boar.

We have our lunch break on beautiful meadows with spectacular views and return in the afternoon back to the stable.

Day 4: Rest for the horses and the history of Transylvania

Today we give the horses a rest and experience the true history of Transylvania. We leave the farm and drive for about two hours through sleepy villages to the north, until we reach the medieval town of Sighisoara, one of the cultural centers of the Transylvanian Saxons.

After, we continue to the village of Viscri with its famous fortified church (UNESCO World Heritage Site) from the times of the invasion of Turks. It is just a gravel road, which gets us the last 10 kilometers to Viscri, a settlement of the German minority, founded 900 years ago. In 1990, most of the villagers have left to Germany, but a small number of people stayed to continue their traditional life. King Charles, who visited the village many times, is a great admirer of the village.

We will be served a traditional Saxon meal with food from own the own gardens and home-made wine and plum brandy: Thereafter, we visit the fortified church, stroll through the village and return back to the guesthouse until the evening.

Our guide is passionate about the history of Transylvania and once you have spent the day there, you will be as well.

Day 5 and 6: 50 km roundtrip through the Transylvanian forests

A 50 km roundtrip leads us through the endless forests of Transylvania, home of the large carnivores. We pass through forests and cross beautiful mountain meadows, will have the possibility for some long canters and arrive in the afternoon in an area, where people’s life has changed little since the Middle Ages. Their little mountain farms are still being worked with oxen or horses, people lack even facilities such as running water or electricity. Camp is being set for us at one of these farms with a fantastic view around.

We will enjoy a rustic dinner cooked at the campfire and have a long evening around the fire to tell stories.

If you don’t fancy camping out in tents, we are happy to pick you up after dinner (20 min walk is necessary) and drive you to the guesthouse for the night and back again the next morning.

The next morning we pack our stuff and ride along forest trails and roads through the wild forests of Transylvania. We can enjoy the spectacular view over the Carpathian Mountains and tracks of wolves or bears are commonly found along the trails. In the afternoon, we arrive back at the guesthouse.

Day 7: A ride through time and a visit to Dracula’s castle

On our last ride for the week, we ride for about 3 hours in a loop around Sinca Noua through wild forests, beautiful meadows, enjoy canters and great scenery. We are back for a late lunch, to continue in the afternoon to the nearby Bran castle, commonly known as Dracula’s castle. However, you will learn that the history is much more exciting than the legend ...

In the evenings after dinner, you have the choice to watch video presentations about the conservation initiatives of our hosts or might opt to spend the evening at our willow pavilion on the open fire place or have a drink at the bar.
One evening, you will have the possibility to visit a hide in the forest not far from Equus Silvania,
where the chance to see wild brown bears is very high.

Day 8: Departure

After breakfast we pack our luggage and are being brought back to Bucharest.

You might want to opt to spend some additional days for a unique wilderness experience, organized by the foundation’s travel company. Please let us know if we can help you with this.