Sinaia – the pearl of the Carpathian Mountains

Located on Prahova River Valley, at the foot of Varful cu Dor, Furnica and Piatra Arsa Mountains, Sinaia resort covers the area from Gura Padurii, on the North, where there is also the “Vadul Cerbului” inn, to Izvorul Dorului, where is to be found the new quarter called “Platoul Izvor”.
Also called the Pearl of the Carpathian Mountains, Sinaia is located at an altitude between 767m and 860m, and besides the wonderful landscapes, it offers the possibility of practicing winter sports. The access to the ski slopes in the resort is possible by taking the cable car to Cota 1400 and then to Cota 2000. The Tourist Information and Promotion Center, located in a building in the Mayoralty yard, offers complete information about the touristic activity. The ”Salvamont” Mountain Rescue Public Service also has its headquarters here. Among the main attraction points we can enumerate The Peles Castle, Pelisorul, Gara Regala (the Royal train station), Sinaia Monastery, Sinaia Casino, “George Enescu” memorial house, the “Luminis” villa in Cumpatu quarter, Nicolae Iorga’s house (on 1 Ghe. Doja Street), Anastasie Simu’s house, a great lover and collector of Romanian pieces of art (on 68 M. Kogalniceanu Street.

Sinaia train station

The train station in Sinaia was built in 1913, and at the beginning of the 20th century here stopped important international trains, like Orient Express or Arlberg Express. On the platform there is a plaque built in the memory of the Romanian Prime Minister I. Gh. Duca, killed by legionaries in 1933.
The second train station, Gara Regala (the Royal train station), was built in 1939 and it was for the trains transporting the Royal family. At that time, the insignias of Carol II were on the building. In the central room there was a square mural painting, with sides of 5.5 metres, presenting o royal hunting, and which had a Latin inscription: Voivode Basarab, the 14th century.
The official destination of the Royal train station was kept also during Communism, the American president Gerald Ford passing by in 1975. Nowadays the train station is not open to the public.

Sinaia Casino

Built between 1912 and 1913, at Carol I’s wish, Sinaia Casino is located in the “Dimitri Ghica” Park. The first shareholder was Baron of Marcay, shareholder at Monte-Carlo Casino, after whose plans Sinaia Casino was built as well. After a short period of time it entered the circuit of the greatest casinos in the world, special trains bringing the gamblers in the resort. During the ‘30s it became the main attraction point of the resort, what brought the economic and social development of the town as well. It is said that, at that time, there were at least 800 persons per day that “visited” the Casino. After 1947 the building became Casa de Cultura (the House of culture), where were organized plays, folkloric performances and concerts. Only in 1975 it was completely renovated and used for international meetings. Nowadays, Sinaia Casino houses the International Conference Center which is in charge of organizing conferences, symposiums, congresses, having all sorts of modern facilities: high speed internet, four international telephone lines, simultaneous translation, interprets, parking lots and so on. Sala Oglinzilor (the Mirrors Room) can shelter a 500 person reception. Salonul Oval (the Oval Salon) has a capacity of 240 places. Salonul cu Struguri (the Grape Salon) is for fewer than 60 person reunions. Sala de teatru (The theatre room) has 400 seats, and there are also two protocol rooms and two conference rooms.

Sinaia Monastery

Sinaia Monastery, also called the cathedral of Bucegi Mountains, is the first construction in the area of the present resort, being built at the end of the 17th century by spatar Mikhail Cantacuzino, after his return from the Sinai Mountain. This is where the name of the monastery came from, name taken by the town as well.

It is said that Mikhail Cantacuzino and his family went on a trip to the holy places. One day he reached an Orthodox monastery on Sinai Mountain, with Saint Catherine as its dedication day. Impressed by what he had seen and felt in the holy lands, when he came home he decided to build a monastery with the same name as Sinai Mountain.

The monastery was built between 1690 and 1695, having as goal the protection of the commercial route on the Prahova River Valley as well. In time, more precisely in the 19th century, because of the great number of monks, a new monastery was built, called Curtea Noua (the New Court), thanks to the efforts of priors Ioasafat and Paisie. This was the first electric lighted place of worship in Romania.

The museum of Sinaia Monastery, built in 1895 on the occasion of the monastery’s bicentenary, is the first religious museum in the country and shelters invaluable worship objects, the first Bible translated in Romanian and printed at Bucharest (in 1688, with the good will of ruler Serban Cantacuzino) and a gorgeous collection of icons. Inside the church there can also be found the epitaph made by Ana Roth, worked on cotton cloth with needle and golden wire and colored silk between 1897 and 1900. The piece of work, of world value, is included on the UNESCO list.

Tache Ionescu’s tomb, Prime minister during the World War I, who also had an important role in the Unification of 1918, is to be found in the yard of the old monastery. He specified in his will that he wanted to be buried in Sinaia.

How to get there?

One can get to Sinaia both on the railway and on the road. One can take the train from all corners of the country, passing through Brasov or Ploiesti. The trains stop in the train station located between Prahova River and Caraiman hotel.
On the road, one can come from Bucharest, on DN1 (E60) highway, or from Brasov. Then, on DN71 road, from Targoviste, through Pucioasa, Fieni, Moroieni one reaches the South part of the resort, between the Izvorul Dorului bridge and the stadium of the town.

Buşteni Resort

Situated on the Prahova valley, at 135 km from Bucharest and 37 km from Brasov, at a 800-900 meters height, Busteni health resort gives, in each season, appropriate states for spending the leave, holidays, weekends, in a beautiful mountain space.
Surrounded by Caraiman mountains (2384 meters) and Costila (2489 meters), covered by the Prahova’s river waters, the station amazes not only with its picturesque and places around it but also through the possibilities to practice several forms of tourism: mountain hiking, mountain climbing, practicing the winter sports, trips to the huts, etc.
A diversified base of quartering and meals (hotels, rest houses, chalets, tourist stops) are for the guests of the station.

A cable car climbs from Hotel Silva to Cabana Babele, on the top of the mountains. This area features unusual rock formations like Sfinxul and Babele. Omu Peak is the tallest in the Bucegi Mountains, 2504 meters. If the weather is nice, you can admire spectacular views of Prahova Valley.

Busteni resort represents the departure point in mountain hiking on some of the most attractive tracks from Bucegi Mountain. The marked paths ease the trips starting with the duration of half hour to those lasting a day. From these, renders out through the beautiful wandered landscapes, the nature’s met monuments, the perspectives that show themselves to our eyes, the tracks Buşteni – Urlătoarea Mare Valey– Urlătoarea Waterfall (1 hour); Buşteni – Gura Dihamului Chalet – Diham Chalet (3 hours); Buşteni – Pichetu Roşu – Omu Chalet (6-7 hours, in the winter in is accessible only till Pichetul Roşu); Buşteni – Poiana Coştilei – Cabana Mălăieşti (accessible in the winter only for the advanced alpinists and those who skies); Buşteni – Cantonul Jepi – Piatra Arsă Chalet – Caraiman Chalet – Babele Chalet (5-6 hours, accessible on winter only for the trained ones).
In the winter months, Busteni station offers the possibility of practice skiing and sleighing. Here are disposed ski paths with different difficulty levels. For the beginners at skiing and sleighing, there are recommended the Zamora mountain’s foot. The advanced tourists at skiing can use the paths from Bucegi tableland, the surroundings of Babele and Caraiman chalet. For the experienced tourists in skiing there are indicated the paths from Caraiman mountain, those from Ialomiţei valley, Cerbului valley.
Busteni town has several objects of a real travel interest. Among these are: Cezar Petrescu Memorial Museum, which evoke the life and activity of the writer, “The last grenade” monument, dedicated to Vasile Musat hero, died in World War 1, the Culture House, the trout stock farm.

The Meteorological Station from Vf. Omu, from Bucegi massive, is one of the highest such station from Europe, with “human equipment on board”. Through its geographical position, it is always hit by the air masses passing by, being important for the observation of the atmospheric fronts, necessary in estimating the weather. From up here, at 2507 meters height, on sunny days, you can see half the country: till over the Olt river, the Bucharest’s lights, Carpathians of the curve and Carpathians of Maramureş and Bucovina, and at North, the Eastern Carpathians.

The Meteorological Station Babele is situated at a 2200 meters height and it is top station with a radioactivity program regarding the environment. According the evolution of a meteorological phenomenon at Babele Station, where, because of the geographic position, the manifestation of the meteorological elements is made in a totally opened way, at the peak station Omu and at one of slope, such as Sinaia, at 1500 altitude, it can be made resembling observations over the same phenomenon: wind, air temperature, atmospheric precipitations. Otherwise, if at Babele is a downpour at Omu’s station might drizzle and at height not at all. The meteorologist’s say that the maximum it is at 2500 metres, at Babele being frequently at the clouds level, cloud that easily develops.

Leaving Babele, in the middle of the winter, leaving a snow of 2 meters, at the height you can discover another season. The wind passing over the cliff, through Valea Prahovei, intensifies its speed, so that near the Caraiman chalet or near the 4-5 pillars of Buşteni-Babele cable car reaches maxim intensity. That explains the fact that the Caraiman chalet’s roof was ripped off several times, and the cable car can’t be used even though at the superior station there are circulation possibilities. All these details shows us how highly important the meteorological station from Babele is.

Accommodations in Sinaia:

Hotel Palace ****
4, Octavian Goga st, Sinaia, PRAHOVA - ROMANIA
Phone: +40-244-310122

Hotel New Montana ****
Address: 24 Carol I, Sinaia
Phone: +40-244-312751, +40-244-312752, +40-244-312753
e-mail: office@newmontana.ro
web page: http://www.newmontana.ro

Hotel International ****
Address: 1 Avram Iancu, Sinaia
Phone: +40-244-313851, +40-244-313852, +40-244-313853
e-mail: office@hotelinternational.ro
web page: http://www.international-sinaia.ro

Hotel Alpin ****
Address: 1400 Cota, Sinaia
Phone: +40-244-312750

Silva
Str. Telecabinei, Nr. 24
105500 Busteni, Prahova
Phone: 40-2443-20027
web page: www.hotelsilva.ro

Vadul Cerbului
Dn, Busteni
Phone: +40 2443 12391