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Gârda de Sus, Romania
Romania

Things to do in Gârda de Sus

Why you should go

Ninety seconds on Gârda de Sus

A scattered commune in the Apuseni whose farmsteads are spread up the hillsides rather than gathered in a street, which is how the Moți have always settled. It is the road head for the ice cave and for the gorges of the Ordâncușa. The Apuseni are the softest of the Romanian mountains and the most karstic, with something like fifteen hundred recorded caves. Winter closes several of the approach roads and the ice cave is at its best in spring.

4 places on record

Things to do

4

  1. Apuseni Natural Park

    Park · 5 hr

    A protected area of about 76,000 hectares over the karst plateau, holding ice caves, gorges, sinkholes and the Padiș basin, which is the centre of the region's walking.

  2. Ordâncușa Gorge

    Canyon · 2 hr

    A limestone gorge below the ice cave with walls that close over the road in places, carrying a stream and several cave mouths. It is driven or walked and it is the way up to Scărișoara.

  3. Poarta lui Ionele Cave

    Landmark · 30 min

    A show cave with a 15 metre entrance arch beside the main road, short and easily done, and the gentlest introduction to the karst here.

  4. Scărișoara Cave

    Landmark · 1.5 hr

    A cave holding an underground glacier of about 100,000 cubic metres, the second largest in south east Europe, some of it around 3,500 years old. It is entered by stair into a 48 metre shaft and the temperature stays near freezing.

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