How many days do you need at Lacu Roșu?

One or two nights. A single night covers the lake shore path, a rowing boat and an early walk through Bicaz Gorge before the traffic builds. A second night makes room for a climb to Suhardu Mic or the Piatra Ucigașului loop, each a half day from the shore.

Do you need a car at Lacu Roșu?

Not once there. The lake, the trailheads and the gorge are all close to the resort, and the gorge itself is best walked. Microbuses run several times a day to Gheorgheni and to Piatra Neamț through Bicaz; the Gheorgheni buses stop in early afternoon, while the Piatra Neamț ones run into the evening. Parking by the lake is paid.

When is the best time to visit Lacu Roșu?

June and September, when the trails are clear and the gorge road is quieter. Summer weekends bring heavy traffic through the gorge and queues for the boats. In winter the lake freezes thick and the mountain trails ice over.

What language is spoken at Lacu Roșu?

Romanian and Hungarian. The resort belongs to Gheorgheni in Harghita County, where most people speak Hungarian as a first language, and signs are often bilingual: the lake is Gyilkos-tó in Hungarian. English is less common than in the big cities.

What currency is used at Lacu Roșu?

The Romanian leu. Hotels and larger guesthouses take cards, but the boat landing, the parking and the souvenir stalls along the lake and in the gorge are simpler with cash.

Which airport is closest to Lacu Roșu?

Bacău, BCM, about 120 km east by road. Târgu Mureș, TGM, is about 145 km west. Both routes are mountain roads that take around two and a half hours, the Bacău one through Bicaz Gorge itself.

Things to Do in Lacu Roșu, Romania

Bicaz Gorge

Canyon · 2.5 hr

An eight kilometre limestone gorge cut by the Bicaz, with walls rising about 300 metres and narrowing to a slot at the Gâtul Iadului where the road runs under overhangs. Climbers come for the walls; walkers use the road itself, as there is no separate path.

Piatra Altarului

Landmark · 30 min

A free-standing limestone tower in the middle of Bicaz Gorge, with a tall cross on its summit. It is the gorge's best-known climb, with more than a dozen routes, and can only be reached by climbing. It stands clear of the walls on either side and is easy to pick out from the road, so pull in at the next lay-by for the view.

Piatra Ucigașului

Viewpoint · 3 hr

A 1,378 metre limestone crag over the lake, with a viewing cabin built out on the cliff edge and the whole basin below it. Most walkers make it a three hour loop from the shore through the Ghilcoș meadow, about seven kilometres with some 400 metres of climbing. One short exposed stretch has a fixed cable, so take care on it when the rock is wet or icy.

Wild Ferenc Via Ferrata

Other · 2.5 hr

A steel cable route up the rock wall below Suhardu Mic, about 200 metres long with 173 metres of climbing, graded C/D: hard, and not one for a first via ferrata. The foot of the wall is twenty to twenty five minutes from the road on the blue triangle, then up a short scree slope. Full kit is required: helmet, harness and via ferrata lanyards, plus gloves for the cable.

Hășmaș National Park

Park · 5 hr

The national park takes in the gorge, the lake and the limestone ridge of Hășmașu Mare behind them, about 6,600 hectares in all. Marked trails leave from the lake shore and from the gorge road. Routes range from an hour's climb to a viewpoint to a full day on the ridge.

Red Lake

Lake · 1.5 hr

A landslide dammed lake formed in 1837, about 12 hectares, named for the red iron-bearing sediment the Roșu brook carries into it. The petrified spruce trunks standing in the shallows are what is left of the drowned forest. A path runs round the shore in about an hour.

Suhardu Mic