Welcome to Romania! We pick you up from the airport and bring you to the hotel. Bucharest is a city of vibrant culture, art galleries, museums and a busy night life. Known as “Little Paris” for its reputation for the high life, Romania’s largest city and capital offers historical charm, museums, art galleries, exquisite Orthodox churches and unique architectural sites. Depending on your arrival time, you can visit the Palace of the Parliament (formerly the People’s Palace) — built to Nicolae Ceaușescu’s vision, it spreads across 3.76 million square feet and is the world’s second-largest building after the U.S. Pentagon. In the evening we meet for a welcome briefing, followed by a special welcome dinner where we discuss the tour ahead.

We leave the city behind and ride a spectacular road down to the Danube and into Bulgaria. Consider this a relaxed warm-up day, easing into the journey ahead and arriving in the historic city of Veliko Tarnovo.

A beautiful day of wild landscapes and mountain roads. On the way we cross the Rila Mountains, stopping to visit the UNESCO-listed Rila Monastery — one of Bulgaria’s most important cultural and spiritual landmarks — before reaching Bansko.

We ride through the Pelister and Galičica national parks, crossing into North Macedonia. In the afternoon we reach Lake Ohrid, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the oldest lakes in the world. We spend the night in Ohrid town, with time for a walk along the promenade.

It’s easy to see why Lake Ohrid is called the Pearl of the Balkans — an amazing, beautiful, peaceful place. Follow the walking trails around the lake, take a boat trip or kayak out on the water, or simply enjoy the stunning view from a restaurant on the promenade.

In the morning we cross into Albania, a wild and beautiful country where tourism is only just beginning. We ride the most serious mountains of the tour yet — the Gramoz Range, with snowcapped peaks over 2,500 meters — and pass the concrete bunkers built during the communist era on our way to Sarandë.

We start the day on the Ionian coast and ride north to Shkodër, hugging the shoreline with the sea on the left and mountains on the right. The sight of these peaks plunging into the Ionian Sea makes every kilometer worth it.

A fantastic day awaits. We ride through the Albanian Alps on challenging roads with beautiful, photo-perfect landscapes, then continue to Kopaonik National Park, crossing into Serbia. Kopaonik is Serbia’s largest mountain — we ride nice roads up to 1,700 meters, surrounded by peaks and extraordinary natural beauty.

Today we ride back into Romania, following the Danube on a beautiful road with great landscapes. We pass through the Clisura Dunării — where the history of Romania begins — and the colossal rock-carved figure of the Dacian king Decebal, 55 meters high and 25 meters wide.

After the intense riding days, we’ve earned a break in Orșova. Back in Romania, it’s the perfect moment to recharge before conquering the Transalpina. In the morning you can take a boat trip on the Danube, exploring the spectacular Clisura Dunării and seeing Decebal’s statue from a different angle. Prefer tranquility? The Danube pontoon offers a perfect spot to relax with stunning views over the water, or the hotel pool awaits for complete unwinding. We rest, enjoy the peaceful town, and prepare for two final days on Romania’s most beautiful roads.

We ride the Transalpina, the highest mountain road in the entire Carpathian chain — fantastic roads and beautiful serpentines at 2,145 meters, a perfect playground for demanding riders. We finish the day in Sibiu, the former Saxon city of Hermannstadt and a European Capital of Culture.

Today belongs to the Transfăgărășan — 91 kilometers of pure riding bliss. Built at 2,042 meters over the Făgăraș Mountains, Romania’s highest range, it offers some of the most spectacular scenery in Europe. We finish in Bucharest with a goodbye dinner and a chance to share the best moments of the tour.

Fully loaded with unforgettable experiences and memories ripe for storytelling, it’s time to head for the airport. We’ll see each other again on our next tour!