Transylvania Trail

Transylvania Trail is a self-paced bikepacking loop out of Sibiu through the Saxon heart of Transylvania, a land of fortified churches, hay meadows and shepherds that most gravel riders in Europe have yet to explore. There is no ranking and no clock: you plan your own stages and beds, and the one rule the organisers insist on is to be out of the forests before dark.

The long loop links five UNESCO sites, among them Viscri, Biertan and medieval Sighișoara, which you reach by dropping out of the forest rather than along the main road. In between it follows the dyke roads of the Olt, stretches of the Via Transilvanica with its hand-carved stone waymarkers, and some of the last old-growth forests in Europe, on quiet country lanes, macadam, dirt roads, singletrack and the odd sandy or cobbled section.

It is a young event run by a small Romanian team: the first edition rolled out in June 2026 with a group the organisers call the pioneers, and gravel bikes, hardtails and e-MTBs all made it round. Expect guesthouses, campsites and the odd wild camp, sheepdogs on the high pastures, and trains back to Sibiu from the bigger towns if you need a way out.