8 Day Legendary Transylvania Horse Riding Tour in Romania
Unforgettable Horse Riding Tour Romania
Mostly featured and demanded, this one-week horseback riding tour offers you the genuine feeling of freedom, living the life of a wayfarer.
Key information
- Rider Weight Limit: 198 pounds / 90 kilograms
- Horse Height Range: 16 to 17 hands
- Tack Type: English tack
- Horse Breed: Shagya-Arabs, Gidrans, Kisberi half-bred, and Lippizainers
Meet the instructors
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Highlights
- 5 days of horse riding
- Approximate daily riding time: 4 - 6 hours
- Mixed tour: 2 days of center-based and 3 days of progressive ride
- Chance to explore the rural landscape
- Visits to traditional historical Transylvanian villages
- 7 nights accommodation
- Daily meals
Skill level
- Intermediate
Styles
Accommodation
You will spend four nights in a guesthouse and two nights in a specially arranged yurt.
Program
Itinerary
Please note that the following itinerary is EquiTransylvania's baseline; depending on weather conditions, unpredictable natural or built obstacles can change the route. Also, the order of locations you visit might change. EquiTransylvania has the distances and riding times measured and scheduled. Based on the riders’ abilities, for your best interest, the guide can decide to shorten the initial trail or change the route.
Day 1
Arrival at the equestrian base. After arriving at the partner guesthouse, you get to know each other and have dinner. A short briefing also takes place.
Day 2
After the morning preparations, you leave your equestrian base and ride halfway to a beautiful forest rest place near Székelyszentmihály. The road leads through Transylvanian villages, as you ride pastures, traditional cart roads, and through the woods. The riders are greeted by the unique Transylvanian hills, and the feeling of clean air and freedom is your companion. You often see foxes, rabbits, and deer running in front of the riders, and a team of deer often watches the visitors.
Depending on the riders' experience, the ride is a mix of walk, trot, and canter sections. You spend approximately five hours in the saddle during the day, riding a distance of 30 kilometers. You have a cold lunch during the midday break. You will return to your base in Kiskede in the afternoon.
Day 3
This is the second riding day, which leads to the famous Transylvanian village of Énlaka. A longer ride this day, with lots of trot and galloping sections. After breakfast and exchanging experiences about the previous day, you set off and start your riding day. Passing through the first village, Székelyszentmiklós, there is already a possibility for a long trot, possibly a gallop. Leaving for Kismedesér (another traditional Transylvanian village), you ride on huge pastures and hilltops. Apart from shepherds herding herds and traditional herds of cows, you do not meet many people, but deer and foxes often watch the arrival of the riders.
You have a lunch rest in Csehétfalva, in the guest house of the Unitarian Church, which has been converted from a barn, where you are greeted with home-cooked food. After that, you ride halfway through Énlaka, where you can see the Unitarian church, the country house, and an exhibition on the coffered ceiling. You also visit the extraordinary Transylvanian Folk Museum. On your way home, you ride through forest paths and pastures until you return to Kiskede. You spend five to six hours in the saddle during the day, riding a distance of 30 to 35 kilometers.
Day 4
The next three days will be a round tour. After breakfast and the preparations are done, you head to your first destination: Szencsed, a hidden place, close to the Hargita Mountain, where only a few people live. You ride through small nice villages, huge meadows, and nice forest tracks. The ride is a mix of walk, trot, and occasionally canter. During the day, you spend approximately five hours total in the saddle, riding around 30 kilometers in total. Picnic lunch at midday.
The guests will prepare their luggage in the morning, which will be transferred with a service car to your evening destination. In the saddle bag, you store only the absolutely necessary items: a bottle of water for everyone, a first aid kit, etc. Lunch is also transported by car to the picnic place. You arrive at your destination late afternoon, where your host is waiting for you with a great lunch, accommodation in a yurt with beds, a lake, a shower, sauna, and lots of kind animals.
Day 5
This day is about exploring the natural and wild Transylvania. After a night spent in the yurt and a great breakfast, the horses will be tacked up, and you will leave the farm. You will return here by late afternoon. Depending on how tired the riders are from the previous days, for this day, you have two options:
- a. One longer, all-day long tour, heading to Székelyvarság. Leaving your accommodation, you ride on forest roads, among pine forests and mountains. In the afternoon, you reach the lookout point of Székelyvarság, from where you can see the whole of Szeklerland. You will have your lunch here, and then you will continue your ride to a small waterfall. A short stop can be at the Parliament of Varság. You will return to Szencsed with a small round, where a heated sauna and a hot dinner are waiting. Swimming in the lake is also possible. You spend about five hours in the saddle, and on this day, due to the terrain, you go mostly stepping and sometimes trotting.
- b. A shorter round tour to the peat bog at Fenyőkút, an extraordinary place which has been declared a Special Nature Conservation Area within the Natura 2000 habitat network. A great place to relax and admire nature. The bog is a great place to visit. On this tour, you spend approximately three hours in the saddle. You have a long picnic lunch at the bog, and there is also a possibility to relax and have a walk in nature. When you return to the farm at Szencsed, a heated sauna and a hot dinner are waiting. Swimming in the lake is also possible.
Day 6
On your last day of riding, you ride nearly 40 kilometers, much more dynamically than the previous day, with a lot of trotting and galloping. Starting from Szencsed, riding on a huge plateau, you reach the lookout for the Heart of Jesus, where you spend your first rest. Then, riding on, you touch Farkaslaka, where you may also visit the memorial house of Áron Tamási. You have lunch at the edge of a forest, then you return to Kiskede by riding through forests and hills. In the evening, you end the tour with dinner, a little brandy, and some wine.
Day 7
Rest day.
Day 8
After breakfast, you say goodbye. You will be taken to the airport, or a bus will be organized for the airport transfer if that is required.
About the tour
The first two days are center-based, so you return to your location, and on the following three days, you will be traveling on horseback. During the week, you do 150 kilometers in saddles. Usually, you spend four to six hours on horseback daily, with a midday break and picnic lunch, riding around 30 kilometers a day.
You will spend the nights at selected partner guesthouses, and the rider’s luggage is transported by service car to the next point. During this vacation, you will spend four nights in EquiTransylvania's partner guesthouse and two nights in a specially arranged yurt. Riding through endless meadows and on beautiful forest tracks.
The horses and the riding
During this vacation, you will ride EquiTransylvania’s well-trained, fit, and forward-going Hungarian purebred sport horses (Shagya-Arabs, Gidrans, Kisberi half-bred, and Lippizainers). The horses are trained and used to the varied terrain conditions. The horses are ridden in English tack. EquiTransylvania has custom-made saddles, fitting individually for each horse, produced by a saddler manufacturer. For five days, four to six hours a day in the saddle is common for this vacation.
Riding level
The riding is a mix of paces to suit the actual terrain condition and is fast in places. This ride is only suitable for good intermediate to experienced riders who are confident in all paces. You must be confident handling a horse at speed in a group situation and comfortable riding over varied terrain. Some natural obstacles also need to be negotiated. You also need to be healthy and physically fit. For security reasons, EquiTransylvania recommends wearing hard helmets.
Instructors
Lehel Lukács
Lehel will accompany you on this trip.
Location
On this tour, you will explore beautiful Transylvania with its traditional villages and rural landscapes.
Food
The meals are prepared from local vegetables, grown by small farmers in the village. Meat and milk also usually come from regional farms. During the tour, you will take your breakfast at the guesthouse, and lunch will be served along the way. This can be from a saddle-bag, or if possible, EquiTransylvania organizes lunch at guesthouses or interesting places where local specialties are served. Dinner is your main meal, back at the guesthouse. Vegetarians and vegans are welcome, so please let EquiTransylvania know your requirements at reservation.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Alcoholic beverages
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
- Other dietary requirements on request
Things to do (optional)
Excursion with traditional horse cart is also good fun. Wildlife viewing and bear watching are also popular and needs to be organized in advance.
What's included
- 5 days of riding (2 days of center-based and 3 days of progressive ride)
- 5 hours per day in the saddle
- 7 nights accommodation
- 3 meals per day
- Service car for your luggage
- Excellent horses
- English, German, and Hungarian-speaking tour guide
- 1 rest day
What's not included
- Airfare
- Airport transfers
- Travel insurance
- Rider's equipment (helmet rental available)
How to get there
Recommended Airports
Cluj-Napoca International Airport
115 km
Transfer not provided
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 20% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid on arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookHorseRidingHolidays.com. All major credit cards supported.