8 Day Legendary Transylvania Horse Riding Holiday in Romania

Unforgettable Horse Riding Holiday in Romania

This horse riding vacation offers you the genuine feeling of freedom living the life of a wayfarer. Located in the center of the country, in historical Transylvania, you will have the chance to explore the delightful countryside, where most people still live like they did centuries ago. This is the best way to explore the traditional villages, to meet local people and to get to know their traditions, dances, and customs. During the ride you also get in touch with the local wildlife. You will pass flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, being part of the agricultural tradition that is still part of the everyday life of Transylvania.

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, and Lippizans

Meet the instructors

Lehel
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Highlights

5 days of horse riding
Approximate daily riding time: 4-6 hours
Mixed tour: 2 days center based, 3 days progressive ride
Visits to traditional historical Transylvanian villages
Chance to explore the rural landscape
7 nights' accommodation
Full riding equipment
3 meals per day

Skill level

Intermediate
Advanced

Styles

5 days with instruction in English

The organizer also speaks: Hungarian

Group size: 2-5 participants

Program

The first two days are center based, so you return to your location. The following three days you are travellers on horseback. During the week, you do 150 km in the saddle. Usually you spend daily 4 to 6 hours on horseback, with a midday break and picnic lunch, riding around 30 km a day.

You will spend the nights at selected partner guesthouses, the rider’s luggage is transported by service car to the next point. During this vacation, you will spend a total of 5 nights in the partner guesthouse and 2 nights in a specially arranged yurt. Riding through endless meadows and on beautiful forest tracks.

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 condition.

The horses are ridden in English tack. EquiTransylvania have 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 reason, EquiTransylvania recommend wearing hard helmets.

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 have the distances and riding times measured and scheduled. Based on the riders’ abilities, for your best interest, the guide can decide for shortening the initial trail or change the route.

Day 1

Arrival to 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 along Transylvanian villages, as you ride on pastures, traditional cart roads, and in the woods. The riders are greeted by the unique Transylvanian hills, 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 5 hours in the saddle during the day, riding a distance of 30 km. 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 5-6 hours in the saddle during the day, riding a distance of 30-35 km.

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 lives. You ride through small nice villages, huge meadows, and nice forest tracks.

The ride is a mix of walk, trot, and occasionally canters. During the day, you spend approximately 5 hours total in the saddle, riding around 30 km in total. Picnic lunch at midday.

The guests will prepare their luggage in the morning which will be transferred with service car to your evening destination. In the saddle bag you store only the absolutely necessary items: like bottle of water for everyone, first aid kit, etc. Lunch is also transported by car to the picnic place.

You arrive to your destination late afternoon, where your host is waiting for you with great lunch, accommodation in yurt with beds, a lake, 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 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 the nature. The bog is a great place to visit. On this tour you spend approximately 3 hours in the saddle. You have a long picnic lunch at the bog, and there is also a possibility to relax and to 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 km, 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 and a little brandy and some vine.

Day 7

Rest day.

Day 8

After breakfast you say goodbye. You will be taken to the airport or a bus is organized for the airport transfer if that was demanded.

Food

The meals are prepared from local vegetables, grown by small farmers in the village. Meat and milk also usually comes from regional farms. During the tours, you will take your breakfast at the guesthouse, lunch is served along the way. This can be the from saddle-bag, or if possible, they organize lunch at guesthouses or interesting places where local specialties are served. Dinner is your main meal, back at the guesthouse.

Vegetarians and vegans are welcomed, please let the organizer 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:

Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
Other dietary requirements on request

If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation

What's included

5 days of riding - 5 hours per day in saddle
3 meals per day - Great food, local tastes
7 nights accommodation
Mixed tour: 2 days center based, 3 days progressive ride
Service car for your luggage
Excellent horses
Tour guide proficient in English, German, Hungarian
One rest day
Some alcoholic beverages

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