Balea Lake is a beautiful lake and a popular stop along the Transfǎgǎrǎşan Highway in Romania. From the lake, you’ll have views of the surrounding mountains, an amazing view of the winding mountain roads, and plenty of hiking options.
For those with a rental car, it’s pretty easy to reach, but for those traveling without a car, it can become a bit of a challenge to plan your visit. So, in this guide, I’m going to cover everything you need to know about visiting Balea Lake without a car. It’s everything that I wish I had known before I booked my own trip.
How to Reach Balea Lake from Sibiu
There are several ways to reach Balea Lake, but some are easier than others. The most important thing to note is that there is not public transportation to Balea Lake or the Transfǎgǎrǎşan Highway. For travelers without a car, that can be challenging, but there still are options.
Balea Lake by Car
By far the easiest way to reach Balea Lake is by car. You can go at your own pace, drive the famous Transfǎgǎrǎşan Highway, and enjoy the views for as long or as little as you like.
Despite the fact that I didn’t have a rental car, I think a car is the best way to visit. If you are traveling as a couple or a small group, it will absolutely be the most economical way to visit this part of Romania.
Balea Lake by Tour
There are a handful of tours that will visit Balea Lake and the Transfǎgǎrǎşan Highway. These typically depart from either Sibiu or Brasov, though if you’re visiting both cities, I’d recommend visiting from Sibiu. From Sibiu, it’s about an hour and 15 minutes to the Transfǎgǎrǎşan Highway but from Brasov, it’s nearly two hours. Save the travel time and visit from Sibiu if you’re able.
The tours themselves vary based on your interest. I saw some tours that focused heavily on the Transfǎgǎrǎşan Highway, others focused on hiking at Balea Lake, and others were a combination of visiting Balea Lake and some smaller Romanian villages. While you will find options on sites like GetYourGuide and Viator, I found that the Carpathian Travel Center had the most tour options.
Note that these tours are not cheap, especially if you’re a solo traveler. For this reason, I think a rental car is generally going to be a better option if you are willing and able to drive.
Balea Lake by Balea Bus (Tourist Shuttle)
Lastly, we have the option that I took which is the Balea Bus Tourist Shuttle. Like tours to Balea Lake, the Balea Bus Tourist Shuttle is not cheap, especially when you consider what you get. However, if you don’t have a car and can’t find a tour that you can take, this is likely your only option for visiting Balea Lake.
The Balea Bus is a tourist shuttle that’s operated by the Carpathian Travel Center and brings tourists from the center of Sibiu to the Balea Lake Cable Car. You’ll depart Sibiu at 9:00 am and arrive at the cable car around 10:15. From there, you have free time to do as you please. The shuttle returns to Sibiu at 4:30 pm (in the winter months) or 6:00 pm (in the summer months).
As mentioned, the shuttle is not cheap and costs 70 euros per person for a return trip in the same day and 40 euros for a one way trip. Considering it’s an hour and 15 minute drive each way, that’s a very expensive shuttle. But again, it’s your only option if you want to visit Balea Lake without a car and without a tour.
It is recommended that you arrive 10 minutes prior to departure for the Balea Bus, but I recommend arriving even earlier. I’d arrive 15 to 20 minutes early. I had booked my ticket the afternoon before (at 3:15 pm) and wasn’t included on their list of passengers for the day. Thankfully I was there early and was able to show them my ticket so I was able to go along, but had I not been there early, they would have left without me. So again, I recommend trying to arrive early because if the bus thinks they have all of their passengers, they will leave early.
Riding the Cable Car to Balea Lake
If you have your own vehicle, you can drive all the way up to Balea Lake on the Transfǎgǎrǎşan Highway. If you don’t have a car, you have can take the shuttle from Sibiu to the cable car station near the Balea Cascada Trailhead. From here, there’s two options. You can hike to Balea Lake or you can ride the cable car.
The hike to Balea Lake will take two to three hours, depending on your route and your level of fitness. From what I could tell, many of the guided day trips from Sibiu to Balea Lake that focused on hiking included the hike to Balea Lake. Why they didn’t start at Balea Lake and hike down is a mystery to me, since that seems like it’d be a bit easier than hiking up, but that’s just my opinion.
For most visitors (especially those without a car), the cable car is the best option. While it’s not cheap, the cable car takes you from the Balea Cascada Trailhead all the way to to Balea Lake in about 15 minutes. Since you cover an elevation change of 800 meters (2,600 feet), I think it’s absolutely worth considering to pay the money to save your legs on the way up. Plus, from the cable car, you get some great views of the valley below.
If you plan to take the cable car, I have a few words of advice. First is to pack your patience. Lines can get long and it can take awhile to actually board the cable car. There are only two vehicles and each vehicle can hold a maximum of 15 passengers. Since it takes 15 minutes for the cable car to go one way, this takes time.
When I visited, I waited 30 minutes to board the cable car, plus another 15 minutes for the journey itself. So from the time I arrived at the Balea Cascada Cable Car Station, it took 45 minutes before I finally reached Balea Lake. Luckily for me, when I went to descend from Balea Lake back down to the Balea Cascada, there was no line and I was able to board right away.
At the time of writing, the cable car costs 80 LEI each way. This is much more than what I saw online (including what I saw on the official website), so be prepared to open your wallet. When I visited, we boarded the cable car at the Balea Cascada Cable Car Station and rode to the top. Upon exiting at Balea Lake, we had to pay the 80 LEI fee. On the return journey, we paid at Balea Lake before descending. So it seems like all payments are handled at Balea Lake when the journey actually happens.
Where to Hike at Balea Lake
Of course you can just sit and enjoy the scenery at Balea Lake, but there are plenty of hiking trails in the area. Rather than taking the cable car, you can hike between the two stations, if you don’t mind a long hike with 800 meters (2,600 feet of elevation). So, for those who aren’t looking for that strenuous of a hike, here’s two great options.
Capra Lake
Departing from Balea Lake, you can hike up and over a mountain pass to reach another glacial lake. While this lake still had other tourists, I found it to have fewer visitors than at Balea Lake, simply because you need to put in some work to reach this lake.
The trail was decently busy and felt like a near constant uphill climb with uneven rocks and a tiny big of rock scrambling, particularly once you got close to the top of the pass.
I hiked this and while I’m glad I did it, it was a bit more challenging than I anticipated. Part of that may have been due to the elevation (Balea Lake is at 2,000 meters/6,500 feet above sea level) and I’ve definitely lost any acclimatization that I had back in South America.
Here’s my stats for the hike: 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers), 950 feet of ascent (290 meters), for a total hiking time of 1 hour 25 minutes. Note that I didn’t walk all the way down to Capra Lake and found a nice spot for a picnic lunch just beyond the pass.
Balea Waterfall
From the Balea Cascada Cable Car Station, you can follow a path through the woods to reach the Balea Cascada. If you took the cable car, you saw this waterfall from above, though you can also see it from the cable car station itself.
Like with the hike to Capra Lake, the hike to Balea Cascada is a bit more intense than I had expected, which a pretty constant uphill climb. That said, I found it less strenuous than Capra Lake, though that might be because it’s nearly 800 meters of elevation lower than the start of the trail to Capra Lake.
Here’s my stats for the hike: 1.75 miles (2.8 kilometers), 700 feet of ascent (215 meters), for a total hiking time of 1 hour and 15 minutes.
When to Visit Balea Lake
The time of year can have a huge impact on your visit to Balea Lake. The winters in the Carpathian Mountains can be brutal and the Transfǎgǎrǎşan Highway closes for winter.
Summer Visits (July through Early September)
The best time to visit Balea Lake (and the Transfǎgǎrǎşan Highway) is during the summer months. The Transfǎgǎrǎşan Highway is open and you can drive right up to Balea Lake. Hiking trails are clear and while it’s possible to see a bit of snow early in the summer, you’ll be able to hike to your heart’s content.
The drawback of visiting in the summer months is that it’s the busiest time to visit. All of the other tourists and travelers come during this time, so be prepared for lines at the cable car and plenty of people on the hiking trails.
Winter Visits (October through July)
During the winter months, the Transfǎgǎrǎşan Highway closes and the only way up to Balea Lake is via the cable car or to hike. You’ll be able to drive as far as the cable car station, but from there you’ll have to be ready to pay the expensive cable car fee or get out to hike.
My Experience at Balea Lake (with Balea Bus)
I visited Romania solo and without a car, which meant I didn’t have a good way to get to Balea Lake. I had looked at tours, and tried to book a private tour, but I just got an error at checkout. So, I booked Balea Bus for the next day.
As mentioned earlier, there was a bit of confusion since my name wasn’t included on their list of passengers, but I was still able to take the shuttle once I showed a valid ticket. This was a bit concerning, but the driver was super nice about it. When I did this, there were four other passengers, so there was still room in the vehicle for me.
The drive itself was uneventful and an hour and 15 minutes later, we arrived at the cable car station. Our driver gave us a little bit of information about things to do, but we were on our own. He confirmed where and when we needed to meet for the return journey to Sibiu and then we all went our separate ways.
I rode the cable car, hiked to Capra Lake, admired the views, and descended on the cable car. I still had plenty of time to hike to Balea Cascada and relax before our 6:00 pm return.
In my opinion, the 6:00 pm return was too late. By about 4:15, I was ready to head back. I ran into two of the other people from my bus and they were also sitting around, waiting for the bus. This was the biggest downside for me, but again, it was the only option for a solo traveler without a car to visit to Balea Lake.
We did end up getting to leave early because our driver arrived at 5:30. Everyone was nearby and ready to go and so he drove us back to Sibiu early. He seemed very apologetic for leaving early, but we assured him over and over that we were all happy with our experience and ready to return to Sibiu. As a bonus, we actually saw three bears on the journey back to the main highway and we probably would have missed those had we waited until 6:00.
Overall, I’m happy that I went with Balea Bus. It is an expensive day trip and I think it is overpriced for what you get. However, I’m also thankful that there’s an option at all to visit Balea Lake without a car.
Final Thoughts
Balea Lake is a beautiful, but busy area of the Carpathian Mountains, but it’s still a great addition to any Romania itinerary. Whether you are driving yourself or looking into the Balea Bus Shuttle from Sibiu, you won’t be disappointed by including this scenery on your itinerary.
Continue Your Adventure
Car Free Travel: Balea Lake is not the first time I’ve traveled without a car in a place where it’s easier to have one. Learn how to visit France’s Loire Valley without a car, how to spend five days in Iceland without a car, and how to spend one week in Ireland without a car.
