Photo travel guide at the foot of Ciucaș. Autumn to Vălenii de Munte, through the key, to Brasov

From Vălenii de Munte to Brasov, passing through the key, a road that is not only a road that cuts the Carpathians, but a real axis of stories. The traveler who starts from here discovers a route where the wild nature is interwoven with the troubled history, where the mountain traditions have resisted modernity, and the gastronomy takes you back to the simplicity and flavor.

The road starts in Vălenii de Munte, a town with inter-war perfume, where the great historian Nicolae Iorga has found the refuge and the place where he taught national identity lessons. The memorial house and its museum are loaded with manuscripts, books and memories that set the tone of a journey that will not only be geographical, but also cultural. Here, among the gentle hills, you feel the climb to the mountain-an invitation to leave the plain behind and to enter another rhythm of time.

From Văleni to the north, the road follows the Teleajen River, a wire of water that has carved a spectacular aisle in thousands of years. The Teleajen Valley is a witness to the caravans of merchants who, from the Middle Ages, crossed the Carpathians to link the Romanian Country to Transylvania. The road, known as the customs of Teleajen, was a strategic corridor: here the soldiers, but also the salt and wines traders passed. Today, the modern road is curled among beech and spruce forests, and a few villages remind you that here people live in an ancient balance with the mountain. Their houses have wide prispe and high roofs, meant to cope with heavy winters.

Between tranquility and legend

Arriving in the key, the traveler steps into a mountainous mountain resort. Located at over 870 meters altitude, the key was, during the interwar period, a refuge of the Bucharest Boema. Writers, artists and teachers came here not only for clean air, but also for the peace that allowed creation. Among those who passed the threshold of pensions and cottages since then were people of letters, who came to seek inspiration in the quiet of forests. The atmosphere of the resort still retains that discreet perfume of past times, with flirty villas, wooden cottages and alleys that urge you to wander without haste. The key has a special charm due to the natural frame. Surrounded by the peaks of the Ciucaș Massif, the settlement offers a clean air, recommended since the communist period for treating respiratory diseases. The resort was, decades in a row, an attraction for school camps, but also for tourists who were looking for more calm alternatives than the crowds Busteni or Predeal.

But the key does not just mean holiday villas and sunny meadows. At the edge of the resort is the Cheia Monastery, attested since 1770, but with the current building erected in the middle of the 19th century. The white, simple walls, contrasting with the green of the forest, give an air of spiritual fortress. Inside, the wooden church and the austere cells keep an atmosphere of beginnings, in which silence seems a continuous prayer. It is said that the monks, simple people, chose the place for his peace, but also for the fact that he represented a “key” to Transylvania, a hidden passage over the mountains. The legend of the name Cheia is also fascinating: some locals talk about a gold key lost by a voivode who had taken refuge in the mountains, others about the rocky keys that guard the valley. In all variants, the name acquires a deep symbolism – the key as a go, as a pass, as a mystery.

Pas Bratocea, the border between the worlds

Beyond the key begins the true test of the road. Bratocea Pass, over 1,263 meters altitude, is the gate through which you enter Muntenia in Transylvania. Once, there was a border between the Habsburg Empire and the Romanian Country. The traces of the old barriers and the stories of customs still feel in the toponyms and in the local memory. It is said that, in the old days, the customs of Bratocea had absolute powers: they decided what merchants could pass and what goods were stopped. The Brasov merchants brought postages, spices and utensils, and wines and grain came from Muntenia. Each transport was checked, each charged cart had to tell a story. Bratocea was also a place of confrontation. During the First World War, there were fights between the Romanian armies and those of the Central Powers, the traces of the trenches are still visible in some areas for the careful eye. The history of the step is therefore one of meetings and separations, trade and conflict, a living border that has shaped destinies.

The road snaps through coniferous forests, where bears and deer are still masters. The careful traveler can see, especially at sunset, silhouettes of the animals coming to the liches. It’s a space where nature still dictates, and man is just a guest. In winter, Bratocea is covered with a thick layer of snow, turning the road into a challenge for drivers, but also into a spectacular immaculate white scene. Summer, the forests resound for life, and the smell of resin is mixed with that of the field flowers.

Hidden beauties

Between Vălenii de Munte and Brașov, the relief is an open manual of geology. The Ciucaș Massif, which dominates the area, is famous for its tiles shaped by wind and rain. Rocks with bizarre shapes, such as the famous “Sphinx in Bratocea” or “Babele at Tip”, arouse imagination and give room for legends. Locals say that, in storm, the rocks “speak” between them, the wind turning into whispers among the ridges. On marked routes, the hikes can climb to the Ciucaș Peak (1,954 meters), where the panorama includes Bucegi, Piatra Craiului and until the distance.

The Ciucaș Massif is also recognized for its biodiversity. In the spring, the meadows are covered by brands, and the summer of rare flowers such as the blood-blood or dwarf carofița, plants protected by law. The area is included in Natura 2000 sites, a European natural habitat protection network. In the fall, forests burn in nuances of copper and red, and in winter, the key and surroundings become a ski and sled, with a rustic atmosphere, devoid of the crowds of the big resorts.

For adventure lovers, Ciucaș also offers less beaten routes, where the quiet is only broken by the wind and the cry of the eagles that are planning above the rocks. The legends of the place speak of the treasures hidden in the fish of the mountain and about the shepherds who, through their songs, drive away the storms. Geology, flora, fauna and myths are interwoven here in a complete painting, where the mountain becomes not only a background, but a protagonist.

The simplicity that feeds

The road to the key and beyond it has a taste. In the villages on the Teleajen Valley and in the mountain households, the culinary tradition has been preserved. On the table you will find ripened cheeses in fir peel, cheese and fresh warp. These are products obtained by archaic methods, in the sheep on the alpine pastures, where fresh sheep or cow’s milk is transformed into the basic food of the mountaineers. The cheese, kept in few wooden, gets an unmistakable, slightly salty taste, with smoke and resin notes.

The trout, caught in the cold waters of the mountain streams, is cooked simple, grilled or in the pan, along with golden muffin and garlic peak. Locals say that the secret of its taste is given by the water cleaning, which give the meat a fineness and a special sweetness. In some households, the trout is smoked slowly, on beech wood, and preserved for winter.

In the fall, the mountain gives blueberries, raspberries and hribi, which the locals turn into sweets, syrups and cans. The blueberry sweetness is almost a symbol of the area, with its intense aroma and deep color, and hribs, dry or marinated, become the basis of tasty stews. The smoked meat, the sheep’s pastrama and the dry sausages are the road to the shepherd’s road that have transhumated for centuries through these places, accompanied by dogs and long songs. The recipes, transmitted from generation to generation, retain unaltered tastes of time. Of course, the drink also has its role. The plum, loud and clear, distilled in copper boilers, is endless on the holiday tables. For those who are looking for something milder, the cherry and affinted, prepared handmade, bring the perfume of the mountain fruits in small glasses, crystal.

The traveler is doing well with the road

The trip from Văleni to Brasov on DN1A is a quieter alternative to the agglomerate DN1. The road is spectacular, but winding, so it is worth the patience and caution. In the fall, the fog can be thick, and in winter, the narters add an extra drama. For those who are passionate about hiking, the key is the gateway to the routes in the Ciucaș Massif. It is good to have appropriate equipment and respect the markings, because the weather can change suddenly. Spring and autumn, forest areas are rich in mushrooms and berries, but their harvest must be held responsible, without exhausting natural resources.

After passing the Bratocea Pass and descending through Predealul Mic, the road is placed smoothly to Brasov, the city with medieval walls and baroque markets. Here, the journey through the mountains finds its peak in a space where multiculturality has modeled architecture and habits. If Vălenii de Munte reminded you of the Romanian history through Nicolae Iorga, Brașov receives you with Saxon, Gothic and Cosmopolitan history.

Stop in history

On the main street in Vălenii de Munte, between gardens with trees and old houses, there is a place that seems to keep part of the soul of modern Romania: the “Nicolae Iorga” Memorial Museum. It is not only a home transformed into a museum, but a true gate to the universe of one of the most important historians, thinkers and politicians that our country had. The visiting program is from Tuesday to Sunday, between 9.00 and 17.00.

A house with destiny

Built in 1907, the house belonged to Nicolae Iorga and quickly became the center of his intellectual and political life. Here, in Vălenii de Munte, the great scholar found his peace between tiring trips, conferences and public debates. Also here he created a part of his vast opera, totaling over 1,000 volumes and tens of thousands of articles. The house was not only a home, but also a cultural laboratory. In 1908, Iorga set up in Vălenii de Munte the famous “People’s University of Summer”, where peasants, teachers and students listened to history, literature and political. The atmosphere was effervescent: the courtyard of the house echoed, and Vălenii had become for a few weeks a real Athenaeum of the Romanian village.

Today, the visitor who passes the threshold of the memorial house is walking in a world of early 20th century. The original furniture, largely preserved, bears the traces of an austere but intense life. The office loaded by books and manuscripts, massive writing table and library shelves create the feeling that Iorga could enter the door at any time, with haste and tuned voice. The living room keeps the terracotta stoves and personal objects, family photos and portraits that give an existence always divided between public and intimate life. The museum also exhibited objects of Romanian folk art, for which Iorga had a special passion, convinced that in the peasant traditions is the essence of national identity.