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After two years, I won something valuable again: two nights’ stay at a ski lodge in Straja, Romania.

Straja is a mountain resort in Romania, located close to Lupeni (and Petrosani). It belongs to Hunedoara County and is only 244 (or 277 – depending on the route) km from where we live. Soooo…why not actually go if we won?

Since we do not own a car – I refuse to buy one only for traveling within Romania, because we live in the city center and I can tackle everything here on foot or by tram – the option would be: train (and minibus and ski lift, as it turns out). Or just switch to a triple room and ask a friend with a car to drive us there!

So..option 1…no car

I looked up trains from Arad to Petrosani on infofer.ro (which is the website for the Romanian Railroads). The Petrosani to Lupeni leg is served by the privately owned Regiotrans. Anyway, direct connections from Arad to Petrosani arrive in Petrosani – during witner – at 8:53 p.m. , 9:08 p.m., and 11:31 p.m. So no connection onwards and we’d be forced to pay for a night in Petrosani. Not gonna happen. Sorry.

Option 2 …still no car.

We could still go by train ; but need to connect in Simeria, Petrosani and from Lupeni …God knows what. Apparently there is a minibus to the ski lift and then…the ski lift.

Arad-Simeria : arrival at 07:10 – 94.6 RON /RT/ pers (tourist class)
Simeria-Petrosani: departure 10:35 (there are trains which leave earlier but…you know, it’s called delays); arrival 13:08 – 22.4 RON / RT/pers (tourist class)
Petrosani-Lupeni: Regiotrans departure 15:24 ; arrival 16:13 (this is for a Friday) – 4.40 lei / pers

Total excluding Lupeni – Straja – Lupeni: 125.80 lei (US$38.27) / pers / RT

Option 3…call a friend

I really like Via Michelin because it gives the price for the journey based on the fuel cost and type of car.

So , talked to the person in charge of my booking at the lodge and managed to get a triple room (60 lei or US$18.25/ 2 nights price different) and talked to a friend. Now we are waiting to figure out the exact period we’ll travel. Since the lodge has common kitchen we’ll also do the cooking there (and shopping here at our favorite store).

Last time I’ve been to a mountain resort during winter was 1995. Kind of time to try that again.

The sad part is that we had the very same problems planning our day trip to Pecica for the folk festival in September 2012. We ended up going by bus and coming back by car with a couple of friends.

What to do in a mountain resort if you don’t like winter sports ?

Yup, exactly, I don’t like anything related to winter…ok, except for taking photos. So, what to do? First of all, take a ton of photos. Then, you can take walks in the clean mountain air. Make sure to pack a board-game …so you won’t get bored. And a good book.

And maybe, just maybe, try to have a bit of fun on the slope. An hour or two didn’t kill anyone.