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  • TREKKING IN SW CARPATHIANS – MEHEDINTI MOUNTAINS AND RETEZAT MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK
  • DAY 1. APPROACHING TO THE MOUNTAINS. BUCHAREST – BAILE HERCULANE (350 KM).
Day 1. Approaching to the mountains. Bucharest – Baile Herculane (350 km).

Highlights:

- Iron Gates dam and the large reservoir created upstream Danube River. Built in the 70’s, this is the biggest Romanian hydropower system that brought the Danube defile to a new stage as regard the structure and dynamics of the landscape.

- Herculane Spa. The resort is situated along the Cerna valley, having a picturesque background, between the Mehedinti Mountains (east) and the Cernei Mountains (west).

Its present name, as well as that used by the Romans - Ad aquas Herculi sacras, derives from the legend in which Hercules cured his wounds made by the Hydra of Lerna, by bathing there. Unearthed stone carvings show that visiting Roman aristocrats turned the town into a Roman leisure center. Six statues of Hercules from the time have been discovered. The therapeutic value of the resort's springs and climate have been known since ancient times and turned to good account from the 15th century. In modern times, the spa town has been visited for its natural healing properties: hot springs with sulfur, chlorine, sodium, calcium, magnesium and other minerals, as well as negatively ionized air (records indicated the same values as for a location at 3000m altitude).

Accommodation in 3* hotel.