Cheile Bicazului

The Bicaz Gorges are one of those sights that stop the car by themselves: a narrow road threaded between limestone walls that rise sheer, at times so close that the sky narrows to a strip. The tightest point, Gâtul Iadului — the Throat of Hell — is exactly what the name suggests, a stone gate the road barely squeezes through. Above, rock silhouettes such as Piatra Altarului have given the area a long-standing reputation among climbers.

The gorges lie within Cheile Bicazului–Hășmaș National Park and take only minutes to drive, but it is worth stopping and walking a stretch to grasp the true scale of the walls. At the Harghita end opens Lacu Roșu, with its drowned tree trunks, while to the east rises the Ceahlău massif.

Good to know Summer traffic is heavy and parking limited; early morning is the only genuinely quiet window. Watch for rockfall and for pedestrians on the carriageway. Check the state of the mountain roads and the mountain weather, especially in winter, and explore the rest of the Ceahlău–Bicaz area, including the climb to Toaca.