Telecabina Babele Bușteni

The Babele cable car lifts you from Bușteni onto the Bucegi plateau and is, for a great many people, the first real encounter with altitude: in a few minutes you go from resort streets to an open, treeless world, the Prahova Valley left far below beyond a railing of rock. With a 4.1 Google rating from over 461 reviews, it is valued above all for what it delivers at the top, not for comfort inside the cabin.

Up there the plateau spreads out wide and empty, with Babele and the Sphinx a few steps from the upper station and Cabana Babele as the landmark. Some of the most walked paths in the Carpathians start here: the gentle ridge towards Mount Omu on the Babele–Omu trail, or the descent towards the Caraiman cross. Those who prefer the effort walk up via Jepii Mici and use the cable car only for the way back.

Good to know Queues at the ticket office can be long on summer weekends — start early. Wind shuts the line down without warning, so keep a plan B on foot and warm layers even in August: the plateau is far colder than the resort. Check the mountain weather and keep the mountain rescue number handy. The rest of the Prahova Valley and Bucegi region deserves a few days anyway.