Straja, the mountain resort in western Romania that competes with the popular winter attractions of Prahova Valley

Established for the miners of Valea Jiului, the Straja mountain resort has become popular in the last two decades after upgrading its infrastructure and ski facilities. The recent investments could turn it into a competitor for the resorts on Valea Prahova.

Mountain resort Straja. Photo: Ski Guard.

Almost a third of Romania's surface is covered by mountains, and the number of mountain resorts strung along the Carpathian chain is close to 50. The most popular resorts are Poiana Brașov and Valea Prahova, but often the prices of winter stays do not satisfy tourists.

Holiday offers in mountain resorts

Preparations for the opening of the ski season have begun in some resorts, and reservations are in full swing, even if the snow covers only a few of Romania's alpine areas.

The costs for a mini-vacation in Sinaia, Bușteni, Azuga, Predeal and Poiana Brașov start from 1,400 lei, at three-star hotels, for 3 or 4 nights with breakfast, but they also reach 3,000 – 4,000 – 5,000 lei/room at four stars and even 10,000 – 15,000 lei at five stars, with full program. Located above the Jiu Valley, in the Vâlcan Mountains, the Straja mountain resort has tried in recent years to compete with the traditional mountain recreation areas in central Romania, following large investments in infrastructure and the quality of the ski slopes.

For this season, the prices of stays in Straja remained lower by several hundred lei compared to those in Valea Prahova. Accommodation offers in the resort's cabins and guesthouses start from 130 lei per night, for one person, and reach approximately 500 lei, for Christmas and New Year's Eve, in some villas.

New roller coaster in Straja

At the opening of the ski season, expected in mid-December, a new investment could make the Jiu Valley tourist area more attractive for resort guests. A toboggan facility is currently being built at the resort after a local company secured European funding for a €2.6m project through the Just Transition Programme.

“It's a roller coaster, an alpine coaster, that will provide fun and adrenaline at high altitudes. The length of the installation is one kilometer and 300 meters, and the route has a spectacular descent, with spirals and bridges over the slope that people will be able to ski.” says Alin Părău, administrator of the company, according to the publication Cronica Văii Jiului.

Also with European funding, at the foot of the resort, in the area of ​​the gondola lift station, the construction of a luxury hotel will begin, with an investment estimated at 11 million euros, according to the mayor of Lupeni, Lucian Resmeriță.

The story of the Straja resort began after the First World War, with the construction of the first cabin in the Vâlcan Mountains, called Straja, in the vicinity of which the gentle peaks of the Soarelui Plateau could be used as slopes in winter.

The miners' resort, animated after 1990

From the 1950s to the 1990s, at the foot of Vârfulu Straja, travelers found the old cabin with 50 places to stay, surrounded by forests and alpine meadows, managed by the mining company from Lupeni and used especially as a recreation place for miners from the Jiului Valley. The resort's old chairlift was inaugurated in 1981, and in the following years a few modest cabins were erected to accommodate the few guests who came to the mountain in the 80s.

In the last two decades, a holiday village has developed around the Straja cottage, in the middle of which the hermitage built in 1999 has become a tourist attraction and a place of pilgrimage on Good Friday, before Easter. Above the wooden church and the cells around it, the Heroes' Cross was raised, in memory of the Romanian soldiers who fought here in the First World War, and tourists reach the courtyard of the hermitage through a tunnel on the walls of which 365 saints have been painted, in the order in which they are celebrated on one day of the year.

Since the 2000s, investment in the resort has made it increasingly popular. The Straja mountain resort has become accessible from the municipality of Lupeni on a mountain road of about 10 kilometers, modernized, and with a new cable car, and in the alpine area there are almost 200 guesthouses and cabins, as well as several places for skiing and tobogganing.

“The Straja resort has approximately 26 kilometers of skiing area. 20 kilometers can be covered with artificial snow. The 11 cable transport facilities ensure easy access to all slopes in the resort. There are 12 ski slopes, each equipped with a cable transport facility. Five of them also benefit from a night facility, thus making it possible to use the slopes until late in the evening”. show the administrators of the recreation area.

On the other side of the Straja Peak (1,868 meters), which gives the resort its name, is Pasul Vâlcan – a tourist area accessible by an eight-kilometer mountain road, which climbs from Vulcan municipality to over 1,600 meters, but also by gondola.

Also located nearby, the mountain resort of Parâng (video), established in the early 70s and equipped with a chairlift since then, is accessible from Petroșani and Petrila, on the road modernized in recent years, on its last kilometers.

The last section of the road, 800 meters long, starts from the center of the resort at an altitude of 1,600 meters and climbs, among cabins and guesthouses, to an altitude of 1,740 meters.