One of the top attractions you must do when you are in Brasov: head into the forest and see Carpathian brown bears up close.

This is an organised small group tour which you will have to book it in advance. We were there almost at the end of the season, 31st October would be the last day the tour operator would organise a trip.

The tour started at the meeting point in central Brasov around the main square, outside the National Bank of Romania. The tour has 2 departures: 4.30pm or 5.30pm depending on when sunset is. Bears are more active in the evening so around sunset would be their breakfast time. After being picked up from the meeting point, we drove towards the Carpathian Mountain of the Romanian Transylvania region.

The area’s forests are known as bear country and home to the wild Carpathian brown bears. Around 7000 of these animals are believed to live in the dense forests, hills and mountain meadows, alongside other wildlife including lynx, wild boar, wolves and deer.

When we arrived, our original guide was unable to take us into the woods due to other commitments therefore his uncle was waiting there. We had a quick greeting then we walked few hundred meters up a hill towards the ‘hide’.  This was similar to a treehouse or a purpose built cabin with a window view to an area at the bottom of the hill which was where they expected the bears to be.   

Before we reached the hide, there were couple of bears just arriving and started to have their breakfast. We were told to be as quiet as possible. The hide was a wood shelter purposely built on the hillside in between 2 trees. The guide put down his hunting gun and opened the window for us. There were 4 of us sitting in a line by the window to observe the bears. Unfortunately there was only one pair of binoculars to share between us, so i’d recommend taking your own compact pair to enjoy a bit more. Since I only had an iPhone with me to take pictures, I thought if I should try taking pictures through the binoculars, and the pictures weren’t bad at all!

Easily my highlight of this tour is the walk to the hide, the scenery and the peacefulness were absolutely fantastic. This the forest was stunning with all different autumnal colours.