Petrosani Travel Guide

The largest of the mining towns is PETROSANI , served by trains between Simeria and Târgu Jiu. The only reason to stop here is to stock up on food before hiking in the Retezat mountains, unless you're particularly interested in the history of the mines, which is related in the museum (Tues-Sun 10am-5pm) at Str. Balcescu 2. If you need to stay overnight, you've a choice of three hotels , all on Strada 1 Decembrie, across the footbridge from the train station and south towards the centre: the Onix at no. 73 (tel 054/544 613; $6-10) and the Central Tulipan at no. 88 (tel 054/543 582; $6-10) are pretty basic, while the friendly staff at the Petrosani at no. 110 (tel 054/542 801, fax 545 383; $10-15) make this last hotel the best choice of the three. Note that all of the hotels only have hot water for a short time each day. There are other options out of town: the Villa Melinda is a good private guesthouse 3km east along the road to Râmnicu Vâlcea at Str. Maleia 106A (tel 054/540 347; $10-15), while the Cabana Rusu (tel & fax 054/541 321; under $6) lies to the south of this road, near the chairlift into the Parâng mountains. At the junction to Lupeni, 5km south of town, the Gambrinus motel is undergoing refurbishment at the time of writing; 800m along the Lupeni road is the new Motel Gui (tel 054/545 561; $6-10). Of the town's restaurants , the As , across the main road from the station, is recommended, with good pizza, coffee and service; there's also a restaurant in the Petrosani hotel, and a pizzeria and supermarket opposite the Central Tulipan . The BCR bank has an ATM at the northern end of Strada 1 Decembrie.

Most people heading for the Retezat mountains push straight on to the cabanas above Vulcan and Lupeni in the West Jiu valley, both of which can be reached by train and frequent maxitaxis from Petrosani. The Cabana Montana at Straja (tel 054/560 635; under $6), at the top of a chairlift 7km south of Lupeni, is recommended, with reasonable skiing in winter. From Lupeni buses continue every two hours up the valley to CÂMPU LUI NEAG , starting point for some good hikes into the mountains. About 3km further west, on the trail towards Buta, the Cheile Butii hotel (tel 092/289 787; $6-10) is excellent and not expensive.

From Petrosani, the main road and railway follow the Jiu valley south to Târgu Jiu, cutting through a scenic cleft between the Vâlcan and Parâng mountains and passing Lainici , whose motel (tel 053/463 502, fax 214 010; $6-10) stands near a fine nineteenth-century monastery. This stretch of railway, which goes through thirty tunnels, was built by political prisoners in the late 1940s. A rough road, the DN7A, heads 83km east from Petrosani to Voineasa, passing the recommended Cabana Gropa Seaca (tel 054/542 246 or 094/136 555; under $6) at km18.