Access to Romania's mountains is guaranteed both by custom and by law. So you can walk or climb just about anywhere you like, both in winter and summer. The Carpathians provide a relaxing experience you will never forget.

In winter skiing is the obvious attraction. The best-known of a group of resorts is Poiana Brasov, 13 km (8 miles) from the city of Brasov, with chalet-like hotels and self-catering villas.

Well-preserved tracks of up to 4,500 m length range from difficult to easy. Most of the instructors are English, German or French speakers. Nightlife is intense, with bars, discos, folklore shows and cabarets.

In the same area of the southern Carpathians there are Sinaia, established as a winter resort in the 1870s, with ski slopes and a bobsleighrun; Predeal with 15 pistes and Busteni, also a centre of alpinism in summer.

The snow season normally lasts from December to March.

During the warm summer the cable-railways in the winter resorts are put to work for hikers, while other activities, like riding, tennis, fishing and canoeing, are at home.

In summer, the mountains are yours to explore, campsites are open, and hiking routes are well-marked.

Thereare oak and beech woods of great beauty on the lower slopes, with pastures above them, and above the latter the alpine zone at over 1,700 m (5,576 ft).

The lack of pesticide means that the high meadows produce a multitude of wild flowers in early summer.

Up here you are certain to come across shepherds, whose sheep are kept in pens called 'stane', and who produce cheese from the milk.

Natural Reservations are numerous, protecting 75,000 hectares.

Some, like the Retezat Mountains, have been designated as national Parks where wildlife includes the rare bearded vulture, red deer, chamois, marmot, wild boar, lynx and bears.

Wherever you go in the mountains you will find memorable scenery and a cheerful welcome.

For people accustomed to 'no entry' signs, Romania's mountains are a refreshingly new experience that you will want to return to.

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