Rewilding Adventure in Romania's Tarcu Mountains

Meet your host at Timișoara Airport and settle into the van for a 2 hour drive deep into a rural and remote part of Romania, heading for the small community of Armeniș in the west of the country. Check into your cosy guesthouse and stretch your legs with a short walk before meeting up with your guides for dinner and a chat through the adventure to come.

Rising before dawn often brings the best rewards, so set your alarm early and slip out into the twilight to a nearby clearing to see the wildlife, often most active at this time of the day. Grab a late breakfast and then head into the wilderness to track bison, one of the areas most impressive sights and a key driver of the positive ecological changes happening in this part of the Carpathians. Tonight you'll be staying in a safari-style camp beneath the stars and hopefully listening to the distant howling of the wolves.

*The order of the itinerary can change due to the weather and the movement of the bison and the area they are in at any time

Wake up in one of Europe's wildest places and head straight out for a morning of wildlife tracking. Your guides will fill you in on the rewilding efforts here and the cascade of ecological benefits that occur when keystone species such as bison are reintroduced into the wild. Later you'll return to the guesthouse in Armenis for a well-earned shower and a traditional Romanian dinner.

Moving deeper into the Tarcu Mountains, you'll head towards Rusca and set off for a hike, keeping a keen eye open for the region's resident Chamois. Wolves, lynx, wild boars and bears also reside in the area. Your guides are on hand to look out for signs of the animals and you'll be split into groups of no more than 4 to better your chance of seeing them. You'll ramble towards a wilderness cabin located in a magical spot with two crystal clear rivers and a lake nearby to take a dip in. Later in the evening, you'll head out to a hide to look out for European Brown Bears.

It's time to leave the Tarcu Mountains after breakfast as you hike out to the nearest road where your host will be waiting with a van to drive you back to Timișoara in time for your flight home.