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Romania
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Brașov County
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Brașov
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Small-Group Brown Bear-Watching Experience from Brasov
4 h
Small Group
Instant confirmation
About this activity
Meet your driver-guide/forest ranger in central Brașov in the late afternoon and set off by air-conditioned minivan or car into the Carpathian Mountains of Romania's Transylvania region.
The area’s forests are known as bear country and home to the wild Carpathian brown bear. Around 5,000 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.
As you travel, gain fascinating insights into the brown bears, hearing how they can grow to enormous sizes, with some males reaching up to 770 pounds (350 kgs). Learn about their lives in the wild, and how their sharp sense of smell is vital in ensuring their survival.
On arrival, your forest ranger will escort you to one of the numerous, specially designed bear hides in a restricted area of the forest. After a safety briefing, set off with the experienced ranger, following a wooded path to the secure and camouflaged hide.
After roughly 20 minutes, arrive at the hide and settle in to watch for bears. Stay quiet and enjoy ample time to look for these magnificent animals.
There’s around an 80% chance of sightings, and you may be lucky enough to observe everything from large males lumbering through the trees to females playing with their cubs: it's an unforgettable experience to see them roam free in their natural habitat. Snap photos and watch for other wildlife such as boar, roe and red deer, and the game birds known to live here.
When your viewing time is up, walk back through the forest accompanied by the ranger and reconvene with your driver-guide. Your experience then ends with drop-off in central Brașov.
Please note: The forest ranger accompanying you in the forest may carry a handgun for your protection in extreme situations.
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The area’s forests are known as bear country and home to the wild Carpathian brown bear. Around 5,000 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.
As you travel, gain fascinating insights into the brown bears, hearing how they can grow to enormous sizes, with some males reaching up to 770 pounds (350 kgs). Learn about their lives in the wild, and how their sharp sense of smell is vital in ensuring their survival.
On arrival, your forest ranger will escort you to one of the numerous, specially designed bear hides in a restricted area of the forest. After a safety briefing, set off with the experienced ranger, following a wooded path to the secure and camouflaged hide.
After roughly 20 minutes, arrive at the hide and settle in to watch for bears. Stay quiet and enjoy ample time to look for these magnificent animals.
There’s around an 80% chance of sightings, and you may be lucky enough to observe everything from large males lumbering through the trees to females playing with their cubs: it's an unforgettable experience to see them roam free in their natural habitat. Snap photos and watch for other wildlife such as boar, roe and red deer, and the game birds known to live here.
When your viewing time is up, walk back through the forest accompanied by the ranger and reconvene with your driver-guide. Your experience then ends with drop-off in central Brașov.
Please note: The forest ranger accompanying you in the forest may carry a handgun for your protection in extreme situations.
Included
- Professional driver-guide
- Round-trip transport by air-conditioned car or minivan
- Forest ranger escort in forest
- Hotel (only from Brasov city) pickup and drop-off
Not included
- Food and drinks
- Photography tax if photos for professional use
- Gratuities
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Dress warmly: sturdy, waterproof footwear and warm clothing recommended
- Do NOT dress in bright colors
- Do NOT use any perfume
- Do NOT bring any food with you
- Minimum booking numbers apply (2 pax). If you would like to join as 1 person please note that the price for 2 is be applicable
- Minimum age allowed: 12 years old.
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 8 travelers
Features
Tourism
70%
Cultural
55%
Original
20%
Reviews
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We saw 4 bears, great, passionate guide Tiberius who speaks English well. The bear hide is also a comfortable place to stay for a few hours, not cold at all. Definitely advised if you want to watch wild bears from a safe distance but still close enough to photograph them.
Our guide (think his name was Tiberius) was very friendly and knowledgeable. Mostly out of luck, the two of us were the only ones on the tour, so we had a private experience. The pick up was on time, and the car was comfortable. Drive was about 30mins into the mountains, and we walked for about 15 minutes after that to get to the bear hide. The last part was up a relatively steep incline, so best for people who are relatively fit or have done average hikes before. The hide was comfortable (not sure about if touring in winter), with about 8 seats in front of the window. Depending on the size of the people, it might have been a squeeze if it was a full tour. You have to stay quiet and still for the whole time (1.5 - 2 hours) to not scare the bears, so maybe not best for young children. We saw local birds, bears, foxes, and an owl on the journey back. Feeding points are about 50m away, so binoculars are useful, but not vital. Throughout the watching, our guide told us a little bit about the bears and their activity, but not so much that we couldn't just quietly enjoy the bears. They monitor the bears diet as much as they can (but they are wild), and feed them a mix of their natural diet (berries, nuts, some meat etc). They are not just giving them as much nice food as possible to guarantee a sighting. We always felt safe on the tour, and our guide was happy to answer all our questions. We would definitely do this tour again if we came back!
We saw two bears - male and female - and one fox. Very nice experience to watch bears in their natural environment. The guide was very informed about the bears, he really loves these animals and take care about the wilderness. Great communication before the trip and during it. Thanks for the experience!
Alex was a great tour guide. We had an excellent time and viewed the same bear several times. Alex had a lot of information for us and answered all of our questions about bears and other animals very well.
Very well organised tour to see the black bears. Guide Tiberius arrived on time to collect us from our hotel and drove us to the mountains about 40 minutes away. A short walk to the hide and we sat for a little time before a large male bear came and started eating the food put out for them. Then a smaller female bear arrived and was very vocal in her efforts to chase the male bear away. We also saw another bear grab a large fish that had been put out for them and go off into the woods and then another came to eat. A smaller bear was in the undergrowth and we just saw it before it scuttled off. Really well run and interesting tour.. thoroughly enjoyed it. May have to come back!
We saw 6-7 different bears, including a Cub. Tiberius our guide was very informative. And explained the life cycle of the bears. He was forthcoming that there could be a bear encounter. But we were not fearful and advised us how to act. Worthwile experience. And recommend. If not much of a climber our guide was very helpful. And there are handrails.
Me and my friends had a bear-tastic time. We saw 8 bears within the span of two hours, the ranger and tour guide, Tiberious, was nice and clear in how to keep ourselves safe and he did an amazing job explaining the bears their behavior and the profiles of each bear we saw.
Very well organised, really enjoyed this trip, would recommend , a must do when you are in brasov for a holiday
The bear watching takes place from a hide overlooking a large glade - a beautiful and dramatic spot to sit while waiting for the bears to appear. We booked two consecutive bear-watching evenings. We saw no bears the first evening this is apparently unusual - I think it was only the second time in 4 weeks there'd been no bears, but six different bears the second. The first evening wasn't a complete disappointment by any means - it's a wonderful spot, and we saw a golden eagle and lots of fox activity. The second evening there were bears coming and going most of the time food is left out to encourage them to this spot. The bears are close, but binoculars are useful e.g. for studying their faces and the way they use their claws. but Our guide was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. He interpreted the bear behaviour we were seeing, especially the interactions between the different bears. More widely, he also answered all our questions about animals, conservation and local life in the area. Downsides: one of the foods put out for the bears is chocolate, which I'm not sure is good for them. You need to be reasonably sure-footed for the climb up the slope to the hide.
I am very happy to recommend this Tour. It was well organized and the Guides were very friendly and very informative. They went out of their way to help us to be able to join the Tour from another location where our previous tour ended. Best of all we saw at least 5 bears!