A Habsburg spa town wedged into the Cerna gorge, built where the Romans already bathed. Half of it is a working resort with hot sulphur water still running; the other half is grand nineteenth-century bath houses standing empty with trees growing out of them. The setting does the work — sheer Domogled cliffs straight above the roofs, the Cerna river through the middle. Same road as the Danube trip almost to the end, so the two can be combined if you start early.
DN6 west past Orșova, then up the Cerna valley · 230 km · about 3 h 15 each way, without stops.
The journey
Distance
230 km from Craiova
Driving time
about 3 h 15 each way
Road
DN6 west past Orșova, then up the Cerna valley
What you pass
35 km · Filiași
Jiu bridge
90 km · Strehaia
monastery walls
115 km · Drobeta-Turnu Severin
the Danube
165 km · Orșova
the bay, then the road leaves the river
200 km · Cerna valley
gorge road, cliffs closing in
Out of the window
The Danube road as far as Orșova, then a hard right into the mountains: the Cerna valley narrows fast, with the Domogled ridge on one side and the river below the road.