Via Transilvanica Partnership: Why We Give 1% of Our Revenue to the Trail

Our Via Transilvanica partnership sends 1% of our revenue to a hiking trail that crosses Romania. The trail runs from Putna in the north-east, near the Ukrainian border, to Drobeta-Turnu Severin on the Danube in the south-west. We announced the commitment in October 2026 under the name The Journey Goes Both Ways. It has no end date. We made the first contribution, equal to 1% of the value of all journeys completed up to 30 June 2026. The commitment puts one of our promises into practice: to give Romania more than we take from it.

How the Via Transilvanica Partnership Works

Under the Via Transilvanica partnership, we calculate the contribution from gross revenue, so it follows the number of journeys we run. Profit does not enter the calculation, and the money does not come from tax-deductible sums. Via Transilvanica’s team decides how to spend the money, and we have attached no conditions to particular sections or activities. Raluca Spiac, our managing partner, describes the aim as making every journey we organize leave something good in Romania as well. Around 80% of what we receive already stays in the country, because the money goes to partners, employees and collaborators, and to taxes.

What Via Transilvanica Is

Via Transilvanica is a hiking trail of about 1,600 kilometers. It crosses ten counties and eight cultural and historical regions. They include Bucovina in the north and the Székely lands in the Carpathians (Terra Siculorum). Others are the Saxon villages of southern Transylvania (Terra Saxonum) and the Banat in the west (Terra Banatica). The association Tășuleasa Social, based in Bistrița-Năsăud County, developed the trail over four years with more than 10,000 volunteers and local communities. Its first 1,400 kilometers opened in October 2022. Since then, the newest region, Terra Borza Teutonica around the city of Brașov, opened on 5 June 2025 in partnership with the Brașov County Council. It adds more than 170 kilometers between the village of Viscri and Brașov.

Andesite stones mark the route roughly every kilometer, and a different artist carved each one. The trail therefore doubles as an outdoor sculpture exhibition. Where there are no stones, orange and white paint marks the way. In 2023 it also won the Public Choice Award of Europa Nostra, a European heritage organization. The Times placed it 23rd among 51 destinations in its Best New Trips for 2026.

Donations, maintenance and construction partners and a sponsorship program called “România care merge” pay for its upkeep and development. Individuals can also adopt a kilometer. Euronews notes that Tășuleasa Social created the trail without government or EU funding.

Why the Trail Matters to the Villages It Crosses

Tășuleasa Social describes Via Transilvanica as a way to give communities at risk of disappearing a new purpose. The trail also offers them a chance at economic development. The trail’s website counts about 400 communities along the route. Euronews reported in June 2026 that roughly 500 hosts along the trail provide food or lodging for walkers. For example, one guesthouse on the route welcomed around 1,500 hikers in the previous season. The trail’s online guide lists accommodation along the route with phone numbers for bookings. Hikers collect stamps in a travelers’ booklet at more than 50 places.

Alin Ușeriu, who imagined the trail, told us about a woman in the village of Criț who had lost her husband. She eventually began welcoming hikers into her home. After years in which her life had felt smaller, she told him that hosting travelers gave her a sense of purpose again. People from many countries have since sat at her table, including American business leaders she had never expected to meet. We include a stop in Criț when we build a journey around the trail.

The Via Transilvanica Partnership on the Ground: Walking Sections With Local Guides

We do not offer the full route as a single itinerary, so our journeys cover sections of the trail. They start with the areas around Brașov and Biertan, a village in southern Transylvania known for its fortified church. They combine the walking with the places, people and food we know along the way.

Our sample eight-day itinerary shows how this works. It begins with a walking tour of Bucharest, the capital. A drive follows to Hotel MATCA, in the village of Simon near the town of Bran, where guests stay three nights. On the third day a guide leads the hike from Râșnov to Brașov. It covers 17 kilometers with about 700 meters of ascent and takes 4.5 hours. The next day brings the hike from Bran to Râșnov: 20 kilometers, about 400 meters of ascent and five hours. Both belong to the Terra Borza Teutonica section. After the hike, guests tour Bran Castle privately, outside opening hours.

On day five guests visit Viscri, a Saxon village with a 13th-century fortified church, and its ceramics workshop. They then hike about 20 kilometers to Criț in roughly six hours, passing through the village of Meșendorf. Two nights at Bethlen Estates, a village estate of restored 300-year-old residences in Criș, follow. From there a 13-kilometer hike leads to Mălâncrav, where a carpet weaver shows visitors her loom. Both of these hikes cover the Terra Saxonum section. Together the four hikes add up to 37 kilometers of Terra Borza Teutonica and 33 of Terra Saxonum. Guides join the hikes, we pack most lunches and a driver handles the transfers. The day ends with a walking tour of Sighișoara, a medieval citadel town.

What Comes Next

As part of the Via Transilvanica partnership, we have set ourselves a target of walking the entire trail within the next three years. The aim is to know the places, communities and experiences along it first-hand. More experiences that include sections of the trail are in development, adapted to international travelers who value personal service and comfort. Our earlier post on reasons to walk Via Transilvanica also covers the landscapes, heritage sites and planning advice.

Travelers who want to walk a section of Via Transilvanica with a local guide can contact us to plan a private journey.