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# Hiking from Bușteni: routes onto the Bucegi plateau
- URL: https://hikingbeast.com/hiking-from-busteni-bucegi/
- Published: 2026-10-03T17:55:41.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-03T19:09:49.000Z
- Description: Four ways from Bușteni up onto the Bucegi plateau, from the cable car to the chained ascent of Jepii Mici, plus eight walks from the town with distance, ascent and difficulty.
- Author: Alex

Bușteni is a small town wedged under a thousand metres of cliff, with the [Bucegi massif](https://hikingbeast.com/bucegi-mountains/) rising directly behind it. It is one of the better bases in Romania for walking without your own car, though that needs a caveat.

**At a glance — 8 walks**

- [**Poteca Schiel, over Jepii Mari**](#poteca-schiel-over-jepii-mari)  
6 km · 1100 m ascent · Medium · 3–4 hours · closed in winter
- [**Jepii Mici — fast, and genuinely dangerous**](#jepii-mici-fast-and-genuinely-dangerous)  
5 km · 1000 m ascent · Hard · half a day up
- [**Valea Cerbului to Vârful Omu**](#valea-cerbului-to-varful-omu)  
up to 2500 m ascent · Moderate in summer, Hard in winter · long day
- [**Gura Diham to Cabana Diham and Poiana Izvoarelor**](#gura-diham-to-cabana-diham-and-poiana-izvoarelor)  
4.5 km · 400 m ascent · Easy · about 2 hours
- [**Gura Diham to Cabana Mălăiești**](#gura-diham-to-cabana-malaiesti)  
\~10 km · Moderate · 4 hours · closed in winter
- [**Vârful Bucșoiu**](#varful-bucsoiu)  
8.5 km · 1583 m ascent · Hard, exposed · 6–7 hours
- [**Brâna Caprelor — the Goats' Ledge**](#brana-caprelor-the-goats-ledge)  
10 km · 1000 m ascent · Hard · full day
- [**Bușteni to Bran, over the top**](#busteni-to-bran-over-the-top)  
30 km · 2189 m ascent · Hard · 10 hours

The routes up the mountain — Urlătoarea, Jepii Mari, Jepii Mici — all start at the end of Strada Telecabinei, 2 km from the railway station and walkable. The Diham side is different: **Gura Diham is 5 km out of town**, so Diham, Mălăiești and Bucșoiu all begin with a short taxi.

The Bucegi are a high plateau with a dramatic eastern edge. The plateau itself is gentle, grassy and crossed by easy paths. Getting onto it from Bușteni is the hard part, and that choice is most of what this page is about.

## Getting here

Bușteni is on the main Bucharest–Brașov railway. Trains take about an hour and a half from **Bucharest Gara de Nord** and about forty minutes from **Brașov**. Check times on [CFR Călători](https://www.cfrcalatori.ro/?ref=hikingbeast.com).

There is also a **cable car** from town to the plateau. It reaches the high ground without the 1200-metre climb, and the plateau walks are the scenic part in any case.

Two things to plan around: the **last descent is around 17:00**, and on Tuesdays it starts late (about 10:30) after scheduled maintenance. It also stops for high wind, fog and storms, so have a plan B. Expect roughly 105 lei one way, 199 lei return — check before you go.

## Four ways onto the mountain

This is the decision that shapes your day.

### Poteca Schiel, over Jepii Mari

![Poteca Schiel, over Jepii Mari](https://hikingbeast.com/content/images/2026/10/jepii-mari-poteca-schiel.jpg)

**6 km · 1100 m ascent · Medium · 3–4 hours · closed in winter**  
*Blue triangle waymark. Starts in Bușteni at 1000 m; ends at Cabana Piatra Arsă, 1950 m.*

The main walking route up, and technically far less demanding than Jepii Mici. But 1100 m in 6 km is steep work, and it is not uniformly easy ground: there are exposed sections, the path is narrow in places and has collapsed in others, and the last stretch before Cantonul Jepi has a section secured by a metal cable that is slippery when wet or icy.

*The full route description, with more photos and a GPS track, is on* [*greuladeal.ro*](https://www.greuladeal.ro/jepii-mari-poteca-schiel/?ref=hikingbeast.com) *(in Romanian).*

### Jepii Mici — fast, and genuinely dangerous

![Jepii Mici — fast, and genuinely dangerous](https://hikingbeast.com/content/images/2026/10/jepii-mici.jpeg)

⚠️

**5 km · 1000 m ascent · Hard · half a day up**  
*Starts in Bușteni. The quickest way to the Caraiman and Babele huts.*

This is the route that catches people out. It is the fastest way from town onto the plateau and it is steep, exposed and loose, with sections that feel more like scrambling than walking. In our own words from the Romanian guide: a difficult and dangerous route. Do not make it your first day here, and do not start it late.

*The full route description, with more photos and a GPS track, is on* [*greuladeal.ro*](https://www.greuladeal.ro/jepii-mici/?ref=hikingbeast.com) *(in Romanian).*

### Valea Cerbului to Vârful Omu

![Valea Cerbului to Vârful Omu](https://hikingbeast.com/content/images/2026/10/varful-omu-valea-cerbului-iarna.jpg)

**up to 2500 m ascent · Moderate in summer, Hard in winter · long day**  
*Starts from the Bușteni side; the valley approach to the highest point of the massif.*

Vârful Omu at 2507 m is the top of the Bucegi, with a refuge on the summit. The Valea Cerbului approach is a big day in summer and a serious mountaineering outing in winter, when the valley holds snow and the last section is fully exposed to weather.

[**Full route guide, with photos and the map →**](https://hikingbeast.com/valea-morarului-omu-peak/)

### Gura Diham to Cabana Diham and Poiana Izvoarelor

![Gura Diham to Cabana Diham and Poiana Izvoarelor](https://hikingbeast.com/content/images/2026/10/traseu-gura-diham-cabana-diham-poiana-izvoarelor.jpg)

**4.5 km · 400 m ascent · Easy · about 2 hours**  
*Taxi from Bușteni to Gura Diham (5 km, asphalt, free parking).*

The easiest route here, and a common first day: a forest walk to a hut in a clearing, suitable for beginners. Also the sensible option when the tops are in cloud, which they often are.

[**Full route guide, with photos and the map →**](https://hikingbeast.com/gura-diham-cabana-diham-poiana-izvoarelor/)

### Gura Diham to Cabana Mălăiești

![Gura Diham to Cabana Mălăiești](https://hikingbeast.com/content/images/2026/10/gura-diham-cabana-malaiesti-take-ionescu.jpg)

**\~10 km · Moderate · 4 hours · closed in winter**  
*Train to Bușteni, then a taxi to Gura Diham — 5 km, about 25 lei, free parking if you drive.*

An isolated hut at 1720 m in a glacial valley ringed by the north faces of the Bucegi, reached by the Take Ionescu path. **Closed in winter because of avalanche risk.** In summer the path has collapsed in places and the exposed sections are chained. The valley is at its best in early light, which is an argument for a night there.

[**Full route guide, with photos and the map →**](https://hikingbeast.com/cabana-malaiesti-summer-trail/)

### Vârful Bucșoiu

![Vârful Bucșoiu](https://hikingbeast.com/content/images/2026/10/varful-bucsoiu.jpg)

**8.5 km · 1583 m ascent · Hard, exposed · 6–7 hours**  
*From Gura Diham via La Prepeleac. Summer only — the route is closed in winter.*

One of the most spectacular viewpoints in the Bucegi, both for the breadth of what you see from the top and for the routes that climb to it. The walking route is exposed in places and wants dry rock and good visibility.

[**Full route guide, with photos and the map →**](https://hikingbeast.com/varful-bucsoiu-bucegi/)

### Brâna Caprelor — the Goats' Ledge

![Brâna Caprelor — the Goats' Ledge](https://hikingbeast.com/content/images/2026/10/brana-caprelor-din-muntii-bucegi.jpg)

**10 km · 1000 m ascent · Hard · full day**  
*From Cabana Mălăiești, over Bucșoiu to Vârful Omu.*

A brână is a ledge that runs across a cliff face, and this is the most famous of them. Narrow, exposed, and not a route for anyone uneasy with drops — but the way it threads a line across the north wall is the reason it is on every Romanian hiker’s list.

[**Full route guide, with photos and the map →**](https://hikingbeast.com/brana-caprelor-bucegi/)

### Bușteni to Bran, over the top

![Bușteni to Bran, over the top](https://hikingbeast.com/content/images/2026/10/busteni-batrana-bran.jpg)

**30 km · 2189 m ascent · Hard · 10 hours**  
*Train in to Bușteni, bus out from Bran. Doable in a day from Bucharest by public transport — we did it.*

A full traverse of the massif: up Jepii Mici to the Caraiman and Babele huts, across the plateau by Peștera and Valea Doamnele to the Bătrâna refuge, then out past Stâna Guțanu and Poiana Gaura down to Bran. It crosses the massif from one side to the other.

[**Full route guide, with photos and the map →**](https://hikingbeast.com/busteni-to-bran-bucegi-traverse/)

## With one day

Cable car up, walk the plateau to the Caraiman cross and Babele, cable car down. This covers the main plateau features with very little climbing.

**With two days:** up Poteca Schiel, a night at a cabana on the plateau, down Valea Cerbului or the cable car.

## When to come

Mid-June to early October for everything above. Snow lingers in the north-facing valleys — Mălăiești and Valea Cerbului hold it longest — and can still be lying in June.

From November to May the plateau edge is a winter mountain: avalanche terrain, no visible path, weather that turns in minutes. Several routes we call Moderate in summer are for experienced winter walkers only, with crampons and an axe. The cable car and the forest walks around Diham stay sensible all year.

## Practical

- **Shepherd dogs** guard flocks on the plateau in summer and will run at you barking. Stop, do not run, do not turn your back, walk away steadily, let the shepherd call them off.
- **Mountain rescue is Salvamont — dial 112**, or their direct dispatch on **0725 826 668** (it spells 0-SALVAMONT on a keypad). The rescue itself is free; your treatment and evacuation are not, so bring insurance that covers hiking.
- **Book the cabanas.** Mălăiești, Piatra Arsă, Babele and Omu fill up in summer and at weekends, and several take cash only.
- **Carry water up from town.** The plateau has very little.
- **Waymarks** are painted stripes, triangles and crosses in red, blue and yellow, on rock and trees. They are your navigation. Carry an offline map too — signal dies in the valleys.
- **Start early.** Afternoon thunderstorms are routine from June to August and the plateau is the worst place to be in one.