- CASA VALE - 6 Carpathian holiday homes for special requirements in Transylvania.
We offer 6 fundamentally different holiday homes in and around the pastoral village of Vale, right at the foot of the Carpathians. Away from the pace and tone of the big cities on the one hand, and just around the corner from Sibiu-Hermannstadt, the European Capital of Culture 2007, on the other. A good choice for lovers of special places who want to spice up their Transylvanian holiday with a touch of the past and a pinch of tradition. It is also ideal for anyone who would rather savour the serenity of unspoilt nature than splash around in the chlorinated pool of a 5-star hotel.
The village nestles on a wooded slope of the Carpathian Mountains with a view of the Transylvanian plateau. With no through traffic, in an absolutely peaceful location and surrounded by the oldest beech forest on the continent. After just a few steps, you will find yourself climbing up to the mountain meadows with their unique flora and fauna. Alternatively, you can benefit from the central location in the heart of Romania for excursions in all directions, for example to the castles and fortified churches of Transylvania.
We are neither traditional private landlords nor trained tourism experts. We live in Vale and work together in a family construction company under whose direction all the holiday homes were built. These include two sophisticated villas, a shepherd's hut in the mountains and two former farms, which we have completely renovated over the course of nine years. Always with attention to detail, with respect for the traditional style of the area, but also with modern building materials and modern living requirements in mind. The result is a meeting of different times and cultures in seven feel-good oases, each in its own unique location, which we hope some of the achievements of civilisation will be able to avoid for a long time to come.
The holiday homes at a glance:
- Villa Crina for 8 (10) people - our 200m² gem for discerning guests: 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, living room with fireplace & fully equipped kitchen, bathroom, south-facing veranda, terraced garden with brick barbecue & car park
- Casa Pelu for 6 people - a former farmhouse with an added attic: 3 bedrooms, living room/kitchen, 1 bathroom, roof terrace, enclosed courtyard.
- Casa Nicu for 2 (3) people - carefully renovated 130-year-old farmhouse with the same flair: 1 large room, eat-in kitchen, shower room, terrace in the inner courtyard.
- Casa Lopo for 6 people - completely renovated farmhouse with 3 bedrooms, kitchen, 1 bathroom, terrace in the enclosed courtyard, barbecue, barn, garden.
- Casa Zollo for 6 (8) people - new holiday villa with panoramic views in all directions: 3 princely bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 balconies, living room with fireplace & open kitchen, 5,000m² of gardens with terrace, barbecue, car park & fireplace.
- Casa Zollo II for 2 (3) persons - smart holiday flat for singles & couples: Kitchenette, shower room, terrace, 5,000m² gardens with car park barbecue & fire pit.
- Cozo Fantu for 4 (6) people - former shepherd's hut in the mountain meadows of the Carpathians, without comfort: spring instead of mains water, cellar instead of fridge, outhouse instead of WC, paraffin lamps instead of light bulbs.
Each accommodation has a fully equipped kitchen for self-catering, fast internet via WLAN and TV with German programmes. A washing machine, central heating (tiled stove, gas boiler, solar system) and at least one terrace or veranda also come as standard. The villas also offer spacious bedrooms and living rooms with fireplaces and gardens with a car park and brick barbecue.
Pick-up from the railway station or Sibiu airport is included, and you can also order a hire car, farm produce from the village or an excursion in a horse-drawn carriage. Breakfast and traditional menus prepared by the most dedicated chef on this side of the Carpathians are also available.
We will accommodate you as a team and are always available to answer any problems or questions you may have. We may be able to give you a tip or two, but we have also mastered the art of discreet retreat. We cultivate an atmosphere of free thinking and equal co-operation.
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- Casa ZOLLO -
New holiday home on the mountain with panoramic views in all directions. In an absolutely quiet location on the outermost edge of the village. The only through traffic consists of one or two horse-drawn carts bringing in hay from the surrounding hills.
Expect bright and spacious rooms, exceptional cleanliness and the pleasant indoor climate of a ventilated larch façade. We have been renting this holiday home for the first time since June 2013, offering 5,000m² of gardens and a generous 152m² of living space for 6 (up to 8) people on two floors.
You enter the accommodation via the courtyard and a staircase. On the mezzanine floor is the day room (34m²) with oak parquet flooring. It contains the open-plan kitchen, a brick wood-burning fireplace, LED TV and ten seats at two tables. From the adjoining balcony, you can look down into the valley or watch the sun set right between the peaks of two wooded mountains.
The spacious kitchen is fully equipped for self-catering with a large fridge-freezer, gas cooker, coffee maker, espresso machine, kettle, toaster, spices and more. The first room (17m²) with windows opening to the east, south and west is accessible both from the day room and separately from the outside corridor. The first bathroom (3m²) leads off the day room.
An internal staircase leads to the two light-flooded rooms in the attic with balcony. With their 24 and 32m², they are also suitable as a lounge for a whole group. The dormers and windows, which open in three directions, allow the sun to spread through the rooms at any time of day, and the view is impressive: into the expanse of the valley, the wooded mountains and, in good weather, the snow-capped peaks of the Fagaras Mountains.
The second bathroom (8m²) with WC, shower, bathtub, washing machine and medicine cabinet is located off the corridor between the rooms.
Each room is equipped with a double bed, WLAN, LED TV on Astra-Sat (German programmes) and an infrared panel. In the largest room there is a pull-out sofa for up to two more people. On your arrival you will find the beds freshly made. Hand and bath towels, soap and shower gel are also provided.
All the furnishings are new and of high quality: from the sanitary facilities in the bathrooms, crockery and kitchen appliances to the linen and mattresses. All the furniture, windows, doors and stairs were made to measure, and the rear-ventilated larch façade ensures a healthy indoor climate in all seasons. The solar-supported central heating system has triple security. You can either fire the water-bearing fireplace in the day room, which supplies all the radiators in the house, or you can leave the job to an automatic control system, which activates a gas boiler and/or the electric infrared panels. There are no additional costs involved.
The two gardens with flowers and fruit trees are fenced and border directly on the surrounding hills. Here you can relax on a covered terrace, cook a steak on the brick barbecue and toast the waking crickets by the open fire in the evening. Or maybe you can just sit under an apple tree, listen to the birds and let your thoughts wander ...
We rent the holiday flat Casa Zollo II on the ground floor together or separately. It has a separate entrance, its own terrace, kitchen and bathroom.
At a glance:
- For 6 (up to 8) people
- Day room with open-plan kitchen, fireplace and balcony
- 3 double rooms with panoramic view and balcony
- 2 shower rooms, one with bath and washing machine
- 2 enclosed gardens with car park, terrace, barbecue and fire pit
- Enclosed courtyard with seating
- Minimum occupancy: 2 - 5 nights (seasonal)
- Surcharge from the 7th person (extra bed)
- 10% last minute discount
- Reduction from the 15th day
Enquiries will be answered within 24 hours.
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We offer more than accommodation
- Transfers from the train station or Sibiu airport are included, and you can get a reliable hire car directly from us.
- On request, our chef will provide you with breakfast or cook for you. She conjures up traditional menus fresh on the table at pre-arranged times. Every gram of meat comes from our own animal husbandry, and she can also cook vegetarian meals.
- Farm produce from the village is also available, such as fresh milk straight from the udder, goat and sheep's cheese, forest honey, homemade jam and zakusca, free-range eggs, preserved vegetables, wine and schnapps
- On request: baby cot, high chair, shopping before your arrival.
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The pastoral village of Vale lies in the wooded mountains of the Pre-Carpathians. A tarmac road touches the village, but most of it stretches up into the hills on stone paving and tracks. Traditional structures and unpretentious hospitality have largely survived the onslaught of modernity. Sheep, horses and poultry are still part of the village landscape, and the farmers pick up their scythes and plant potatoes, corn and vegetables, which they preserve for the winter.
There is a small shop in the village, other shops, restaurants and an open market in the small town of Saliste, 2 kilometres away. What is missing here can be found in Sibiu (20 km) at the Zibins market, in retail outlets or in supermarkets such as Real, Kaufland or Lidl.
An excursion can take an hour or a day. It can take you to the hillside above the village for a few views of the valley or to the jumping fish in the mountain lake of Gura Raului. You might also be interested in the old town centre of Sibiu, a Saxon fortified church or a day trip along the highest motorway route over the Carpathians, the Transalpina. Many things are possible, here are a few examples:
The Marmelada outdoor pool is just a hill and a 20-minute walk away, as is the first of five lakes in the valley. In 15 minutes you are above the village, pass the Poiana Soarelui (sun glade) with its dozens of hand-carved wooden sculptures on the ascent and after just under two hours you reach the mountain meadows, with a unique view of the expanse of the Transylvanian Plain. A flora and fauna that is considered unique in Europe awaits you here. If you are not careful, you might stumble over lizards or salamanders and the mountain goats will laugh their heads off.
There are opportunities to climb up into the mountains in every village. A gravel road leads from Saliste (2 km) to the Crint high plateau, and from Sibiel (2 km) you walk along the torrent to a remote monastery in the middle of the forest, from where you continue into the mountain meadows. Sibiel is home to Romania's largest icon museum with reverse glass paintings.
Those with a sweet tooth are drawn to the mountain lake near Gura Raiului (12 km). It is fed by several streams and rivers, along which you can hike up into the mountains. The lake lies in a mountain hollow surrounded by forest. The water is clear, and in the evening you can light a fire and watch the fish jump for mosquitoes. The serenity of this place cannot be captured in a picture - but once you've been here, you won't forget it in a hurry.
If you want to go really high, you can choose between two motorable north-south passes over the Carpathians:
--- The Transalpina - at 2,145m the highest motorable route over the Carpathians, sometimes above the clouds. It starts just two villages away from Vale. Created by the Romans during their campaign against the Dacians, it was refortified during the Second World War, fell into oblivion and today presents one of the most unspoilt mountain regions in Europe.
--- The Transfagarasan - past a waterfall dozens of metres high and some steep cliffs. At the top of the pass, the mountain lake Balea Lac awaits you with a hostel and a house made of ice.
In both cases, you reach the southern part of the country, Wallachia, a climate zone characterised by the Mediterranean. The Olt Valley between the two passes, the only north-south passage through the Carpathians, is a good way back. Several monasteries have been built along the majestic river over the centuries. Those who don't stop here are usually in a hurry.
Once you have seen enough mountains and steep slopes, you can turn your attention to the valley. Many locals here speak or understand German, as German-Flemish emigrants, the Transylvanian Saxons, have settled in Transylvania since the 12th century.
One of their medieval towns, the European Capital of Culture Sibiu-Hermannstadt, is located 20 kilometres from Vale. The old town centre, city walls and fortified towers have been largely restored. During the summer, the city opens its doors to visitors and organises various events on the central Great Square, from cabaret and theatre to open-air concerts and exhibitions by local craft guilds.
It is worth taking a look or two at the open-air museum of traditional village art in the Young Forest on the outskirts of the town. Here, centuries-old log cabins, watermills, blacksmiths' workshops and sawmills from all parts of the country have been faithfully reconstructed.
Now it is only a stone's throw to the fortified church of Cisnadioara-Michelsberg, one of the oldest churches in Transylvania dating back to the 13th century. It stands on an almost circular mountain cone above the village, which was inhabited almost exclusively by Transylvanian Saxons until the fall of Ceausescu in 1989. An old woman will open the gates for you on request.
After walking for hours through the town, you will feel your legs. In the brine and medicinal baths of Ocna (Salzburg, 25km), you can soothe your aching bones, read the newspaper stretched out in the salt water and then spread yourself with mud.
On the way back from Sibiu (Hermannstadt) you will pass another Saxon fortified church in Cristian (Großau, 13km). It gives you an impression of how people barricaded themselves against the Huns, Tartars, Turks and Kurucian irregulars centuries ago.
If you want to delve even deeper into the history of Romania, you will hear about the Dacians. Similar to the Celts in Ireland, mystical customs and special abilities are attributed to them, and even today believers still make pilgrimages to their places of worship, of which only ruins remain.
The last Dacians are said to have fled to the Muntii Apuseni (Central Carpathians, from 40km), a sparsely populated area on the western edge of Transylvania. However, the Central Carpathians are famous for their caves and abandoned tunnels, which sometimes stretch hundreds of metres into the rock and in whose depths the skeletons of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures can still be found today. If you get up early, you can explore this area on a day trip.
Wherever you go in Transylvania, you will experience something. Mostly things that you would not have expected ...

House information: Bathrooms: 2; Bedroom: 3; Detached building; Property area: 5000 m²; Total number of floors in the building: 2; Year of construction: 2013; Year of renovation: 2013

Sleeping facilities: Number of double beds (from 1.31 m to 1.50 m width): 3

Living area: Cable-tv; Double sofa; Fireplace; Iron; Satellite-tv

Bath/WC: Bathtub; Bathtub; Shower; Shower; Shower; Sink; Sink; Toilet; Toilet; Toilet

Kitchen: Coffee machine; Coffee machine; Dishwasher; Espresso machine; Freezer; Fridge; Gas stove; Microwave; Mini-oven; Toaster; Water boiler

Other: Baby chair; Games for adults; Games for children; Heating; Non-smoking object; Pets allowed: max. 2; Vacuum cleaner; Washing machine; Wifi