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This road provides direct access to several major attractions in the Carpathians—the fantastic Transfagarasan road, the Bucegi Mountains and the impressive Bran Castle and Rasnov Fortress, as well as the entire alpine area surrounding Brasov.

The road begins in Ramnicu Valcea, an active industrial town at the foot of the Carpathians. The town is home to several interesting churches and an open-air museum. It is also at the crossroads of several main traffic arteries. As you head toward Curtea de Arges, the road hugs the southern edges of the Carpathians, through a mainly rural area. The road quality is average and the ride consists of a pleasantly twisting route through hilly landscape. There are only 33 kilometers to Curtea de Arges.

Curtea de Arges is a city with rich history, having served as a Princely Court to the kings of Wallachia. The Court of Arges is north of the city center along with the oldest church in Wallachia. Basarab I, the founding king of Wallachia, built the Court in the 14th century.

The town is also home to the imposing monastery and its Episcopal Church, a notable example of Byzantine tradition in Orthodox architecture. Neagoe Basarab built the church in the 16th century with marble and mosaic from Istanbul. The interior is richly decorated with vivid colors and gold leaf. The frescoes have survived the centuries well. The tombs of King Carol I and Ferdinand are also inside. Downhill, a short distance from the church, you will find Manole’s Well.

Manole’s Well and the church contain two intriguing stories. The first is that Manole was unsuccessful in erecting the impressive building until he entombed his own wife, alive, within its walls—the superstitious mindset of the day required a living sacrifice, followed by the presence of a ghost within the walls, to ensure that such walls would stand.

The second story relates directly to the Well. Manole was the architect and builder of the Episcopal Church, and legend states that when he finished the extraordinary construction, Prince Neagoe Basarab ordered the workers to remove the scaffolding and leave the master stranded on the rooftop. The prince’s goal was to prevent Manole from building such a masterpiece for anyone else. Manole attempted to escape his rooftop imprisonment by fabricating wings from roof shingles and trying to fly. Sadly, his flight was short and concluded with his fatal crash. The place where he landed sprung forth with water—thus, Manole’s Well was born.

From Curtea de Arges, you can also ride Romania’s most amazing road—DN7C a.k.a. the Transfagarasan. From town, take the road toward Arefu and Poienari Castle. Poienari Castle was Vlad Tepes’s residence. For those of you looking for the real Dracula castle, this is it. For more details on this road, please visit the DN7C page.

Getting back on DN73C, the road goes for about 40 kilometers toward Campulung. The ride is pleasant, through farmland and rural villages. The sights are typical of Romanian countryside and the road quality is average (unless you run into construction, in which case, buckle up and hang on).

Campulung a.k.a. Campulung Muscel (not to be confused with Campulung Moldovenesc in northern Romania), is a town besieged by its communist industrial past. Despite the industrial views that welcome you as you arrive, the town has a long and important history. It was settled before Roman conquest of Dacia in the 2nd century B.C. It also served as Wallachia’s first capital in the 1300s. The town has a pleasant history museum and a monastery originally built in the 13th century.

While DN73C ends here, the road continues. The best ride from here is DN73 into the Bucegi Mountains, and eventually the city of Brasov.

DN73C