Valea Doftanei – a beautiful beach in the middle of the forest
By Oana Pascu
A beautiful beach close to Bucharest which is not even close to the seaside
The summer has already taken over Bucharest and most of Romania and many of the people living in the capital are already planning a weekend getaway at the seaside in the following weeks. If you are not necessarily the kind of person who likes to go to the seaside, but would rather prefer a location that is closer to Bucharest and in the middle of a forest, we know a beach that would be the perfect place for you. Most likely it will not take you more than 2 two hours to get there, as it is 130 km away from Bucharest, and close to Campina.
Valea Doftanei (Romanian for “Valley of the Doftana”) is a commune in Prahova County, Romania. It is composed of two villages: Teşila (the commune center) and Trăisteni.
Located in the northwestern part of Prahova County, the commune has an area of some 286 sqm. Its population primarily inhabits the central and southern areas, with the north being taken up by mountainous terrain. The Doftana River crosses the commune for some 30 km from north to south before ending in the Paltinu Dam and reservoir.
The Paltinu Lake is a reservoir lake for drinking water located in a mountainous area at an altitude of 650 meters and it spreads over 3 km, offering an incredible view. Both shores are suitable for summer activities.
In case you want to explore further, Glodeasa is a beech and fir virgin secular forest, located in the Valea Doftanei commune. The forest is a live testimonial of the evolution of the forest coating of our mountains, and it is protected from logging. The trees you can see there are 200-300 years old and have heights of 40-45 meters.
The Glodeasa forest is one of the few virgin forests in Romania, presenting remarkable landscape diversity: forests, cliffs, meadows, sweet waters, and piers. The landscape is adorned with rare plant species, protected by the law.
If we stirred your interest and you want to go to Valea Doftanei, this is how you get there: you need to take DN1 in the direction of Brasov to Comarnic, and then follow DJ101S for another 14 km.