The area also has much to offer cyclists and mountain bike enthusiasts.  The most beautiful part of the Danube cycling route lies at the “iron gate” where the Danube curls its way through the Carpathians only 75km away from Slatina-Timis (as the crow flies).  We tested a 5-Day Cycling Tour  covering 300km, approximately 1/3 of over unpaved trails.

Day 1: sets out uphill on the recently re-surfaced road past Trei Ape to Valiug Crivaia by the Gozna reservoir.

Day 2: the most challenging of the tour, is most suited to mountain bikers and difficult for touring bicycles laden with baggage.  The route leads through the Semenic mountains where the source of the Nera can be found.  There is a long descent to to Borlovenii-Vechi.  We slept in the B&B in Bozovici.{gallery}albumfietsendag2{/gallery} Day 3 continues through the Iron Gate National Park uphill to Ravensca, a village that was established at the start of the 19th century by Czech immigrants.  The population is small but there is a well-kept B&B.  We continued with the 20km long descent to the banks of the Danube in Liubcova and slept in the brand new Ecatarina hotel in Berzasca.{gallery}albumfietsendag3{/gallery}Day 4 after an excellent breakfast, followed a mostly level 100km alongside the Iron Gate.  The ravine is 134km long and the rock faces are generally 500m tall.  The most narrow cleft is just 150m broad and the Danube is 53m deep at this point.  Here the Danube also forms the border between Serbia and Romania.  Cycling on the Serbian side is not as highly recommended: the route is narrow and awkward and there are several unlit tunnels along the way.  The statue of Decebal, carved in the rock face, is very impressive.  In Orsova after 2 vicious climbs we left the Danube behind continued on to spend the night in Baile Herculane.{gallery}albumfietsendag4{/gallery}Day 5 completes the loop back to Slatina-Timis.  We avoided part of the E70 by cycling via Mehadica and Luncavita towards Teregova.  Due to the persistent rain we left the unpaved (read mud) trails to their own devices and from Teregova descended to Slatina-Timis using the E70.  This tour is available to download to your gps from Bikemap .