DESCRIPTION
Monasteries’ Circuit Trail Itinerary: Tulcea: Niculițel – Saon Monastery – Telița – Celic-Dere Monastery – Valea Teilor – Niculițel
The trail starts from the paleochristian basilica in Niculițel, and then turns left on the asphalt road, towards the national road. At the crossroad, turn left (towards Tulcea) and, after 3-4 kilometres, turn left to a dirt, agricultural road. From here you will be able to see clearly the bell towers of Saon Monastery, and then shortly, following the well-defined road, you reach an asphalt road leading up to the Monastery. From there, you can go further and reach the Danube, or watch the exotic birds at the end of the parking lot (ostriches, pheasants, peacocks, etc.).
From the Monastery, follow an asphalt road until you reach the national road once again, turn left and continue until the crossroads with the road to Telița, where you turn right. Continue on this road, cross Telița village, and at the crossroads with Celic-Dere, turn right towards the monastery. Having visited it, continue uphill on Celic-Dere stream valley, keeping the right bank (the left bank of the stream in your direction), then cross to the left bank, and at the next tributary on its left bank (right bank in your direction), leave the well-defined forestry road and take a dirt road, with a rather steep slope initially (actually, at the crossroad you keep going forward), but then the slope softens and continues until you leave the forest behind and encounter agricultural crops. There is a windmill ahead on a hill and, behind it, there is Valea Teilor village, hidden from your sight. Follow the agricultural road downhill to the valley, where you will find a spring to replenish your water supply, and then start climbing the other slope, up to the first crossroads, where you will turn right.
Turn left at the second crossroads, and then keep going forward until you reach the village. If you wish to avoid entering the village (which we recommend), at the last crossroads turn right to a grassy road taking you directly to the valley, then keep going up the valley until you see, on your left, a solitary tree in the fields. Begin climbing to the left, beside your bicycle, leaving the tree behind, until you reach the first dirt road. Here you will notice that you are rather close to the main road connecting Valea Teilor and Niculițel, but turn right on the agricultural road and continue parallel to the main road for about a kilometre, until you come across the first road to the left which will take you to the county road. Here, turn right and follow this road until you reach Niculițel, enjoying a particularly beautiful downhill ride on the last leg of the trail.
For an easier onsite orientation, we recommend that you use “Munții Măcinului” map, available in various locations in the destination, as well as on the websites www.eco-romania.ro and www.zenithmaps.ro.
DETAILS
Length: 40.6 km
Difficulty: Average
Trail type: Cycling tourism