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PETROSANI |
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The largest of the mining towns is PETROSANI , served by trains
between Simeria and Târgu Jiu. The only reason to stop here is to stock
up on food before hiking in the Retezat mountains, unless you're
particularly interested in the history of the mines, which is related in
the museum (Tues-Sun 10am-5pm) at Str. Balcescu 2. If you need to stay
overnight, you've a choice of three hotels , all on Strada 1 Decembrie,
across the footbridge from the train station and south towards the
centre: the Onix at no. 73 (tel 054/544 613; $6-10) and the Central
Tulipan at no. 88 (tel 054/543 582; $6-10) are pretty basic, while the
friendly staff at the Petrosani at no. 110 (tel 054/542 801, fax 545
383; $10-15) make this last hotel the best choice of the three. Note
that all of the hotels only have hot water for a short time each day.
There are other options out of town: the Villa Melinda is a good private
guesthouse 3km east along the road to Râmnicu Vâlcea at Str. Maleia 106A
(tel 054/540 347; $10-15), while the Cabana Rusu (tel & fax 054/541 321;
under $6) lies to the south of this road, near the chairlift into the
Parâng mountains. At the junction to Lupeni, 5km south of town, the
Gambrinus motel is undergoing refurbishment at the time of writing; 800m
along the Lupeni road is the new Motel Gui (tel 054/545 561; $6-10). Of
the town's restaurants , the As , across the main road from the station,
is recommended, with good pizza, coffee and service; there's also a
restaurant in the Petrosani hotel, and a pizzeria and supermarket
opposite the Central Tulipan . The BCR bank has an ATM at the northern
end of Strada 1 Decembrie.
Most people heading for the Retezat mountains push straight on to the
cabanas above Vulcan and Lupeni in the West Jiu valley, both of which
can be reached by train and frequent maxitaxis from Petrosani. The
Cabana Montana at Straja (tel 054/560 635; under $6), at the top of a
chairlift 7km south of Lupeni, is recommended, with reasonable skiing in
winter. From Lupeni buses continue every two hours up the valley to
CÂMPU LUI NEAG , starting point for some good hikes into the mountains.
About 3km further west, on the trail towards Buta, the Cheile Butii
hotel (tel 092/289 787; $6-10) is excellent and not expensive.
From Petrosani, the main road and railway follow the Jiu valley south to
Târgu Jiu, cutting through a scenic cleft between the Vâlcan and Parâng
mountains and passing Lainici , whose motel (tel 053/463 502, fax 214
010; $6-10) stands near a fine nineteenth-century monastery. This
stretch of railway, which goes through thirty tunnels, was built by
political prisoners in the late 1940s. A rough road, the DN7A, heads
83km east from Petrosani to Voineasa, passing the recommended Cabana
Gropa Seaca (tel 054/542 246 or 094/136 555; under $6) at km18.
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