HARDRO · Sibiu · DN7C

Transfăgărășan

Romania’s most famous road: 32 km and 1,700 m of climb to the Bâlea hairpins.

Cârțișoara to Bâlea Lac, the northern ramp.

Corners coloured by severity · tightest in red

31.8km
LENGTH: 201
CORNERS CALLED: 22
HAIRPINS: 6.3
CORNERS / KM: +1721m
CLIMB: 2045m
HIGH POINT: 4.9%
AVERAGE GRADIENT

The Transfăgărășan is the road Nicolae Ceaușescu had cut through the Făgăraș mountains in the early 1970s, and the one Top Gear later called the best driving road in the world. It crosses the Carpathians at just over 2,000 metres, and its northern ramp, the one on every photograph of it, stacks hairpin on hairpin up the wall below Bâlea Lac.

This stage is that northern climb, from Cârțișoara to the lake on the DN7C: 31.8 kilometres, the longest on this site. Every corner below is generated from the road’s own geometry and read aloud by the app in the same notation.

The averages hide the road completely. At 4.9% and six calls per kilometre it looks like the gentlest stage here, and for twenty kilometres of forested valley it is. Then it arrives at the wall.

The severity mix is the tell: 108 calls graded 4 or 5, against 22 hairpins and only 20 corners at 1 or 2. This is a fast road that turns technical without warning, which is the case a co-driver earns their seat on: the notes tell you the character is changing before the corner does.

THE STAGE MAP

Every corner, where it actually is.

startH · hairpinOH · open hairpinSQ · square123456

THE CLIMB

Elevation profile.

484 m → 2045 m over 31.8 kmvertical scale ×4.9elevation from a terrain model, not a survey

CORNER MIX

What the road is actually made of.

5hairpin
17open hairpin
2square
51
162
253
564
555
206

THE PACENOTES

All 201 calls, in order.

Every call Tornante makes on Transfăgărășan, in order. Distances are from the stage start to the corner’s turn-in.
At	Call	Notes	Altitude
0170m	R4		491 m
0271m	R4		491 m
0304m	L1		491 m
0367m	R3-		492 m
0469m	L square		493 m
0593m	L4		494 m
0643m	R5		494 m
0837m	R5		487 m
0918m	L1	long	485 m
1004m	L6		484 m
1150m	R3		485 m
1296m	L3		487 m
1414m	R6		489 m
1471m	R4		490 m
1606m	L square		494 m
1704m	R5		496 m
1887m	L5		501 m
3475m	L5		526 m
4132m	R5		526 m
4491m	L6-		533 m
4619m	R5		537 m
4766m	L5		544 m
5058m	L6		546 m
5184m	R6		548 m
5658m	L6		562 m
6033m	R6		569 m
6274m	R6		574 m
6536m	L5		581 m
6872m	R5		591 m
6978m	R5+		593 m
7198m	L6		598 m
7585m	R6		612 m
8532m	L open hairpin		651 m
8967m	R3		663 m
9074m	L2		674 m
9515m	R2		700 m
9615m	L3		709 m
9690m	R5-		715 m
9768m	L5		723 m
9829m	L2+		729 m
10068m	R3	long	735 m
10234m	R6		742 m
10328m	L5		751 m
10380m	R open hairpin		754 m
10512m	L open hairpin		756 m
10687m	R4		767 m
10818m	L open hairpin		781 m
11039m	R2	long	792 m
11166m	L4		796 m
11266m	R open hairpin		800 m
11428m	L3		810 m
11584m	R4-		825 m
11710m	L5		828 m
11868m	R4		840 m
12017m	L2+		843 m
12105m	L4		848 m
12493m	R5		883 m
12651m	L4		892 m
12731m	R5		895 m
12922m	R3	long	901 m
13094m	L4		911 m
13405m	L4		928 m
13510m	R3-		935 m
13617m	L4		943 m
13739m	L open hairpin		947 m
13862m	R4+		950 m
13979m	L5-		956 m
14102m	R5		969 m
14278m	R5		987 m
14511m	R open hairpin		1005 m
14664m	L5-		1016 m
14844m	L5-		1028 m
15114m	L4		1046 m
15522m	R5-		1080 m
15622m	L4		1076 m
15914m	R5		1113 m
16008m	L4		1119 m
16120m	R5		1123 m
16219m	L5		1126 m
16324m	R5		1122 m
16429m	L2		1122 m
16497m	R4		1126 m
16575m	R4		1125 m
16653m	L4		1119 m
16868m	R4		1154 m
17035m	L3		1144 m
17114m	R4		1151 m
17184m	L4-		1160 m
17250m	R4		1161 m
17379m	L5-		1161 m
17574m	R4		1173 m
17651m	L5		1175 m
18248m	L5+		1207 m
18515m	R5		1233 m
18560m	L open hairpin		1237 m
18810m	R5		1250 m
18993m	L5		1253 m
19054m	R4		1248 m
19099m	L4		1246 m
19142m	R2		1249 m
19231m	L5		1275 m
19291m	L2+		1290 m
19378m	R3		1298 m
19510m	R4		1284 m
19658m	L5		1299 m
19766m	R5-		1310 m
19842m	R6-		1309 m
19930m	L5-		1317 m
20061m	R5+		1338 m
20351m	L4-		1346 m
20465m	L4		1361 m
20535m	R3-		1357 m
20656m	R open hairpin		1358 m
20767m	L4		1369 m
20960m	R4		1376 m
21047m	L5-		1372 m
21113m	R5		1369 m
21181m	L5		1376 m
21407m	R5		1384 m
21500m	L5		1390 m
21585m	R5		1402 m
21835m	L2		1420 m
21952m	R3		1440 m
22093m	R4		1421 m
22202m	L4-		1411 m
22299m	R6-		1415 m
22346m	L2		1418 m
22400m	R4		1423 m
22468m	L3		1435 m
22627m	R6		1487 m
22822m	R2		1501 m
22972m	L4		1481 m
23075m	L5		1500 m
23171m	R4-		1512 m
23257m	L2		1516 m
23316m	R4		1514 m
23466m	L4		1541 m
23565m	R2		1551 m
23671m	L5-		1521 m
23891m	R4		1531 m
23958m	L5		1543 m
24423m	L6-		1570 m
24716m	L4		1600 m
24793m	R4		1605 m
24941m	L6-		1613 m
25101m	R3	long	1623 m
25238m	L open hairpin		1629 m
25466m	R hairpin		1642 m
25618m	L open hairpin		1650 m
25773m	R5-		1663 m
25859m	L4		1667 m
25943m	R6		1672 m
25999m	R5		1676 m
26097m	L6		1686 m
26159m	R open hairpin		1692 m
26263m	L4		1695 m
26329m	L1	long	1696 m
26701m	L5		1726 m
26773m	R open hairpin		1730 m
26866m	L open hairpin		1734 m
27020m	L4		1738 m
27098m	L4		1736 m
27183m	R open hairpin		1738 m
27359m	R5		1750 m
27481m	R4		1768 m
27584m	L hairpin		1780 m
27673m	L6		1782 m
27721m	L5		1780 m
27855m	R hairpin		1776 m
28102m	R5		1806 m
28168m	L hairpin		1818 m
28353m	R5		1821 m
28450m	L3+		1820 m
28513m	R4		1823 m
28636m	L4		1838 m
28839m	R4		1835 m
28957m	L3		1857 m
29065m	R open hairpin		1870 m
29176m	R3+		1877 m
29280m	R6		1872 m
29338m	L3		1871 m
29523m	R4		1883 m
29585m	L5		1885 m
29670m	R4		1892 m
29813m	L3		1905 m
29920m	R3		1915 m
29993m	R3		1927 m
30108m	L hairpin		1938 m
30211m	R4		1940 m
30260m	L3		1939 m
30400m	L3		1935 m
30468m	R2		1938 m
30549m	L4		1940 m
30786m	R open hairpin		1958 m
31064m	L4		1972 m
31163m	R3		1984 m
31253m	L4		1980 m
31336m	L2		1989 m
31528m	L1	long	2024 m
31605m	R2		2036 m
31660m	L1		2042 m

How to read these notes

A call is a direction and a grade: L or R, then 1 (tightest) to 6 (barely a bend). A + or − means the corner sits near the edge of its band. Corners too tight for the ladder are named instead: hairpin, open hairpin, square.

The Notes column carries what gets added to the grade, such as long for a corner that holds its angle well past the usual, and Altitudeis the height at the corner’s turn-in.

The full call reference explains every call, the geometry that earns it, and how each one sounds in English and Italian.

HOW IT SOUNDS

The opening of the stage, as spoken.

170m“150, right 4 and right 4”
304m“20, left 1 and right 3”
469m“20, square left”
593m“40, left 4 and right 5”
837m“130, right 5 into left 1 long”
1004m“20, left 6”

QUESTIONS

Transfăgărășan, in brief.

How long is the Transfăgărășan?

The full DN7C runs about 90 km across the mountains. This stage is the northern climb, Cârțișoara up to Bâlea Lac, which is 31.8 km and gains roughly 1,720 m, at an average of about 4.9%.

When is the Transfăgărășan open?

Only in summer. The high section between Bâlea Cascadă and the tunnel is normally closed from late autumn until around the end of June, and the dates move with the snow every year, so check before you travel.

How many hairpins does the Transfăgărășan have?

On this northern climb Tornante’s engine calls 22 hairpins among 192 corners, most of them concentrated in the final stretch below Bâlea Lac.

WHERE THIS COMES FROM

Measured, not written.

Every corner on this page was generated by the same engine that runs in the app, from the road’s own geometry: Transfăgărășan (DN7C), mapped by OpenStreetMap contributors and tagged primary, asphalt. The engine is deterministic: the same road always produces the same notes, so this table is exactly what the app will say to you.

Elevation comes from an open terrain model rather than a survey, so altitudes are close but not exact. Corner grades are computed estimates, not measurements of how the road should be driven.

Drive it with the calls.

Transfăgărășan ships with the app. Start the stage and Tornante speaks each of these calls as you reach it, timed to your GPS, so your eyes stay on the road rather than on a screen.

Download on the App Store

NEXT ROAD

Other called stages.

Corner density on this stage: 6.3 calls per kilometre.