Testimonials

Along the years they visited us, biked with us. These are their impressions.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, I just knew from various friends that a MTB trip in Romania is a must. So I found 2 friends and we hooked up with Horia especially because he mainly guides small groups so we had a personalized boutique tour at a reasonable price. He built us a great program, taking into account our abilities but still challenging enough so that we’d be sure our muscles ached at the end of the day. We rode through fantastic, lovely and varied landscapes, challenging (but not too dangerous) single tracks, and a few uphill that forced us to dismount and push.

Horia proved to be an extremely professional guide yet at the same time very friendly and courteous and also resourceful in solving all the problems that sometimes arise in MBT tours.

Thank you again Horia for an unforgettable MBT tour in lovely Romania!

David, Yarden & Orbach

David Horowitz
Riding with Santa, 2024

It was a great pleasure to have you as guide. A nice new experience, some new places on earth and a part of a country discovered. Thank you for the feedbacks, the tips and the skills shown.

Frederic
From TransAlps to Carpathian Peaks, 2024

Thanks Horia, what a trip!. Super riding and guiding.

Murray

Horia, thanks again for all your work and a memorable time, and showing us some great trails. It was a blast. I’ll certainly recommend it to others

Figs

Good trip and banter lads, cheers again Horia.

Robert

Aye, cheers fir showing us round yer patch again Horia, some sweet riding with a top crew, great to see some new areas and trails as well.

Iain

Great last couple weeks guys! Most importantly there are plenty awesome stories to be told and look back on from it!
Thanks again Horia! Cheers.

Ewan
Scottish on Carpathian Peaks, season two, 2024

Thanks so much Horia. We will never forget this trip and your kindness.

Alda
Enjoying the view, 2024

We just returned from a week of mountain biking in the Carpathians and we already miss Romania! Truly unique experience! Horia turned out to be not only an excellent guide but also a nice person to spend the holidays with… highly recommended!

Albert
Cime dei Carpazi, 2024

Your trip, a once in a lifetime adventure. Loved the riding, your country and your insights into the history of Europe. Hope to talk a few more kiwis into coming riding with you. Well worth the journey. 

Peter
Kiwis in the Carpathians, 2023

Thanks for carting us around and organising a fantastic week… been ace!

Iain

Thanks again Horia, top week and loved the variety of riding. V well organised and catered for. Will spread the love.

Dene

Horia, thanks again for a great trip, trails and your organisation were excellent.

Bob

Horia, amazing trip throughout. Thanks for a super experience. I don’t know how you manage to do all that. You are something else!

Murray
Carpathian Peaks with a Scottish accent, 2023

Hard to enclose in a single message all the positive emotions that we felt during this fantastic and unforgettable journey. The ingredients are many :stony trails, enchanted forest, variety of climbs from the sweet and enjoyable to the leg breaker, adrenaline descents that will invite you to overcome your technical limits, views that will laterally leave you breathless, uncontaminated nature and of course good food, cold beer, laugh, friendship, sense of community and many other things.. Everything perfectly and expertly guided by Horia, that, thanks to his patience, experience, knowledge, passion and love for his job, he accompanied us with the sensation to ride with an old friend…
So, for who wants to have more than an holiday but a deep experience of the real mtb riding in a marvelous, great and hospitable land, don’t miss that trip.
Thank you Horia
Thank you Romania

Daniele
Transylvanian Alps tour, August 2023, 2023

Thanks to Horia, I was able to experience some beautiful landscape in the Carpathian Mountains, that was completely unknown to me before. All I knew before about Transylvania was the “stupid” Dracula story. Actually this was a big reason for me to make the long trip to Brasov. With Horia I learned a lot about the current living circumstances in Romania but also about the history of the “Siebenbürgen” area. Horia is not only a skillful mountainbiker but also an enthusiast to experience and preserve the nature of his home country. The money for his guding service was very well spent and I would do the trip any time again. Highly recommended, if you want to make the best of your vacation time. Thank you gain for your camaraderie on our 3 days of biking 🙂

Helmut Nigst
Three days mtb tour in Transylvania, 2022

Dear Horia, thank you very much for the great pictures. They bring back good memories of an exciting trip with excellent guidance. By the way: my break is still working fine All the best to Romania and take care

Michael & Isabell

Dear Horia, thank you very much for the fantastic photos! It is nice to remember our time in Romania!

Simone

Thanks to our marvellous tour guide we had rides on great trails through wonderful nature. Our itinerary was not the easiest but we managed it and in return we were rewarded with very varied mountain scenery by biking the Carpathians from east to west, from Ciucas to Piatra Craiului. Some fabulous single trails, few well sorted rocks, less people and much more animals than we are used from our Alps. Although we are far from beginners Horia was also superb in showing us some bike skills and tricks.
All in all an unforgettable week with perfectly organized logistics, so we only had to care about our day packs. In between the rides we relaxed in some cozy housings and replenished with great local food. We miss that food and will go for it soon in Munich 🙂
Thank you Horia, fully recommendable for all MTB aficionados!!!

Udo
The Transylvanian Alps tour, a true mtb gem, 2022

We where very happy that we had a good guide and he has selected very good tours for us and most important he was a real guide showed us the places which are more tricky to drive before and he made an upgrade of our Technik
If times are more sure I would choose a week biketour with him – you can be sure he is one of the best options there and you will have a good time

Maybe see again – and thanks for the perfect trip and your flexibility!

Willi
Born on Sunday, 2022

Conclusion for this year’s mountain biking season… it rocked!!! So many great days riding, many many thanks Horia Măruşcă!

Tom
Thin air, narrow trails: mtb at its finest, 2021

It was an incredible experience! Very beautiful landscape, challenging trails, good organization. Very much enjoyed.
Special thanks to our guide Horia for assisting us so well and giving numerous tips along the way. Even though I’ve been riding my bike for 40 years, I still learned new things from Horia!
A must for everyone!

Marc van der Vloet

A fantastic week, in a beautiful landscape, with varied tracks where everyone can find his pleasure. Together with a top-notch organization that deserves its kudos in all aspects.
I can only recommend, don’t hesitate and go for the Transylvanian Bonanza trails!

Michielsen Tom

DON’T HESITATE TO GO BIKING IN ROMANIA

Romania may not be the first country that comes to mind when you want to go biking, but this is unjustified. It has everything for an unforgettable ride and the country is still authentic. The Carpathians will challenge you enough, whether it’s uphill or downhill. (In my case downhill :-)).

mtbtours.ro is a good bike partner. I have nothing to say about the organization. They communicate well (English) and are flexible. Adjustments are possible on the spot, depending on the weather, condition of the participants, etc.

Our Guide Horia spiced up our trip, he is friendly, helpful, pleasant company and a skilled biker.

Romania is a beautiful country with friendly people. Visit also Bucharest ! I will definitely go back to discover more of the country.

Iubesc România

Koen Domus (Belgium)
Bonanza trail! – Transylvanian Alps 2021, 2021

Thanks for the bike-week on a great trail in your beautiful country. You guys have taught us a lot!

Peter Voogt

THX for letting me see your beautiful country and trails. You have taught me so many skills, for ever grateful. All the best for you, my friends! SeeYou

Jaap
Bucegi Circuit – learning experiences, 2020

Hallo
Wir waren im Juni in Rumänien mit mtbtours.ro auf einwöchiger Endurotour
Von Ankunft bis Abflug fühlten wir uns super betreut. Alles war top organisiert. Horia war ein ausgezeichneter Guide. Kompetent, symphatisch und extrem hilfsbereit , z.B. bei logistischen Problemen ( ein Bike kam 2 Tage zu spät mit Lufhansa, er organisierte umgehend ein Ersatzbike aus 200 km Entfernung !! )Er wusste alles über Land, Kultur und Leute, kannte sich perfekt in der Gegend aus, gibt Fahrtechniktips und ist technisch versiert.
Die Trails waren Enduro. ( für geübte auch mit AM-Bike machbar) Manche technisch und manche flowig . Uphillpassagen waren angenehm zu fahren und nicht zu steil. Ab u zu Schiebepassagen, Enduro eben. Auf dem video kommt das sehr gut rüber.
Unterkünfte und Verpflegung waren einwandfrei.
Alles in Allem ein top Gesamtpacket und sehr zu empfehlen, auch mal als Alternative zu den Alpen.

Rainer Kasel
Carpat MTB Enduro open tour 2019, 2019

A perfect Tour in 2 nature reserves in Romania. Thanks to Horia, a very good biker, verry good guide who knows excellent trails.
Guiding 5/5, trails uphill 4/5 (steep), trails downhill 5/5, nature 5/5, food 4,5/5, accomodation 4/5 (always ok), fun factor 5/5,
good physical condition and some MTB-skills are an advantage
strong recommendation

Martin Kneip
Three days in a MTB trail paradise, 2019

Thanks Horia and team for a great time in Romania. We had a good mix of trails and adventure riding in a beautiful part of the world. The tour was very well organised with everything exceeding expectations. I enjoyed the technical riding tips and learning something of the history and culture of Romania. I can highly recommend Romania as a travel destination and your tours to get out into the hills.

Sam
Unexpected mtb awesomeness, 2019

We had an excellent week together with our guide Horia. Great unexplored single trails and a superbe environment. Everything was perfectly organized. Some technical training and tips from our guide Horia made this week exeptional.

Martin

Excellent!
It’s been an unforgettable week.
Thank you for the perfect organisation.
A varied tour in a great landscape. Great accommodations, delicious food, nice people.
Flowtrails (cheesecakes) down and excellent pushbike uphills.
Everything what mountainbikers loves.
Special thanks to Mihai and his brother for the perfect tranfer, Maria for delicious food and the great ambience. Horia, our guide lives Moutainbiking and was superb. Thanks for the nice stages, helpful tips and the technical talk
Please keep going, bikers love it!

Stephan
Transylvanian Alps open tour, 2019 edition, 2019

I’ve been for one week at the Karpaten. 3 days of it I booked private guiding by Horia’s company. This 3 Days was the best of the hole trip. Very nice Trails, epic nature and of course is Horia a very good person. He knows all the secret and best trails at the Karpaten, and he also told me a lot about the nature and history. See you hopefully soon

Thank you for the nice video!

Manuel
Unspoilt trail riding, 2019

Thank you Horia for a nice trip, Romania/Brasov was a positive surprise for me and I had a very good run. Hope to see you again!
Safe rides, Daniel

Daniel
Short tour 2019 season opener, 2019

Cool trails, cool guides…

Georg

Weiter so …..mit coolen Biker…. trail enduro Paradies ihr werdet begeistert sein

Frank

Great riding guys… it is few years that I want to visit your area with a group and this video definitely confirmed me that you have the kind of riding we are seeking. Well done!

Fab
Let’s call it Enduro, 2018

Many thanks to Horia and his friends for this tremendous mountainbike week. Although we have seen many places before, we all agree that the trails you showed to us were quite the best we ever had experienced. Very flowy, but never too easy, ridable, however with managable challenges and always fun – just what we were looking for. Thankful for this week, you have been a great guide to us!

Juergen
Up. Down. Repeat., 2018

Wow, that’s a great write up, photos and video clip. A really nice memento from the trip. Some nice style by Rudolf in the video. I’m still getting the benefit of the six days biking in Romania, both technical and fitness.

John

Ride it like you are chased by mountain dogs. Nice Video and great photos really captured the weeks biking in the mountains. A great memory.

Rudolf
Ride it like you stole it!, 2018

Thank you Horia for guiding us!

Franzi
Special mtb tours for special people, 2018

What a great weekend we had!

Thanks Horia. The view was great. The food was great – I like the bread you make yourself! The riding was great. What else to ask? I felt I was riding with a friend.

I highly recommend mtn tours for anyone who wants to enjoy in the Carpathians Alps!

Carl Dionne
The Indian mtb summer, 2018

Thanks Horia for a fab week on the Bucegi circuit. Everything you could want from a mtb trip; loads of forest single track with plenty of up and downhill challenges, open slopes with fantastic views, plus high mountains with snow. All really well organised, accommodation and food all good. Thanks! Hope to come back some time!

Kath
Bucegi Mountains, trails paradise, 2018

Cher Horia,

Nous rentrons avec des belles images plein la tête, et le plaisir d’avoir découvert un peu de ton beau pays.
La Roumanie se mérite (j’en sais quelquechose…) et surtout mérite d’être connue.

Tu peux compter sur nous tous pour la faire connaître auprès de nos amis amoureux de voyages et de sport.

Encore merci pour ta prestation d’une grande qualité. Nous avons apprécié tes compétences de sportif et de montagnard, et ta faculté à les partager. Tu as été un guide attentionné pour chacun de nous quel que soit son niveau, et tu as toujours su adapter le programme à nos envies… ou contraintes mécaniques.

Merci aussi d’avoir fait l’effort de parler notre langue, et encore bravo pour ton très bon niveau en français.

Iulian, you were right, we are very happy to have chosen Romania for our tour!

Bien amicalement, au nom de nous tous.

Monique
“Les Français font du VTT en Roumanie”, 2018

A fabulous trip and everything that I wanted it to be. The three of us had great fun. All the days, the routes, the options, perfectly planned. A lot of hard work and hard cycling but that was good, and some very enjoyable periods too, especially the Strunga descent which is exactly the type of mountain biking that I love. But of course, we prefer to work hard to get to the top first, not to take cable-cars and just ride down!

Adam

Just as good as any place to Ride, whether Alps, Pyrenees or in UK. A great tour guide to take us through the stunning landscape, well worth a trip.

Dom
Any reason a good reason, 2017

Ladies & Gents!

The 7 days in the Carpathians were an unforgetable adventure and I´m very thankfull for this extraordinar experiance.

Beautiful landscape and views; trails with a wide variety from easy to tricky – for everybody from starter to expert. Climbs are followed by speedy downhills through vast beech groves, smooth single trails or simply over mountain pasture. Our guide Horia adapted the tour to our skills and wishes and we enjoyed.

Besides you get in touch with friendly, open minded and hospitable folks and the “down-home”, tasty, local kitchen. What probably impressed me most was the mixture from modern and traditional, like horse-drawn carriage, people in traditional livery in smaller, rural villages to new, modern mountain resorts and slopes in the Carpathians. There is a lot to discover!

Every little thing was perfectly organized – from food, shutteling, bike spare parts to accomodations.

I can defenitly recommend this trip to every passionated mountain-biker, and I´m looking forward to my next visit!

YPeter

Peter Triebl

What can I ad to Peters comment?
We had a amazing time in a marvellous landscape with flowy to tricky trails in an often untouched landscape.
Hora, our guide, was always giving his best to deliver us the best time.
Thanks for all Horia and take care … thx for the nice pics too!

Mathias Theiler
Transylvanian Alps – Papanași Power, 2017

I have done mountain biking trips all over Europe and in over 20 countries around the world from Nicaragua to Bhutan, but your trip in Romania beats them all. You have put together the most exhilarating and beautiful trip imaginable. On top of this your biking tuition and company were second to none. Iulian’s organisation of the whole holiday went perfectly. Altogether the best holiday ever! Many many thanks. Mark

Mark Helme
Age is just a number, 2017

Thank you Horia and Iulian for sharing your beautiful country with us! We were all very happy with the awesome tour and can gladly give our best recommendations to experience the Carpathians together with these two guys.

Viktor
Taming the Transylvanian Alps, 2017

The views are amazing, local sheep cheese you cannot find in Switzerland. If you want to get away from the crowds and to ride nice but techy trails it is highly recommended.

Szalby
Bucegi two-days mtb ride, 2017

Pulitzer prize for Horia. Magical tour with you all. Thank you.

Ronnen

Amazing pictures, Amazing tour, Amazing guide. Thank you very much.

Moti
Bucegi Circuit 2017 – first instalment, 2017

Horia was choosing perfect trails matching my experience without challenging me too less or too much. I really enjoyed the rides, the talks and the landscape – and the best cheesecake I have ever eaten.

Sabine
Short mtb trips around Brasov, 2016

Hi all, it was a fantastic trip! It exceeded our expectations on every aspect: the trails are both demanding and thrilling; scenery is stunning; people nice and friendly. We did enjoy fast single tracks a lot, technical descends are very demanding but passable. We especially enjoyed single track in forest as well as long uphill climbs. Special thanks to Horia for his patience and passion for biking. He is surprisingly intelligent and got great biking skills plus is ready to share it with a group. We will definitely had a great time and will be back!

Mindaugas
Up the mountains, 2016

It was a wonderful experience! Most certainly thanks to Horia whose foresight, insight and flexibility guaranteed stages which fitted our skills and helped us push our boundaries so we came out of this trip as better riders both technically and physically. Romania has a lot to offer to bikers: awesome scenery, diverse trails, incredible climbs and downhills spiking your adrenaline levels.

Jochen
The Belgian gang across the Carpathians, 2016

Thank You for beautiful four days mountain biking trip. In spite I am 59 years old, Your advice substantially improved my riding. Now I know how to ride throw more than 1m down steps and how to stay focused and balanced on downhill rides among roots and stones. With Your help I know how to save energy during up hill riding. You helped me to understand “What the mount biking is about”.We had a chance to discover beauty of Carpathian nature, good natural or bio food and to meet nice and important people. Your guiding was excellent. We are alive and without injury. As You said safety is the first. I wish You and Iulian all the best.

Milo & Lubo
Brothers in arms, 2016

Beautiful Pictures. It was one of the top 3 Trips I ever made.. Thanks to Horia.

Raimund Fiedler

Hi Horia, thanks for your superb pictures.
So now we have to come back to check out the bike parks 😉

willem
Brașov, the Romanian mtb hub, 2015

Well done Horia!!!
Kind regards from Karin
(Fred’s girlfriend:-)

Karin

Hi Horia,
really well done –
fantastic photos and also your text is absolut great .
This is a invitation – come and see the trails here – visit me in Austria
A big hug – Fred (Manfred Wagner)

Fred
“Brutal und Total” – five mountains in seven days, 2015

I’d like to thank you very much for this wonderful vacation. I still remember most of the climbs and descents. Hope try them again soon.

Tadas & co
The epic part in mtb is the mountain, 2014

Thanks again for this week of Romanian discovery. I really enjoy the trail (ah ! Strunga Pass down hill !)
Thank you again for your patience and all our discussion about mountain biking and life.

I am sure that I will come back one day !

Jean

C’était en effet une super expérience!! Merci pour ton professionalisme et ta gentillesse!
J’ai adoré cette semaine même si physiquement c’était difficile pour moi, il faut que je m’entraine un peu plus…

Nelly
MTB in Romania, the French connection, 2014

These guys ensured we had a truly memorable experience in the Carpathians: a relatively untouched corner of Europe, steeped in history, with great scenery, varied rides on good trails, friendly people and comparatively low prices. Amazingly, we didn’t see a single other mountain biker during our trip in early June – the secret has to get out soon! We couldn’t fault the organisation: everything was well thought-out, yet with enough flexibility to allow changes / detours as we saw fit. Without a doubt, Horia was the best guide I’ve ridden with – friendly, relaxed, and extremely knowledgeable, not only regarding the sport (including advice on technique and maintenance), but also the area, its history, and more besides. It’s good to have someone along who can really bring the local environs to life. I was especially impressed with the willingness to help with the little things – e.g., when out in the middle of nowhere and short on powerbars/energy gels/camera storage, he’d call ahead to his contacts, and the next day we had what we needed. That’s what I call service! I’d heartily recommend MTB-tours to anyone considering the Carpathians as a destination for their mountain bike holiday. If our experience was anything to go by, you won’t regret it. Superb.

Martin Smith
Shinny, happy, muddy bikers, 2014

I just wanna thank you for a wonderful trip this summer. Really enjoyed it… A great memory indeed.

Ian
The Swedes riding the Transylvanian Alps, 2013

Thanks for taking good care of us and giving us an amazing trip to your beautifull country.

Henk
Transylvanian Alps, the Dutch connection, 2012

Horia – thanks for a fantastic couple of days!! Very challenging, but rewarding beyond my expectations – cant imagine more enjoyable riding or better views anywhere…

Steve Brooks
Piatra Craiului revisited, 2011

Grande Horia! Thank you so much!!!

Kalina

Horia !!! Grazie !!! O che bello forever !

Sergio

Hei Horia, there is only one think that I can write … THANKS THANKS THANKS. Thank you very much for a beautiful and unforgettable week. Barbara

Barbara

Il mondo non finisce mai di stupire. Grazie Horia per averci dato la possiblità di vivere questa nuova entusiasmante esperienza.

BRAVI TUTI

Claudio
Oh che bello, oh che bello!, 2010