Bear Watching near Brasov: Learn About Europe's Largest Brown Bear Population
4.8
68 Ratings
Embark on a bear-watching adventure near Brasov, Romania, home to Europe's largest brown bear population. Learn about their life, habits, and capture unique moments with your camera.
Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Piatra Craiului National Park Visitor Center - In the afternoon, we will pick you up from your accommodation in Brasov. We pass through Zarnesti and after another 25 minutes drive, we will arrive at a junction where we turn right. Then the fun part starts!
    We will drive for about 30 minutes deep in the forest, offroad and unpaved road, to where the bears roam free.
    Quietly, we will get out of the car and walk into a safe bear hide. The hide is built on wooden pillars and is situated at approximately 3 meters above the ground, to allow a better perspective of the area.
    Once the bears arrive, we need to keep silent not to scare them off.
    We can take photos or videos but turn our flashes off.
    After about 2 hours, we will get back to the car, quietly, and drive back to Brasov, where we will drop you off at your accommodation.

*This tour requires a minimum of 2 attendees. If you are travelling alone, contact us before to see if you can join an already formed group.

What's Included
  • Forest ranger escort
  • Transport by air-conditioned vehicle
  • English speaking guide
  • Pick up and drop off at your accommodation in Brasov
What's Not Included
  • Tips & gratuities
  • Pick-up outside Brasov (for accommodation outside Brasov there is an extra fee)
Additional Information

Romania, owing to minimal human interference, plays host to the highest number of brown bears in Europe. Nestled in the core of the Carpathian mountains, there is an opportunity to witness these magnificent creatures in their wild surroundings, gather intriguing trivia about the bear life in the wilderness, and seize exceptional instances with your camera.

Embark on a brief bear-spotting adventure in the woods near Brașov, accompanied by a professional forest ranger who will satisfy all your curiosities.

What sets our tour apart is our commitment to impart knowledge about bears’ lifestyle, winter patterns, diet, and mating. We wholeheartedly believe it’s an excellent chance to learn alongside capturing stunning images.

  • Bears have a very sensitive smell so please don’t bring any kind of food or snacks. Also, please don’t use perfume or other scents.
  • Dress adequately. Wear sturdy shoes and try to avoid brights colors.
  • During the activity don’t use flash or any other lights, as these might scare the animals. Please turn off your camera’s focus assist light.
  • Bears are dangerous and unpredictable wild animals. Please don’t try to feed them or act like they are pets. In case you encounter one avoid eye contact, don’t try to run or climb into trees and listen to the forest ranger’s advice.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(68 Ratings)
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Iainjwatson
Apr 19, 2024
Bear Essentials: Luck and Wonder in the Transylvanian Forest - We booked our bear watching trip at short notice and Neotour/Outdoor Holidays made the arrangements efficiently and without fuss. We were very lucky as the usual bear hide was unavailable so we had to travel further to a back-up hide down an unpaved forest road but while it is virtually guaranteed to see bears at either hide, there is far less chance of seeing bear cubs at the regular hide. We were fortunate enough to see two mothers each with two cubs - they were very playful (though the ranger said an adult male had killed a third cub) We spent a bit more than two hours in the hide as we were also treated to the sight of adult males (the mothers and cubs moved off when they heard them arrive) who took to their hind legs at various points and to a male and female together, apparently ‘courting’ just ahead of mating season. Our guide Andra (also a mountain guide/climber) spoke flawless self-taught English, was very knowledgeable and intelligent, and very friendly. The 90 min journeys in her car to and from the forest flew by. It was a very memorable experience and I would highly recommend the tour and the guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Annemaries316
Feb 13, 2024
Awesome bear watching in Zabala! - It was GREAT! We drove to Zăbala, since there already bears were out of hibernation. We had contact via WhatsApp and I payed the invoice also via WhatsApp. We had a real nice guide with a very difficult name. When we arrived we already saw three bears. We stayed for 2 hours or so and saw 7 (!) bears. Thanks ever so much for this one in a lifetime experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Adventure25154066683
Jun 3, 2023
A once in a lifetime experience - I had promised my 12 year old son before the pandemic that I would take him bear watching. We were not disappointed. This was an amazing experience. On arriving at the hide, which is located in such stunning surroundings, the first bear arrived in just 15 seconds, before the ranger had even put out any food. At one point there were 9 in total and they remained for the full 2 hours that we spent in the hide. I had bought some fancy zoom attachment for my phone so I could take some decent shots but they came so close, I didn’t need it. This was a once in a lifetime experience and one I would recommend to any nature lover.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
440gabrielaa
Mar 18, 2023
What an experience! - Alex was a great guide who not only gave us the amazing experience of seeing these majestic creatures in their habitat, but also gave us lots valuable info and cool stories. He was very respectful towards nature and a transmitted his passion for bears making the experience super exciting.. super! 100% recommend !
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ecmarisac
Aug 13, 2022
Great experience!! - Highly recommended!! Irina was a great guide, very kind and helpful. She is very knowledgeable about bears and she happily shared with us everything we needed to know about this fascinating animals. As scary as the idea of a trip like this might sound at first, the experience is completelly safe. We really enjoyed it
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rchellejean_s
Aug 3, 2022
Dream come true - Wow, this was such a wonderful experience! I was with 3 friends and we were led by our guide Irina. During the drive to the bear hide which is about an hour/hour and a half from Brasov she shared sooo much information about the bears and their habitat and behaviour. It was awesome to learn so much from someone who obviously very passionate about bears. Once we were in the hide we saw so many bears! At one point there were 3 bears, 1 female and 2 males. It was really amazing, one of my dreams of seeing the brown bear in the wild came true!
Review provided by Viator
Alison_in_the_city
Jul 2, 2022
Bears in their natural habitat - a once in a lifetime experience - This tour was the highlight of our visit to Romania! Well organised, we confirmed the pick up time with Irina via WhatsApp, which gave us peace of mind. Irina was really knowledgeable and enthusiastic about sharing her love of bears and the need to protect them, and she shared her insights on the drive over to the hide. For two and a half magical hours, we watched bears in their natural habitat from the safety of the hide, transfixed on watching about 12 of these gorgeous animals feed and play. This was a true once in a lifetime experience - with comfort and safety.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
575wimk
Jun 22, 2022
Amazing experience - The trip itself was amazing we saw like 14 different bears. The guide was very professional and open for any question. Also I want to thank the organization for their way of responding and giving information even before I was in Romania. Overall the experience in combination with the organization was perfect and I can recommend it anyone!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
S5750otdavidr
Aug 19, 2023
Buena observación pero un poco "artificial". Good observation but a bit "artificial" - Me gustó la coordinación del transporte y las explicaciones del guía. No me gustó que los osos estuvieran esperando nuestra llegada. Se nota que están acostumbrados a los "biscuits" diarios que les ponen delante de la caseta de observación. I liked the coordination of transportation and the guide's explanations. I didn't like that the bears were waiting for our arrival. It shows that they are used to the daily "biscuits" that they put in front of the observation booth.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Roselynne_o
Oct 21, 2022
Activity needs to be updated - We were really looking forward to this tour, due to a lot of incorrect and delayed information this tour never happened for us. I have no more words to describe how upsetting this was for us.
Review provided by Viator
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