Wilderness to the South of Bucharest

What is Comana Natural Park?

A protected area (since December 2004) of dense woodland home to many plants and wildlife that appear on the European Red List. The park is particularly popular with bird watchers and home to 141 species including 71 protected internationally.

The park, situated directly south of Bucharest in Giurgiu County, covers 24.963 hectares (that’s big, we didn’t see a single other person during our 3 hour walk) and the majority of it is untouched beyond worn pathways.

How to get to Comana National Park?

Take the DN5 (main road) south out of the city, the park is only really accessible by car.

Rather than setting your Sat Nav (or more likely google maps) to Comana Natural Park make sure you follow directions to Comana Adventure Park. This is the most direct route, takes you through the villages of Comana (a good chance to pick up and drinks or snacks you might have forgotten) but more importantly, you’ll find good shaded car parking spaces and obvious trails to begin your day. In case you haven’t already guessed, we learnt that the hard way.

In case you haven’t already guessed, we learnt that the hard way.

What else is there to do?

As mentioned above, the Comana Adventure Park is another very popular reason for people visiting the area. The facility has a number of different elements suspended in the trees including, high bridges, zip lines and balance beams. There are 6 different sections for kids, 3 for adults as well as a climbing wall and a flying fox over the nearby lake.

If you’re looking for something a little quieter then there is also the Comana Monastery nearby. Built as a monastery-fortress in 1461, it’s probably most famous for it’s founder, a certain Vlad Țepeș (the inspiration for Dracula). It’s even believed that his headless body was found on the site during work in the 1970s and not in Snagov, where it’s frequently claimed was his final burial place.

Tips

Comana Natural Park covers a very large area and it’s easy to spend the day getting lost in the woods taking whichever path takes your fancy. While this is great, bare in mind you will need plenty of water and a few snacks should your walk go on a little longer than expected. Most of the forest is very remote and it isn’t easy to find supplies.

Equally, it’s also a good idea if possible to have a Romanian sim card with a data allowance. This will allow you to track your location and make sure you’re heading back towards the car when you’re ready. Although many of the paths are well trodden, the size of the park means it’s easy to wonder off in the wrong direction.

If visiting with your dog, make sure they have adequate flea protection and be prepared to remove some unwanted passengers at the end of the day. Ticks and Fleas are for more common in Romania than in places like the UK and a nature reserve like this will have many of them.

Are you heading to Comana Natural Park soon? Is there anything else we can help you with?