UKC

My good friend is getting married in Romania this summer and I'm considering whether it might be a good excuse to get in the van and visit a few places along the way.

My route would be vaguely Calais, Cologne, Nuremberg, Vienna, Budapest, Romania.

So good people of UKC, what crags might be worth stopping at for a few routes on the way there or back?

They would need to be easily accessible to make the most of the time and not too spicy i.e. plenty of routes around hvs or in the 6s for sports.

Thanks all

Forget Cologne. 

Go Berdorf (fantastic bolted sandstone), frankenjura, then dolomites maybe. After that I don't know. 

When passing Vienna, you will pass Peilstein  Peilstein just 10 km away from the motorway. People have been climbing there for 140 years, and so might you. 

As far as going through Germany is concerned, the two best stops would be the Ith (home of Action Direct) and the Frankenjura - an endless supply of beer and crags. Have a grand trip.

Action directe is not in the Ith, but in Hersbrucker Schweiz (northeastern Frankenjura).

Otherwise, I would go to Frankenjura and then either the Northern limestone Alps (if you go the southern route via Austria and Hungary).

A more northerly route could take you through Frankenjura, Elbe sandstone, Adrspach, the Polish sandstone, some Tatra Granite before turning south.

CB

Sorry, my mistake, of course it is - just shows what my memory’s like.

We made a similar trip to Romania a couple of years ago (before pressing on through Bulgaria to Greece). Plenty of great cragging to be had on the way and well worth using what time you have to explore Romania. 

Turda Gorge is well worth a look (don't be put off by the name!) 

https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/2017/09/14/turda-gorge-into-romania/

... and is easily combined with a visit to Rimetea 

https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/2017/09/15/rimetea/

And of course no visit to Romania is complete without taking in Transylvania in which case you should check out the climbing around Brasov. 

https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/2017/09/18/climbing-in-transylvania-around...

If you check out the posts either side of the above you'll also get some ideas for your Luxembourg, Germany and Austria stop-offs. Enjoy! 

Skip most of the climbing stops, take a Romanian road trip. It's spectacular.

Jk

To get some early routes in- Freyr near Dinant in Belgium

Freyr, Berdorf, Windstein, Frankenjura would be a good start