An incredible adventure in partnership with expert local wildlife trackers and conservationists from WWF
Follow the reintroduced herds of European Bison through a revolutionary rewilding area in a remote corner of Romania
Bunk down in wilderness cabins and safari-style camps beneath the stars and snatch wild swims in lakes and rivers
As featured in The Guardian's Where the Wild Things Are
Day 1
Meet your host at Timișoara Airport and settle into the van for a two-hour drive deep into a remote, rural part of Romania, heading for the small community of Armeniș in the west of the country. Check into your cosy guesthouse and stretch your legs with a short walk before meeting up with your guides for dinner and a chat through the adventure to come.
Day 2
Rising before dawn often brings the best rewards, so set your alarm early and slip out into the twilight to a nearby clearing to see the wildlife, often most active at this time of the day. Grab a late breakfast and then head into the wilderness to track bison, one of the areas most impressive sights and a key driver of the positive ecological changes happening in this part of the Carpathians. Tonight you'll be staying in a safari-style camp beneath the stars and hopefully listening to the distant howling of the wolves.
*The order of this itinerary might change in accordance with the weather and the movement of the bison.
Day 3
Wake up in one of Europe's wildest places and head straight out for a morning of wildlife tracking. Your guides will fill you in on the rewilding efforts here and the cascade of ecological benefits that occur when keystone species such as bison are reintroduced into the wild. Later you'll return to the guesthouse in Armenis for a well-earned shower and a traditional Romanian dinner.
Day 4
Moving deeper into the Tarcu Mountains, you'll head towards Rusca and set off for a hike, keeping a keen eye open for the region's resident Chamois. Wolves, lynx, wild boars and bears also reside in the area. Your guides are on hand to look out for signs of the animals and you'll be split into groups of no more than four to better your chance of seeing them. You'll ramble towards a wilderness cabin located in a magical spot with two crystal clear rivers and a lake nearby to take a dip in. Later in the evening, you'll head out to a hide to look out for European brown bears.
Day 5
It's time to leave the Tarcu Mountains after breakfast as you hike out to the nearest road where your host will be waiting with a van to drive you back to Timișoara in time for your flight home.
All your meals are provided for the duration of the trip. This includes:
Our trips do not include flights, trains or other travel to the start point and back from the end point.
Tips are not included in the trip cost and are entirely at your discretion. If you feel you received exceptional service from your guides then you are free to tip them at the end of your adventure, we suggest 10-15% of the trip cost would be a guideline figure in this scenario.
You know your own spending habits best, so please budget an appropriate amount for things like optional meals and drinks, shopping, optional activities, and laundry.
Travel insurance is compulsory for all of our adventures and you are required to provide your policy information before departing. Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure. We also strongly recommend it includes cancellation and curtailment insurance, should you be unable to join your trip for specific reasons such as illness. Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine (opens in new tab), as their insurance offers all of the above.
Visa requirements often change, and you are responsible for obtaining any required visas for this trip. Please check with your nearest embassy or consulate for up-to-date advice.
Private room upgrades are not available on this trip due to the nature of the accommodation.
You'll enjoy locally sourced, traditional Romanian foods throughout the trip. Breakfasts are a fairly continental affair of cereals and breads with jam and juices. Dinners usually involve a meat or fish option alongside staples of polenta, salads, br…
Due to limited space in the village and cabins, private rooms are only available if the group is below the maximum size of 8. For departures with fewer than 8 guests you can request a private room at no additional cost with your local host.
To request any extras, message your host via your Much Better Adventures account once you have booked your trip.
All extras must be paid before your trip starts.
For active people who want to explore more wild and adventurous places
This is a wild adventure in a remote part of Romania, and you'll be tracking wildlife off trail often during your escapades, so there can be some difficult sections with muddy...
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Friday 5th June 2026
to Tuesday 9th June 2026
Last minute - Host approval required
Friday 19th June 2026
to Tuesday 23rd June 2026
Friday 26th June 2026
to Tuesday 30th June 2026
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Know before you go! Some stuff we'll provide, other things you'll need to bring.
Our Rewilding Adventures take place in areas that are actively undergoing a process of ecological restoration known as rewilding. Increasingly, scientists and environmental activists see rewilding as a key solution to the ecological crises facing the planet. At Much Better Adventures we have followed this youthful movement closely, and it is clear that tourism has a role to play in helping to fund rewilding projects and show our adventurers the ecological transformations happening on the ground. Our trips explore these areas and particularly the species which are coming back to the returning wildernesses.
On any of our Rewilding Adventures, you'll be guided by expert wildlife trackers with a deep understanding of the rewilding efforts and the ecological improvements occurring in the areas they live and work in. You will search for and learn about keystone species such as wolf and bison which are either expanding from small historical numbers or being actively reintroduced. You'll see up close returning tree coverage and wildflower meadows, and even witness rivers running clearer due to the land growing wilder and withholding sediments. We aim for our Rewilding Adventures to instil a sense of hope that the damage which human activity has caused to the wild places on our planet can be reversed.
Every booking we take on a Rewilding Adventure directly supports and positively impacts the area in which your adventure takes place. Tourism provides a sustainable revenue stream to the local community, boosting the social and economic benefits from conservation and rewilding work, and therefore the incentives to support it.
Included in the trip cost is also a Rewilding Levy of 5% which goes directly to the rewilding project connected to the trip. On top of this, the Much Better Adventures Foundation channels an additional 5% of our revenues (not profits) from every booking to support reforestation and rewilding projects that advance our goal to protect the worlds wild places, one adventure at a time.
While we acknowledge that our Rewilding Adventures have a carbon footprint due to the need to travel to them, we have chosen the projects within our foundation for their potential to remove at least 2x more carbon from the atmosphere than enter it as a result of our trips.
Absolutely. As well as providing income to the rural community of conservationists, guides, drivers and chefs, 10% of the costs for this trip goes into a conservation fund managed by your host in partnership with WWF. The fund supports the bison reintroduction project and assists in raising the acceptance of the bison by the local communities. This is additional to the 5% of the trip price that goes into Much Better Adventures' conservation fund
The last of Romania’s wild bison were killed as early as 1790, with the species in critical decline and heading towards extinction across Europe. In 2014, a joint initiative between WWF and Rewilding Europe resulted in the first herd of bison being introduced back to the wild in Romania since they were hunted out of the country.
The water at the guesthouse and in Armenis is drinkable. During the hiking and tracking days, you'll fill your water straight from the mountain water springs in the area. Be sure to bring a reusable water bottle or two.
Yes, you can leave any excess luggage securely at the Armenis tourism office or at the guesthouse.
This trip takes place in environments where wild animals are present in their natural environment, where protections and controls on their movement may be limited or non-existent. Some species may be dangerous, venomous, or unpredictable. Sightings are a privilege – but safety is key. Always follow your guide’s instructions and any posted signage.
We recommend considering your comfort around wildlife and discussing any concerns with your host before travel, particularly if you have allergies, phobias, or related health conditions.
Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Our team of Adventure Hunters co-create exclusive adventures which are run by highly vetted, specialist hosts. The trip is run by our trusted host partner in the destination. We only work with independent, local, in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. Read more information about the local teams we partner with. You’ll be introduced to the host straight after making a booking via the Much Better Adventures platform.
Much Better Adventures refer to the UK Government’s official travel advice when designing trips and monitoring trip operations. We recommend that all customers are familiar with the practical information provided on the Government’s FCDO website, where current travel advice can be found by searching for the applicable destination(s).
For customers joining this trip from other international destinations – please also read the official travel advice applicable to your country of residence/origin, as this may differ.
We recommend checking out the country-specific information and also talking to a travel nurse.
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. You must be over 18 to join one of our trips.
You're always in good company on one of our adventures.
Our trips are typically made up of a mixture of solo travellers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.
Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way.
It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.
Don't just take our word for it:
See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.
The mountainous areas of Romania offer a pleasant climate during the summer months. Day time temperatures average around 20°C / 68°F with highs of 26°C / 79°F in July and August. Evening temperatures during summer drop to around 10°C / 50°F. The area can see a fair bit of rainfall in the summer months, so be sure to pack good waterproofs and hiking shoes that keep out moisture.
We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 128kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
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