Abstract:
The Apuseni Mountains represent one of the most attractive tourist destination in Romania. The studied area comprises
the territory of Arieşeni commune, which is placed in the northern part of Alba county and the holiday village named
Vârtop, close to the border of Bihor county.
The location represents a circle placed at equal distances from several big towns, such as: Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Arad,
Deva and Alba Iulia, therefore it represents an attraction for the tourists belonging to these areas.
The population of Arieşeni commune counts 1810 inhabitans. It is distributed in 18 villages, whereby the most
important villages are Casa de Piatră, Vârtop, Galbena and Bubeşti.
The main elements of tourism attraction are:
• the ski slope from Vârtop;
• the climatic potential, which is favourable to hiking, climbing, mountaineering, winter sports, repose, relaxation
etc., during both seasons: the summer and the winter. The statistics point out that the yearly average duration of the
snow cover lasts 150 days, ensuring a schi season of 5 months each year;
• Gârdişoara Gorges; Vârciorog Waterfall; Glacier Cave Vârtop; Crow Castle in Padis Plateau; Gura Apei Cave;
Huda Orbului Cave; Hodobana Cave; Aven Cave with two entrances; Izbucul Tauzului Cave etc.
There are also anthropic touristic resourses represented by museums, wooden churches, etnographic and folklore
festivals. The tourism of repose and relaxation is practiced most during the summer time, being favoured by a very
pleasant natural environment, the water and air purity, the altitude of over 800 m that ensures pleasant temperatures.
The vegetation has a vertical distribution and contains deciduous forests, beech forests, mixed forests and valley
subalpine meadows with a great variety of floristic composition.
In Vârtop-Arieşeni area, there is evidence of 88 guesthouses, having a tourist accommodation capacity of 1190 beds in
2008.
