Balea Lake is a glacial lake situated in Fagaras Mountains from Sibiu county at an altitude of 2040 m.
1st June – 1st October accessible by car
1st October - 1st June accessible by cable car because of winter conditions.
* opening hours may vary, they are just for guidance
Free
* visiting taxes may vary, they are just for guidance
Balea Lake is one of the major touristic attraction on Transfagarasan with Balea Waterfall, Poienari Fortress, Vidraru Lake and the route itself. It has a length of 360 m and a depth of 11.35 m. Since 1932, Balea Lake and 180 ha of surrounding area became natural reservation which protects many floral and fauna species such as the edelweiss, the golden eagle, the chamois, the lynx.
Balea Lake is located in a glacial cauldron in the heart of the most massive Romanian mountains. Fagaras Mountains has many glacial landforms: moraines, terraces, u-shaped valleys, fragmented ridges, a lot of glacial lakes (Capra Lake, Podragu Mic Lake, Podragu Mare Lake, Avrig Lake, Urlea Lake etc.) and it is called The Transylvanian Alps. The water’s lake accumulated in a glacial cirque, being the biggest Romanian glacial lake.
The access to the lake is very easy especially on the summer when it can be reached by car on Transfagarasan, the second highest road from Romania. In the rest of the year, there is a cable car which has a capacity of 14 seats which connects Balea Waterfall and Balea Lake.
In 2005, near Balea Lake has been build the first ice hotel from Romania and Eastern Europe. It had a circular shape, 8 double rooms, an ice bar and an ice restaurant. In that winter, almost 3000 tourists came to visit the first ice hotel from the top of the Carpathians. Over time, there was build an ice chapel and a winter park and there was exposed an unique collection of ice sculptures. In 2009, there was build a second ice hotel, bigger than the first one, with 12 rooms and with a cross shape for attracting religious tourism.
The Ice Hotel from Balea Lake has become the host of many TV shows, photo shootings, videos and music concerts. In present, it is so popular than attracts over 8000 tourists every winter. It is a part of touristic marketing project called The Ice Hotel – Balea Lake which promotes the touristic potential of the Fagaras Mountains and wants to became a strong brand for Balea Lake.
