--- title: Southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania Is One of the World’s Greatest Places description: Find out why Southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania is on TIME’s 2021 list of the World’s 100 Greatest Places. canonical: https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2021/6079312/southern-carpathian-mountains-romania/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-07-20T10:35:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-02T23:51:06.158Z og:title: Southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania: The World’s 100 Greatest Places of 2021 og:description: Find out why Southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania is on TIME’s 2021 list of the World's Greatest Places og:url: https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2021/6079312/southern-carpathian-mountains-romania/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59ca1f10d81e4857/698a1e0716d884f9c0c39dca/worlds-greatest-places-2021-001-Southern-Carpathian-Mountains-Romania.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania: The World’s 100 Greatest Places of 2021 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania: The World’s 100 Greatest Places of 2021 twitter:description: Find out why Southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania is on TIME’s 2021 list of the World's Greatest Places twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59ca1f10d81e4857/698a1e0716d884f9c0c39dca/worlds-greatest-places-2021-001-Southern-Carpathian-Mountains-Romania.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Jul 20, 2021 # Southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania Returning to nature by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff  The Fagaras Mountains are a section of the Southern Carpathian Mountains in Romania. The Fagaras Mountains are a section of the Southern Carpathian Mountains in Romania.Courtesy Dan Dinu Formerly endangered by the illegal clear-cutting of forests and excessive hunting, Southern Carpathia’s magical Fagaras Mountains are now center stage of efforts in Romania toward establishing a new national park. Nearly 3 million saplings have already been planted on reclaimed land, and animal populations are increasing too, with the reintroduction of bison in 2020\. Foundation Conservation Carpathia is partnering with Steppes Travel and the European Nature Trust to run trips in the region, where a percentage of the proceeds from each booking gets poured back into rewilding and restoration projects. Combining stays in remote wildlife hides with nights at the family-run Amfiteatrul eco-resort, guests are invited here to experience the “Yellowstone of Europe.” August 2021 will also see the return of Fagaras Fest: a celebration of the area’s natural heritage, culture and biodiversity. _—Hannah Foster-Roe_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2021/6079312/southern-carpathian-mountains-romania/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2021/6079312/southern-carpathian-mountains-romania/"},"headline":"Southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania","datePublished":"2021-07-20T10:35:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:51:06.158Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2021/6079312/southern-carpathian-mountains-romania/","keywords":["franchise","Magazine","World's Greatest Places"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59ca1f10d81e4857/698a1e0716d884f9c0c39dca/worlds-greatest-places-2021-001-Southern-Carpathian-Mountains-Romania.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59ca1f10d81e4857/698a1e0716d884f9c0c39dca/worlds-greatest-places-2021-001-Southern-Carpathian-Mountains-Romania.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2021/6079312/southern-carpathian-mountains-romania/","name":"Southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania"}}]}] ```