The glacial lake and chalets at Balea Lac, with the Transfagarasan switchbacking across the slopes behind
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Romania by campervan: safety and healthcare

Campervan safety in Romania: vehicle security, healthcare, emergency contacts and practical prevention. What to know before you go.

Published 18 September 2026Last checked 19 September 2026

Safety and health

Safety and health

The specific Romanian risk is the brown bear, and the numbers behind it are recent. Genetic analysis of about 24,000 samples put the population at 10,657 to 12,787 bears on a conservative scenario. The Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests presented it at Brașov on 12 December 2025 as the largest study of its kind carried out for the species. The bears are in the Carpathians, and the Carpathians are where you are going.

A brown bear in deep autumn leaf litter among bare beech trees
Romania holds the largest brown bear population in the European Union, and the count is now genetic

What the 2025 national bear study found

Population
10,657 to 12,787

Conservative scenario, presented 12 December 2025

Samples analysed
about 24,000

Collected nationally for the genetic monitoring project

Management zones
4 categories

Key conservation, conflict, sustainable management and marginal

Electric fences installed
1,140

Protection systems reported in the 15 December 2025 release

Bears: what the rules and the rangers say

  • No food in the tent. The park administration's own first rule, because bears work by smell.
  • Hang food at least two metres up and away from the trunk if you leave it outside the vehicle.

What works

  • Arrive before dark so you can see the place you picked and read the signs on it.
  • Nothing visible through the windows. No bags, no laptop on the table.

Emergencies and health

  • 112 reaches the ambulance, the police and the fire service, in Romanian and in English.
  • Salvamont, 0725 826 668, is the national mountain rescue service and is the number to have saved before you walk up anything.

On the road

  • The alcohol contravention band is 0.11 to 0.40 mg/l in exhaled air, with a class IV fine and a 90 day licence suspension. Above 0.40 mg/l a blood sample is compulsory.
  • Homemade țuică is not measured in units and is offered generously. Plan to stay put, which is the advantage of sleeping in the vehicle you arrived in.

The bear figures are worth reading carefully rather than as a scare. The 10,657 to 12,787 range is the conservative scenario of a national genetic study, not a headcount of bears near campsites, and the same project produced the zoning that tells park administrations where conflict happens. Over 1,100 electric protection systems have been installed off the back of it. The practical advice has not changed: keep food away from where you sleep, and give any bear you do see a great deal of room.