Dobruja and the Danube Delta

Between the Black Sea and the Danube

The loop starts from Constanța, runs down the coast to Mangalia, crosses the plateau to the river, then heads north towards the delta. You go from fields of wheat and sunflowers to the cliffs of the Danube, then to lagoons lined with reeds. North of Constanța, the road runs through the Fântânele-Cogealac wind farm and its 240 wind turbines.

Further north, the road crosses the Măcin Mountains, small, bare granite mountains that rise out of the plain. From the village of Greci, a path climbs Țuțuiatu, their highest point, at 467 metres.

The heart of the delta has almost no roads. You explore it by boat, from Tulcea or Murighiol, along channels where pelicans live. Navrom scheduled boats run from Tulcea to Sulina, with the old Danube Commission lighthouse, or to the fishing village of Sfântu Gheorghe. Allow at least one night there. Further south, the car stays at the port of Jurilovca and a boat crosses the lagoon to Gura Portiței, a tongue of sand facing the sea.

The Greeks had arrived long before. Settlers from Miletus founded Histria in the 7th century BC: it is the first known town on the territory of present-day Romania. Sand slowly closed off its bay, which became Lake Sinoe. Other Greek cities lined this coast: Tomis, today Constanța; Callatis, today Mangalia; Orgame, above Lake Razim.

Exiled to Tomis by Augustus in AD 8, the poet Ovid spent his last years there, far from Rome. His statue has stood since 1887 in the square that bears his name. Right next to it, the Roman Mosaic Edifice holds a mosaic floor that originally covered nearly 2,000 m². It reopened in November 2025, after three years of work.

Tatars, Turks and Lipovans

Dobruja remained Ottoman from the early 15th century until 1878, and Tatars and Turks still live here. In Mangalia, the Esmahan Sultan Mosque, built in 1575, is often described as the oldest in Romania. In Constanța, the Carol I Great Mosque, opened in 1913, has a 47-metre minaret: you climb its 140 steps for a view over the city and the port.

Around the lagoons live the Lipovans, Old Believer Russians. Their ancestors refused the reform of the Russian Church in 1652 and fled their country. They founded Jurilovca at the beginning of the 19th century. The village still lives from fishing.

What not to miss

1. 1The Constanța CasinoAn Art Nouveau building from 1910 on the cliff, reopened in 2025.
2. 2Trajan’s TrophyThe monument to the victory over the Dacians, and its metopes in the museum.
3. 3CapidavaA Roman fort on a rock above the Danube.
4. 4The delta by boatA morning on the channels from Tulcea or Murighiol.
5. 5EnisalaA medieval citadel attributed to the Genoese, above Lake Razim.
6. 6HistriaThe ruins of the oldest known town on Romanian territory, on the shore of Lake Sinoe.

Dobruja and the Danube Delta in pictures

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The restored Constanța Casino, on the seafront promenade.

The Dobruja table

Around the delta, people mostly eat fish: ciorbă de pește, a slightly sour soup, saramură, carp grilled in brine with garlic, or plachie, stewed with onions and tomato.

Tatar cooking has left suberek, a fried meat pasty. As for wine, the region has two well-known vineyards: Murfatlar, near Constanța, and Sarica-Niculițel, near Tulcea.