The most effective way to reduce the ecological costs of your holidays is to stay at home and read our Travel Guide, instead of journeying abroad. If we accept the wish to explore foreign countries, methods of transport must be compared.
Recent studies on fuel consumption and CO2 emission of traffic surprisingly concluded that tour buses are better for the environment than trains: while trains use "clean" electricity, they often are half-empty. Tour buses, on the other hand, are mostly full, resulting in a lower emission per passenger.
Similarly, using buses and trains in Romania may use less fuel per km than driving a car, but if you intend to visit remote areas like the Borgo Pass, the Neagra Valley or the Cindrel Mountains, restricting yourself to public transportation will make your whole trip last 30-40% longer, leading to a larger consumption of food, heating, hot water, hotel towels, etc.
We found that sharing a rent car with 3-5 people is a reasonable and practical alternative. If you do not intend to drive off-road, a 75 HP Dacia Logan or Renault Clio or even a Fiat Panda will do - average travel speed on Romanian roads is 50 km/h, because of the many lorries blocking your way. For rough forest roads, a 4WD Dacia Duster or VW Tiguan is a good choice: during their August 2014 trip, Hans, Daniela and Petre measured a consumption of 7.1 liter diesel fuel per 100 km.
Since the beginning of 2012, we have used the services of Autonom Rent-a-Car S.A., a young but very successful enterprise with offices in all major Romanian cities. Even more than the moderate rent prices, we appreciated their very friendly service. You can book your car online in advance and have it brought to your hotel. You can also pick it up in one city and return it in another city, so that you can combine your car trip with train or bus routes.
Over the years, a cordial relationship with the Sibiu office team developed, so that we decided to cooperate. By entering the discount code of our Travel Guide project during booking, our readers will enjoy a 5% discount on all Autonom car hires in Romania.
With Mihail Pricop, Manager of the Autonom office in Sibiu.