Romania

Romania's Carpathians hold two of Europe's great engineered mountain roads. The Transfagarasan climbs from the Wallachian plain over a bare granite ridge past the glacial Balea Lake, its northern face a stack of switchbacks that television made famous and that still lives up to the reputation in person. The Transalpina, higher and quieter, crosses the range further west with none of the crowds and a rougher, wilder character.

Away from the two headline roads, the Carpathian bend country hides gentler gems: the limestone gorge road at Bicaz and the high plateau crossing of the Transbucegi both reward a detour. Transylvania beyond the mountains is a slower pleasure, fortified villages and forest roads rather than hairpins.

Romania remains inexpensive and lightly trafficked by Alpine standards, and its high passes close for a shorter season than their fame suggests, generally reopening by early summer.