Carpathian Mountains
They represent a prolongation of the Alp Mountains and they start from the Danube, from Vienna basin, ending south of the Danube in the Valley of Timoc. Typical for these mountains is the vast depression from inside, called Transylvania. In relation with this depression Carpathians Mountains are divided in three major parts: Eastern, Southern and Western. They occupy about 30 percent of the country's total area.

Eastern Carpathians
Despite of their width, Eastern Carpathians aren't a massif mountain chain because of many depressions that cross them. Just in the north there are some mountains which are over 2000m height. The main mountains from Eastern Carpathians are: Rodna, Calimani, Vrancei, Ciucas, Baiului.

Southern Carpathians
This sector is the highest and more massif than the rest of the Romanian Carpathians. In the west starting from the Timis-Cerna corridor and in the east sector ending in Prahova Valley. In many places, Romanian Carpathians are over 2500m high, like Moldoveanu Peak (2554m, the highest in Romania), Negoiu (2535m), both peaks are from the Fagaras Mountains, Peleaga Peak (2509m, in Retezat Mountain), Omu Peak (2504m, in Bucegi Mountain). Although they are massif, you still can find some lower passes like Turnu Rosu (400m), Cozia (309m) in the Olt Valley, Lainici (450m) in the Jiu Valley. The roads that cross the Southern Carpathians have some beautiful sceneries. Transfagarasan, in Fagaras, and Transalpina, in Parang, are the best passages regarding the scenery. While Transalpina is a difficult road, Transfagarasan can be crossed easily during the summer time.

Western Carpathians
Extended from Danube in south, till Somes and Barcau valleys, in north, these mountains have lower altitude, about 1000m, but still there are some peaks higher than 1800m like Bihor Peak (1849m, also called Curcubata Mare). The main feature of these mountains is their discontinuity between different mountain groups separated by wide corridors and by depressions.
Located west from Cluj-Napoca town, the Padis plateau is a karstic area and it represents one of the main tourist attractions. Here you can find karstic phenomenons like Cetatile Ponorului, Izbucul Galbenei and Warm Somes Gorges. Two of the most known caves in Europe can be find also in Western Carpathian: The Cave of the Bears and Ghetarul Scarisoara Cave.