Location

Băile Herculane Spa is a small resort-town located in the Southwestern Carpathians, close to the Danube and to the some of the most spectacular karst areas in Romania. The town lies along the deeply incised Cerna valley carved into Jurassic limestones. It is also the administrative center of the Cerna-Domogled National Park. In the end of May the climate is very pleasant, the monthly average temperature reaching 18 °C. The town was established during the Roman Empire due to the therapeutic proprieties of its thermal springs and was named so in honor of the Roman God Hercules. For more information see http://www.baile-herculane.ro

Romanian Visa

Romanian visa is not required for nationals of almost all European countries, US and Canada that hold a simple passport valid at least 6 months beginning with the entry date, for visits up to 30 days (90 days in some cases). Among European countries whose citizens need a visa in order to enter Romania are: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Hertegovina, Estonia, Georgia, Lituania, Malta, etc. Visa regulations vary from country to country: in some cases Romanian embassies do not require a formal invitation in order to issue a visa; in other cases, obtaining a visa may be a lengthy process. You may check the current visa regulations at the Romanian Ministry for Foreign Affairs website. If you need a formal invitation please let us know as soon as posible. A simple visa (one entry) costs currently USD 25.

Access

Baile Herculane is easily accessible by express trains (main station on the track Bucharest-Timisoara) or by car (European Road E70, 350 km from Bucharest; ~170 km from Timisoara). Regular minibuses link the train station to the center of the town at each train.”. The closest international airports are Timisoara (http://www.aerotim.ro) (170 km), Bucharest (http://www.otp-airport.ro) (340 km) and Cluj (http://www.airportcluj.ro).Guided transfers by car or minibuses from the international airports of Bucharest, Timisoara and Cluj will be arranged at low fares, upon request (see prices section). For participants arriving until May 25 at 8 p.m. the organizers may provide transport and booking assistance (transfer airport-railway station; hotels and/or train tickets booking, etc.).

Important!
If you plan to participate to the post-symposium field trips, please keep in mind that Field trip 1 (Southern Carpathians) will end in Bucharest, and Field trip 2 (Western Carpathians) will end in Cluj. Plan your return flights considering that you will need to travel one night with an express train between the two cities if the airport of return is not the same as the final destination of the field-trip.

VENUE

The scientific sessions will begin on May 26 at 9 a.m. in the Main Conference Room of the “Ferdinand” Hotel and will last until May 28. The Secretariate will open at the same hotel beginning with May 25, 2 p.m. “Ferdinand” Hotel offers two conference rooms, so parallel sessions may be organized. In addition, a third conference room may be available at “Sadoveana” Hotel for off-topic presentations if such a session will be organized.

MAPS

Click here to view a simplified location map of Baile Herculane and of the "Ferdinand" Hotel. For your orientation, online (clickable) maps of Romania and most important cities may be found at http://www.hartionline.ro. Unfortunately the page is only in Romanian language however, its structure is simple once you know that "harta" (plural, "harti") means "map"! If you still have problems to navigate the page here are the specific links (no-frames): the big, clickable, map of Romania may be found at http://www.hartionline.ro/ro/harta/0.html. A large-scale map of the region around Herculane is located at http://www.hartionline.ro/ro/harta/d7.html.