Romania is a country with a relief you rarely meet. We have sea, mountain, plateau, delta, rivers, lakes. Keep walking, visit her and you can't get bored. 

Lake Sfânta Ana is the only volcanic lake in Romania. Located in Harghita, near Băile Tuşnad, the lake formed on the bottom of the crater of an extinct volcano, in the Puciosu volcanic massif. It covers an area of ​​just over 19 hectares and has a maximum depth of 7 meters. Having no springs to feed it, Lake Sfânta Ana is completed only by precipitation.

The name of the lake comes from 2 legends, both full of cruelty. The first one talks about 2 rival brothers who always had something to prove. One of them decided to harness the virgins in the area to the carriage, which, because they could not get rid of it, he began to whip them. One of them, Ana, cursed him, and the man was killed during a storm. On the place of his castle, also destroyed by the same storm, the lake would have formed.

The second legend tells of another Ana, forced by her parents to marry a man she did not love, but who had a considerable fortune. On the night of the wedding, Ana ran and threw herself into the lake. The locals would have decided to call him Saint Anne, to remain a symbol of love.

Near the lake there is also a stone chapel, built in 1564, and in the past tens of thousands of pilgrims came here to come and pray to find their soul mate. Here, too, tens of thousands more people came during the summer to sit on the beach and bathe in the lake. However, bathing was banned almost 2 years ago, when specialists showed that the unique purity of the water here, close to that of distilled water, risks being severely affected. Therefore, the whole area is now a protected area, and bathing will only be allowed in official sports competitions.

Bâlea Lac nu avea cum să nu apară pe lista cu cele mai frumoase lacuri din România. Este la polul opus de lacul Sfânta Ana, acesta fiind un lac glaciar, format într-un circ glaciar. Situat la o altitudine de 2034 de metri, în Munţii Făgăraş, lacul şi zona din jurul lui au fost declarate încă din 1932 rezervaţie naturală. Este unul dintre cele mai mari lacuri din Făgăraş şi ajunge la o adâncime de 11 metri.

Like any major tourist attraction, it could not miss a legend. His name comes from a shepherd named Bâlea, who helped an emperor defeat his opponent. He received the king's daughter's hand as a reward. During a strong storm, however, the two were pushed into the lake and have since been named.

During the summer, Bâlea Lac can be reached here on Transfăgărăşan, either from Sibiu or from Curtea de Argeş. When the road is closed, the only access road remains the cable car. If you arrive in winter, you will also find the ice hotel built every year since 2006 nearby.

The lake is the starting point of some spectacular mountain routes, such as the one that leads to the highest peak of Romania, Moldoveanu Peak, the route to Negoiu Peak or Buteanu Peak.

Lake Vidraru is not only one of the most beautiful lakes in Romania, but it is also the deepest. The maximum depth is 155 meters, near the dam of the same name. It is an accumulation lake created in 1965, in Argeş, to facilitate the production of electricity, but also to support the irrigation system. After the dam was built, the first in Europe in the arch at that time, it lasted a year until the lake was filled with water.

Now the lake is also used for leisure, being an extremely popular area. Tourists can choose from boating, pedal boating or even a rowing boat. The bravest find here the highest bungee jumping installation in Romania, 166 meters.

Red Lake is a naturally formed dam lake, after a slope collapsed as a result of an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9. With the landslide, a valley was blocked and the pine forest was flooded. Today, on the entire surface of the lake, parts of these trees can be seen, offering a unique landscape in the country. Located in Harghita, at the foot of Hăşmaşul Mare Mountain, Red Lake received its name from Pârâul Roşu, which passes over red layers, full of iron oxides and hydroxides.

Here, too, we do not lack legends. The first is about a poor girl and a rich boy who fell in love, but met with opposition from his parents, who did not want a marriage between the two. The young people decided to run away, and the girl was cursed by her boyfriend's parents. A strong storm caught them off guard, and a rock fell on them and killed them. Their blood would have colored the water of the lake and hence the name of the mountain next to the lake, Mount Killer. But there are other legends surrounding Red Lake, just as bloody. In reality, the red color comes from the clay in the composition of the fallen rocks on the mountain and from the Red Creek, which feeds it.

Lake Bolboci is also called the Sea of ​​Bucegi and fully deserves its place on the list of the most beautiful lakes in Romania. Only 8 kilometers from Sinaia, it is accessible to a large category of tourists, especially since it is the starting point of some spectacular mountain trails, towards Scropoasa Lake, Ialomicioarei Cave or Babele Chalet.

Although it is an artificial lake, being an accumulation lake that appeared after the construction of the Bolboci dam on the Ialomiţa river, it was perfectly integrated in the landscape so that you can be easily fooled in this regard. It is bordered by a dense pine forest, and the area is preferred by tourists who like to go hiking in the mountains.

Razim estuary is a lagoon formed on the shores of the Black Sea. Initially, a bay where fish came to lay their eggs, the hardships of the early '80s turned it into a lake, the largest of its kind in the country. In the area of ​​Razim-Sinoe lagoon are found 10 of the 20 protected areas of the Danube Delta.

The legends of the area say that it is a cursed lake, on which extremely strong storms would start suddenly. That is why the locals speak with fear about him and the many victims he made among the fishermen who went to work.

Blue Lake is a unique lake in Europe due to the way it formed - the collapse of a mine gallery in 1919, but also the way it changes color depending on the season, from light blue to emerald green and even brown. It is located at the foot of the Gutâi Mountains, 3 kilometers from Baia Sprie and was declared a nature reserve in 1977.

Due to the high composition of sulfur and copper, the lake is not populated. However, experts say that its water does not affect those who swim there. But access is not easy. The departure is from the center of Baia Sprie, climb behind the Catholic church to the edge and from there follow the path to the lake. The journey takes about 45 minutes.

Lake Bicaz - The source of the mountain is an accumulation lake located in Neamţ, 4 kilometers away from Bicaz. The construction of the dam that led to its formation laid the foundations of the Romanian hydropower system, but it also has an extremely painful story. In the 10 years that the works lasted, more than 15,000 people worked there, most of them political prisoners, along with the military, miners, engineers. Many of them lost their lives, but there is no clear figure because they were all silenced at the time. 18,700 people from 22 villages were displaced. Because they refused to leave their homes, the communists asked the priests to leave first, and the community followed.

Today the picturesque landscape attracts tens of thousands of tourists each year in the area . On the lake you can take boat trips from Bicaz. It is, in fact, the only one in the area of ​​Moldova where water sports can be practiced, from skiing to diving.

Vulturilor Lake, also called Bottomless Lake is a periglacial lake located in the Siri Mountains, only 200 kilometers from Bucharest. Both names come from the legends of the place. Alexandru Vlahuţă mentioned in his book, Picturesque Romania, the fact that this would have been the place where the eagles came to teach their chicks to fly. The second name comes from a story in which a local shepherd left his sheep unattended, threw his stick into the lake and went out into the world. He recovered his bat after a year in the Danube, and that would have convinced him to return home.

Lake Eagles is not available to everyone. It can only be reached by an off-road vehicle and only in dry weather, if you do not want to leave it there, in the mud. Otherwise, you can follow a marked route of about 3 hours. Here you will find a cottage open only during the summer and the tents of those who appreciate the simple and quiet life, in the middle of nature.

Lacul Bucura, din Parcul Naţional Retezat, este cel mai mare lac glaciar din România. Aflat la o altitudine de 2.040 de metri, pe timp de vară lacul este ţinta multor amatori de drumeţii montane, iar unii dintre ei aleg acest loc şi ca să îşi instaleze corturile. Având în vedere altitudinea, trebuie să ai în vedere că ai nevoie de un sac de dormit călduros şi ar fi utilă şi o mică butelie, pentru un ceai cald sau o supă.

Ochiul Beiului Lake is the smallest on the list of the most beautiful lakes in Romania, but it fully deserves its place, looking like one taken from a fairy tale. Located in the Anina Mountains, once you get there you miraculously forget about the road, not at all easy.

Of karst origin, part of Cheile Nerei National Park, Ochiul Beiului Lake is well hidden from the eyes of the ordinary tourist to travel only by car. The route to the lake at an altitude of only 310 meters takes about 4 hours. The green-blue water never freezes due to the spring that supplies the lake non-stop.

And in this case the legends are sad and speak of much suffering and many tears, they lead to the formation of the lake. Moreover, the locals believe that the ieles come here on the night of Sânziene, dance and wash in the clear water.