It starts near the village of Bascov, near Pitești, and stretches 90 kilometres (56 mi) to the crossroad between the DN1 and Sibiu, between the highest peaks in the country, Moldoveanu and Negoiu.

The road, built in the early 1970s as a strategic military route, connects the historic regions of Transylvania and Wallachia.

At the time, Romania already had several strategic mountain passes through the Southern Carpathians, whether inherited from the pre-communist era (the DN1 and the high-pass DN67C) or built during the initial years of the Communist regime (the DN66).

[1] The road climbs to an altitude of 2,042 metres (6,699 ft), making it the second highest mountain pass in Romania after the Transalpina.

Depending on the weather, it may remain open until as late as November, or may close even in the summer; signs at the town of Curtea de Argeș and the village of Cârțișoara provide information.

Host Jeremy Clarkson proclaimed that the Transfăgărășan was "the best road in the world,"[2] a title the presenters had previously given to the Stelvio Pass in Italy.