Romania. I can easily say that Romania is one of my favorite countries. There is so much to like about Romania, and so many different things to see and do. I’m not a big fan of returning to places we have already visited, but Romania is on the top of my list of places to return to.
We were there a few years ago, at the end of a six week backpacking trip. A few months ago we were talking to some friends about our travels through Romania and how much we loved it. They just recently got in touch because they are planning to visit later this year and were looking for some suggestions on places to go and things to see. To help them out, I started to go through our pictures and put together a rough outline of our trip.
Looking through the pictures made me remember how much we loved our trip, which is the reason for this post. I wanted to remember our trip a bit more and share the amazing time we had.
We started our time in Romania arriving by train into Brasov. We arranged a hire car a couple days before arriving and had them meet us at the train station with the car.
We drove straight to Dracula’s Castle (aka Bran Castle). Outside the castle are a number of souvenir shops (lots of Dracula related items) leading up to the castle. The castle was charming inside and out with it’s stone walls, huge fireplaces, wooden beams, and a courtyard with a well. The rooms weren’t overly crowded and we enjoyed wondering around the castle looking at the room features and furniture on display.
After Bran Castle we went to Sibiu. We spent our time getting lost in the town, wondering down streets and taking in the beautiful buildings. The buildings were colorful with window boxes full of flowers, bridges with decorative railings, and a large town center with a clock tower in the middle.
In the town center was a tourist information desk in the same building as a registration office. There were multiple wedding ceremonies happening at the time. As we were getting tips on things to do, there were a number of bridal parties waiting for their turn – basically a revolving door for weddings.
From Sibiu we took a side trip to Muzeul Civilizatiei Populare Traditionale ASTRA (Museum of Traditional Folk Civilization). This museum contains buildings and workshops from the traditional Romanian folk culture. Some of the buildings you can go into a view old equipment or food preparing procedures. The place is HUGE so wear comfortable shoes and be prepared for lots of walking – or you can do what we did and hire an electric bike. We had so much fun on the bikes, we were literally giggling the entire time. I am soooo glad we got them though because we were able to cover a lot of ground and see quite a bit of the museum grounds without wearing out or feet!
Some of the equipment was setup to actual demonstrate how things worked. It was really interesting to see the grinding and sorting equipment. Throughout the museum there were staff members to help explain the processes and show you how things work. One thing you will find with the Romania people is that they are friendly and were always willing to have a chat. Even the people that spoke little or no English would try really hard to communicate and explain their trade and culture. It’s amazing how much you can learn even when you don’t understand the language.
After our time in the Sibiu area we went to Corvin Castle (also known as Hunyadi Castle or Hunedoara Castle). At the front of the castle is an amazing stone bridge – a great photo opportunity that really shows the size of the castle (one of the largest castles in Europe). I saw some people reference this castle as one of Romania’s spookiest castle, which I get to some point with it’s imposing stone exterior walls, long empty walkways, and open windows overlooking the long drop to the ground. It is a very impressive castle and well worth a visit.
Next we made our way to Sighișoara. This was probably one of our favorite Romanian towns. Full of colorful buildings, stone pathways, an old wooden walkway, and a clock-tower with old clock figurines. Like other villages in this country we enjoyed getting lost. There was beauty around every corner. We both wish we would have had more time just to sit and take in the surroundings.
From SighiÈ™oara we went to Turda to visit Salina Turda (a salt mine). It was part museum about salt mining with old equipment on display and part amusement park in the mine with a carousel and the option to row a boat on a lake – yep at the bottom of the mine! The walls covered in salt were beautiful, natural works of art and the size of the main mine was breathtaking.
After the salt mine we headed north and then went east. Unfortunately, I don’t have a clear record of exactly where we went. I know we stayed in Breb and visited a basket weaver, then we walked through a field to visit a woodworker. While we were there they were making fresh bread in an outdoor oven.
We also visited in the Merry Cemetery, a number of wooden churches, and the painted monasteries.
The Merry Cemetery was very merry. I have a strange interest in cemeteries. I find them very calming and peaceful, I’m fascinated with the history and the idea that there are so many people each with different life stories. Anytime we travel I make us stop for interesting or old cemeteries that we pass. Over the years we have visited some very interesting cemeteries, but the Merry Cemetery was definitely the most visually happy. It filled with tombstones with fun drawings and poems related to how the person died. You can find translations for several of the poems online, but you can sort of get an idea of the poem based on the drawing.
The wooden churches of Maramures contain a number of churches built between the 17th century and 19th century. There are almost 100 churches still standing today, only about one third of the original number. Of those still standing, eight are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The wooden churches are beautifully crafted and well worth visiting.
Along the route we also visited a number of the Painted Monasteries of
Bucovina. Wow. These monasteries were amazing. The exterior and interior walls are decorated with 15th and 16th century murals that tell the stories of religious events. The walls are covered – you could spend hours looking at each one.
We started to make our way back down to Brasov but before we arrived there was one more castle we wanted to visit – Peles Castle. We arrived a bit late in the day, but fortunately we were able to make the final tour. Before the tour they made you put on booties to cover your shoes! And there were no pictures allowed inside which was a shame… We did get a few pictures of the outside though.
This last Christmas while binge watching Christmas movies on Netflix we recognised this castle in A Christmas Prince! We actually found that a few of Netflix’s Christmas movies were filmed in Romania – well worth a watch if you want to see the castles (before or after visiting in person)!
After Peles Castle we arrived in Brasov and went on a brown bear viewing. You started the tour at a convenience stop parking lot. From there we took a mini bus to the woods. We parked the mini bus on the side of the road and did a short trek to a viewing hut. While waiting in the hut food was placed out for the bears. Shortly after, the bears started to make their way to the food. It was so fun to watch them eat. We even got to see a mama bear and baby! There was also an alpha male bear – once he showed up everyone else ran away. He had his meal and then the others slowly started to come back to get their share. Very exciting.
We ended Romania by spending our last couple days in Brasov. From here we took the train to Bucharest and then to Sophia Bulgaria for our flight home. We didn’t get much time in Bucharest or Sophia because we opted to spend more time north enjoying the sites. I think we made the right decision, but will need to go back to explore the countries further (hopefully soon).
The thing about Romania is that it has so much to offer. As you can see from the details above there is so many different things to see and do. The other thing we loved was the fact that the country (more so in the north) felt very untouched. The people living in these villages are still practicing their traditional trades, some dressed in traditional clothing, riding horses or horse drawn carts. It was so authentic and untouched, like we were going back a hundred years in time. I hope that we can go back soon before it looses too much of its realness and charm.
Click here to see our itinerary through Romania.