You may know what King Charles III and Count Dracula have in common, but what about brown bears and Jeremy Clarkson? The answer to both is… Romania.
Transylvania
The King and the Count are synonymous with Romania’s largest region, Transylvania.
Bran Castle, said to be the country’s single biggest tourist attraction, was busy even in mid-May. Whilst I found it a little underwhelming, it is a ‘must see’ and will be remembered more for the atmospheric thunderstorm which started during our visit.
King Charles has established an enduring affection for Romania over many years. In the village of Viscri, with its car free policy and cornflower-blue Saxon style houses, he owns a house which has been converted into a training centre for traditional crafts and rural skills.
Transylvania has around 150 fortified churches, with defensive thick walls, towers, and battlements, which acted as a refuge from invasions. The church in Viscri is one of the seven that has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We climbed the bacon tower, where villagers would store a ham with their house number written on it. At 7am on Sunday the tower would be opened by two designated people which allowed the owners to take what they needed for the week. Photo 03 and 04
Another of Transylvania’s biggest draws is Peleş Castle, Romania’s most opulent palace. Built originally for King Carol I, it was later used as a refuge for Ceauşescu and visiting dignitaries. We were allowed in a fraction of the 160 extravagantly decorated rooms, stuffed with antiques and artwork. Again, it was busy, but we dodged the inevitable large tour groups. The nearby much smaller Pelişor Palace, built for the heirs of King Carol, appeared far more restrained until we arrived in the ‘Gold Room’ which was literally covered in 24-carat gold leaf.
Having visited salt mines in Poland and Columbia, I was looking forward to the Turda Salt Mine. I was therefore disappointed to find that after walking down lots of steps and taking two lifts, there was an underground amusement park including a Ferris wheel, crazy golf and pedaloes on a salt lake. My favourite sight was a family playing board games whilst mum knitted: the clean purified air is said to have restorative properties and people visit simply to breathe in the air.
Brown Bears and Jeremey Clarkson
I was keen to see brown bears and rather than visiting the cleverly named Libearty Bear Sanctuary, home to 100 rescued bears, we ventured on a bear watching experience. Romania has over 6,000 bears and to prevent them from roaming into villages, feeding stations have been set up deep in the forest. Some allow visitors and we sat safely in a hide transfixed as around 12 bears ambled down from the forest at their regular feeding time.
So, to Jeremy who described the Transfăgărașan Highway as ‘a grey ribbon of motoring perfection’. The journey with its hairpin bends and climbs over the mountain were thrilling. Whilst we’d been told bear sightings were possible, we didn’t anticipate spotting them literally on the roadside, with one hanging over a stone wall posing for photographs which had to be taken through the car window. At this point, we were glad we were not in Jeremy’s Aston Martin convertible. Due to the country’s harsh winters, the section of the road to Bâlea Lake is open only for a few summer months, and we were fortunate it opened literally days before our journey.
The Danube Delta
Crişan is a small village in the Danube Delta, only accessible by boat. Two full days provided plenty of time to see a plethora of birds, with a fellow passenger spotting 37 species on day one. Whilst not an avid birder, I enjoyed exploring the narrow reed-lined channels by boat. We also went in search of wild horses in Letea Forest, with its unique blend of old oaks and sand dunes. Unfortunately, luck was not on our side, but we enjoyed discovering the village with its distinctive blue and white houses, and a picnic lunch on the riverbank.
Moldavia
There are over 20 painted monasteries in the Southern Bucovina area of Moldavia. Dating back to the 15th century, when Orthodox Moldavia was battling the Ottomans, the colourful scenes on the external walls conveyed Biblical stories to soldiers and illiterate peasants. There were many similarities, and we concentrated on identifying what made the one we were visiting unique. We managed several before admitting to being ‘monasteried out’ – one of the benefits of travelling independently.
As a respite from painted monasteries, we switched to painted eggs, a centuries old Easter tradition. At the Muzuel Oului we found an impressive collection of over 16,000 eggs of all descriptions, colours and designs.
Maramureş
My favourite region was Maramureş which, perhaps due to its location in the north of the country and proximity to the Ukraine border, was quieter and less visited.
The Merry Cemetery at Săpânța, was a photographer’s paradise. Over 800 beautifully crafted, gaily painted wooden grave markers depicted the vices, secrets and often negative characteristics of the dead, along with humorous or dark comments – a translator is essential.
The Vaser Valley Forest Railway travels daily up through the forest and into the Carpathian Mountains returning with wagons laden with logs for the sawmills of Vișeu de Sus. The narrow-gauge railway also takes passengers and provided us with spectacular scenery and a BBQ lunch on arrival.
In Sighetu Marmației we visited the sobering Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance which was housed in a former maximum-security prison. It was here that many of the countries intellectual, religious and government elite were held between 1948 and 1955.
Maramureş is noted for its wooden churches, built when Catholic Hungarians prohibited the Orthodox Romanians from using stone. Although there are over 50, eight are UNESCO listed, and we visited Ieud and Bârsana with its 57m tall tower.
We loved the sheer joie de vivre of a 76-year-old widow who opened her home as a tiny house museum showcasing how a traditional Maramureş house would be furnished. She enthusiastically displayed her colourful handmade embroideries before insisting we try on traditional dress, which produced some great memories and photos.
Bucharest
We began and ended our tour in Bucharest, known as ‘Little Paris’ in the early 20th century, due to its elegant architecture and cultural scene inspired by France. Whilst it’s now a cosmopolitan city with the usual blend of museums, parks, and galleries, there were echoes of the communist past at the Palace of Parliament and Casa Ceauşescu, the family home of Nicolea and Eleana Ceauşescu, who were shot on Christmas Day in 1989. Photos 19 and 20
It is impossible to do full justice to a trip with so much variety. We climbed fortresses, citadels and castles, hiked through gorges and forests, and rode cable cars up to winter ski resorts. And as the country has over 450 monasteries, you’ll never be short of somewhere to visit. Photos 21 to 23
Next steps
To plan and book your holiday to Romania, call Silver Travel Advisor on 0800 412 5678.
