Romania – Transylvania

Transylvania in a long weekend

Romania was on my husbands bucket list as he has been talking about visiting Bran Castle for years. We only spent 3 full days in Romania, but we made the most of it and headed straight to Transylvania. We flew directly into Bucharest as it offered the best route to get up into the mountains. We visited in April so the snow was melting in most places, but there was still visible snow on the top. We stayed the whole three days in Bran, but if we went again I would have stayed in other places to break up the driving to the locations. We stayed in this amazing house right near the castle called Conacul Bratescu. The owner greeted us with drinks and allowed us to pick the room of our choice with a mountain view. The house had a game room with foosball and Ping-Pong tables that we were able to use till 9pm.

Our first day we headed into Sinaia to see Peles Castle. If you follow the signs in Sinaia for the castle there is parking about half a mile up the hill from the castle grounds. It was about 2 euros to park for the whole day. There are two castles on the grounds Pelișor Castle and Peles Castle. Peles is more exquisite in design and architecture. You can join in on a tour, which is a large group of about 30 people, or do your own tour with audio guide in a small group. We chose the small group, as I hate being shuffled through rooms in a hurry. The rooms were filled with marble, glass and antiques galore. This was my favorite castle we visited on our trip. If you have time I highly recommend stopping by the Sinaia Monastery for a quick tour of one of the oldest churches in Romania. The area of Sinaia is a large ski resort town so when we were there in April it was pretty empty as the snow has nearly all melted. Walking from the Monastery down to old town was absolutely wonderful. All the carved homes along the road were a true depiction of Transylvania.

We decided to visit Bran the second day as the weather looked like it was finally letting up. The weather was hit and miss as you are deep in the mountains in the region. Bran castle, although the most famous was not as spectacular as Pele’s or Pelișor Castles.  The castles many rooms show the history of the castle and info about Vlad the Impaler. There were many pieces in the castle from the actual movie depicting Bran’s Castle. The best photo opportunity of the castle is just north of Bran before entering the hospital parking lot.

We spent our last day in the city of Brasov. It was just small enough to be walk-able on a rainy afternoon. We stopped over to the Black Church, Town Hall and the main square. I would highly recommend once heading back to Bran to stop over in the village of Rasnov. There is a fortress up on the hill, which was affordable to go have a look around. The views from the top were well worth the trip up. You can take the tractor train for about $2 to the top. There is also a Dino Land up near the entrance to the fortress if you are looking for something fun to do with the kids after walking around the towns and castles.  All in all we had a great holiday in Transylvania. 

Happy Traveling, 

Katrina