RO
Romania
Transylvania counts and painted monastery villages
Transylvania counts and painted monastery villages
A medieval citadel on a hill: the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula’s inspiration), a 14th-century clock tower and a UNESCO-listed old town with 9 defensive towers.
The Gothic castle marketed as Dracula’s Castle: perched on a rock above a mountain pass. The real Vlad Tepes connection is thin, but the Gothic atmosphere is not.
UNESCO exterior frescoes of the Last Judgment in deep cobalt blue (Voronet Monastery) and other vivid colours: a 15th-16th century painting tradition that survived outdoors for 500 years.
The EU’s largest wetland: 5,800km² of channels, lakes and reed beds with 300+ bird species including the world’s largest Dalmatian pelican colony. Accessible by boat from Tulcea.
A 90km road crossing the Fagaras at 2,042m: voted the world’s best driving road. The Balea Lake glacial lake at the summit and the Vidraru reservoir below.
A beautifully preserved medieval German-founded town: the “eyes” (attic window dormers that look like eyes) on every house, and the European Capital of Culture’s fine museum collections.
The world’s second-largest building by footprint (Ceausescu’s 1,100-room palace) and the Old Town’s restored 19th-century streets.
A karst highland of ice caves, wild horses (the Hucul breed), brown bear trails and the Scarisoara ice cave (one of Europe’s largest ice caves, 75,000m³ of permanent ice).
Minced pork and rice stuffed into sauerkraut leaves (or vine leaves in summer), slow-cooked in tomato sauce: the national dish of Romania, eaten at every celebration and Sunday lunch.
A thick polenta of cornmeal: served with sour cream and cheese, or as a side dish with stews. The defining food of Moldavian and Transylvanian village cooking.
A tripe soup in sour cream with garlic and vinegar: Romania’s classic hangover remedy, eaten at dawn.
Skinless sausages of beef, pork and lamb with garlic and thyme: grilled over charcoal, the Romanian street food found at every market and sporting event.
Feteasca Neagra (Black Maiden: a deep, smoky red) and Tamaioasa Romaneasca (a floral, slightly sweet white): Romania is one of the world’s top 10 wine producers.
Home-distilled plum brandy (tuica: 30-45%) and double-distilled palinca (50-60%): drunk at every Romanian rural gathering.
Two Romanian lagers: both clean and cold. Ursus is the most widely available.
A strong espresso culture in Bucharest: J’ai Bistro and Beans & Dots are the benchmarks.
Bucharest Henri Coandă (OTP) is the main hub; Sibiu (SBZ), Cluj-Napoca (CLJ) and Braşov (BCM, new airport) have growing connections. Tarom is the national carrier; Wizz Air and Ryanair serve Romania extensively. For trip planning, see the official Romania tourism portal.
💡 Wizz Air and Ryanair have made Romania one of Europe’s most affordable destinations from the UK — fares from £30–60 one-way are common on the London–Bucharest route.
💡 Renting a car in Bucharest is the best way to explore Transylvania — the Transfagărăşan Highway (open June–October) is one of the most spectacular mountain roads in Europe.
💡 The train from OTP airport to Bucharest city (via Pipera metro, transfer at Pipera to line 2) takes about 40 minutes total and costs RON 3.50 — by far the cheapest airport transfer.
💡 The Transfagărăşan (DN7C) is Romania’s most celebrated road — hairpins over the Fagaras Mountains at 2,042m. Top Gear called it the best road in the world. Open roughly June–October.
May to September is the most comfortable time for Romania — warm Bucharest summers, Transylvania in full green, the Danube Delta alive with birds. June and September are ideal. December brings Christmas markets and snow in the Carpathians.
Romania is one of the best-value destinations in the EU — one of the cheapest countries in Europe for accommodation, food and wine, with quality that consistently surprises visitors.
Ciorbă de burtă (tripe soup with sour cream and garlic) is Romania’s most famous soup — rich, slightly vinegary, served in earthenware at any traditional restaurant for RON 20–35. Essential, even for sceptics.
Romanian wine (particularly from Dealu Mare, Murfatlar and Căluşări regions) is excellent and costs RON 30–80 a bottle at restaurants — wines that would cost 3–4x more if they had better international recognition.
Casa Wagner in Braşov’s Council Square and Casual Boutique Hotel in Sibiu are among Romania’s finest small hotels — beautifully restored historic buildings at RON 600–1,200/night.
Bucharest for two days, Bran and Sinaia for one, Brasov for two, Sibiu and the Saxon villages to close. Romania’s best experiences are all within a 3h drive of each other in Transylvania.
The Palace of the Parliament (the second-largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon, built by Ceausescu between 1984 and 1997, at a cost of an estimated 3.3 billion dollars and possibly thousands of lives) is the defining building of communist-era Romania. The Lipscani Old Town for food and wine.
💡 The Palace of Parliament has 1,100 rooms, 12 storeys above ground and 8 below. Guided tours run daily; the building is so large that only a fraction is in use. The marble, crystal and velvet are extraordinary and deeply unsettling in equal measure.
The Muzeul Satului (Village Museum) in Herästräu Park: 272 authentic rural buildings relocated from across Romania — wooden churches, watermills, farmhouses — on a lakeside site. The Bulevardul Unirii (Ceausescu’s Champs-Élysées, 3.5km long) for the full communist urbanism experience.
💡 Bucharest’s interwar architecture — Art Deco, Neo-Romanian and Beaux-Arts buildings scattered between communist blocks — is an underappreciated treasure. The Cotroceni and Floreasca neighbourhoods have the finest residential examples.
2h30 from Bucharest. Bran Castle (“Dracula’s Castle” — although Vlad III Impaler had only a tenuous connection to it) sits dramatically on a cliff above a gorge. Sinaia: the Peleş Castle (1883, Neo-Renaissance, 160 rooms — one of the most beautiful palaces in Europe), former summer residence of the Romanian royal family.
💡 Peleş Castle is architecturally extraordinary — carved wood ceilings, Murano chandeliers, a retractable glass roof in the Great Hall, an armoury with 4,000 pieces. It is significantly more interesting and less visited than Bran.
1h from Bran. Braşov is the most complete medieval Saxon city in Romania — the Black Church (the largest Gothic church in Romania, 14th century, damaged by fire in 1689, rebuilt, still in use), the Council Square, the old fortified walls and bastions. A cable car to Tampa mountain for the city view.
💡 The Black Church has 119 Anatolian rugs hanging from its walls — donated by Saxon merchants who traded with the Ottoman empire. The collection spans the 14th–17th centuries and is the largest such collection outside a museum.
Râşnov Fortress (medieval peasant citadel on a hill above the town, exceptionally well preserved) and Prejmer fortified church (the largest and best-preserved fortified church in Transylvania, UNESCO World Heritage Site, 270 cells within its defensive walls). Evening in Braşov’s old town.
💡 The Prejmer fortified church was designed so that the entire village population could shelter inside the defensive ring for months — each family had a numbered cell with a fireplace, stored food and a hatch to pour hot tar on attackers.
2h30 from Braşov. Sibiu (Hermannstadt) is the finest Saxon city in Romania — three interconnected medieval squares, a 15th-century bridge called the Bridge of Lies (legend says it collapses when a liar walks across it), and the Brukenthal National Museum (one of the oldest in Europe, fine collection of Flemish masters).
💡 Sibiu’s Piaţa Mare (Large Square) is lined with Renaissance and Baroque facades and has the distinctive “eyes” dormer windows that give the buildings their watching quality. In the evenings in summer, the whole city seems to be outside.
The Saxon villages in the Sibiu county — Biertan (fortified church UNESCO, the best in Romania), Cârța (Cistercian abbey ruins), Viscri (a remote village made famous by King Charles III’s restoration project) — are the authentic Romania that few visitors find. Return via Sibiu Airport or drive back to Bucharest.
💡 Viscri has been partly restored by the Mihai Eminescu Trust (supported by King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales) — the painted farmhouses, the fortified church and the grazing storks are exactly what you hope rural Transylvania looks like.
Both work in major cities.
A mici portion: RON 15-20 (EUR 3-4). A restaurant meal: RON 50-80 (EUR 10-16).
Latin warmth combined with Eastern European directness.
Bucharest to Brasov: 2h30 by IC train. Cluj to Bucharest: 8h (better by plane).
Both give good 4G coverage including Transylvania.
The road closes under heavy snow; always check before driving.
Thank you in Romanian: always warmly received.
Brown bear encounters are possible in the Carpathian forests; guided tours are the safe approach.
Founded in Estonia but dominant in Bucharest, Cluj and all Romanian cities — very affordable rides.
FreeRomanian State Railways app — buy intercity tickets between Bucharest, Cluj, Brašov and Timišoara.
FreeBook Dracula’s Castle tours, Bucharest city walks, Peles Castle visits and Transylvanian experiences.
FreeBudget intercity buses across Romania and to Budapest, Sofia and Istanbul.
FreeTrack RON (Romanian Leu) rates — Romania uses the Leu not the Euro.
FreeExplore Romania’s top city destinations — from Braşov to Bucharest, each with its own distinct character.
Romania sits within easy reach of several other destinations — each with a completely different character.
