Romania Itineraries

Romania is one of Europe's most surprising and underexplored countries — a nation of 19 million people spanning the Carpathian arc, the lower Danube plains, and a short but beautiful Black Sea coast. Its name comes from its Roman colonisers (who gave the country its Latin-based language, unusual in this part of the continent), but the landscape and culture are shaped by centuries of subsequent influence — Byzantine, Ottoman, Hungarian, Austrian, and Slavic. Travelling in Romania feels like moving through several different countries at once: the baroque Habsburg charm of Transylvania, the Orthodox traditions of Moldavia, the Ottoman-influenced villages of the south, the wild mountain ranges, and the remarkable Danube Delta where the river meets the Black Sea. Bucharest, the capital, is a city of striking contrasts. The massive Palace of Parliament, built by the communist dictator Ceaușescu, is the second-largest administrative building on Earth (after the Pentagon) and contains more than a million cubic metres of marble. Beyond this grey colossus, Bucharest has one of Europe's most underrated urban scenes — the Old Town (Lipscani) has been transformed into a lively district of bars, restaurants, and boutiques, while neighbourhoods like Dorobanți show off the Belle Époque elegance that once earned Bucharest the nickname "Little Paris of the East." But most travellers head quickly for Transylvania. This mountainous region in the centre of the country is home to Bran Castle (forever linked to Bram Stoker's Dracula despite tenuous historical connections), the more historically accurate Corvin Castle near Hunedoara, and the stunning Peleș Castle near Sinaia — a neo-Renaissance summer palace of the Romanian royal family set in dramatic Carpathian landscape. The medieval Saxon towns of Sibiu, Brașov, and Sighișoara (the actual birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, the historical inspiration for Dracula) preserve some of the most atmospheric and well-preserved medieval architecture in Eastern Europe — walled citadels, fortified churches (several UNESCO-listed), cobbled squares, and colourful baroque facades. The Painted Monasteries of Bucovina in the north-east are a unique cultural treasure — Orthodox monasteries whose exterior walls are entirely covered with vivid 15th and 16th-century frescoes, miraculously preserved for over 500 years. The Carpathian Mountains themselves are Europe's wildest — home to roughly 60% of Europe's brown bears, along with wolves, lynx, and chamois. The Maramureș region in the north preserves an astonishing living culture of wooden churches (eight are UNESCO-listed), traditional villages with hand-carved gates, and a rural life that feels genuinely unchanged. The Transfăgărășan and Transalpina highways are two of the most spectacular mountain drives in Europe. Romanian cuisine is hearty and varied — mici grilled sausages, sarmale cabbage rolls, mămăligă polenta, smoked meats, and superb cheeses from mountain pastures. Local wines (from varietals like Fetească Neagră and Tămâioasă Românească) and the plum brandy țuică accompany nearly every meal.