Romania 11-Day Tour with Pick Up

Upon your arrival at Henri Coanda International Airport in Bucharest, you will be greeted by your certified English-speaking tourist guide. You will be transferred to your 4* hotel located in the city center with a short orientation tour. The rest of the day will be at your leisure.

After breakfast in the hotel, we will start the Famous and Charming Romania tour with a visit the capital city of Romania. The day starts with the visit to the world’s largest, heaviest, and most expensive administrative building, the Palace of Parliament.

Between the two communist landmarks, we will have a panoramic tour of the city with Victory Square and Avenue, Royal Palace and Revolution Square, and a short stop at the Romanian Athenaeum. Next, we will attend a visit to the former residence of the Ceausescu family, the last communist leader of the Socialist Republic of Romania.

. In contradistinction with the Ceausescu former residence we will have an incursion back in time, in the communist time, where you will have the opportunity to experience life in the ’80s with the help of authentic decor and furniture, working appliances and household accessories, local drinks and homemade snacks and historical and archive footage.

The tour continues with a short stop at the 14th century Cozia Monastery built by King Mircea the Elder featuring a superb late 17th century Last Judgment fresco. Drive along the Olt River Valley crossing the mountains into Transylvania. After reaching Sibiu, brief orientation tour on the way to the hotel. Accommodation in a 4* hotel in the center of Sibiu. Dinner on your own. A suggestion is Crama Sibiul Vechi, the best cellar - restaurant in town or La Taifas restaurant.

After breakfast in the hotel, you will have a leisurely walking tour of Sibiu (Hermannstadt), the former chief city of the Transylvanian Saxons. The Great and Lesser Squares are the landmarks of the Old Town with the many merchant houses featuring the Sibiu eyes. View the old surrounding defense walls and the remaining towers belonging to the merchant guilds. Next is the Evangelical Cathedral completed in its actual shape in 1520.

Before noon, depart to Hunedoara, to Corvin Castle, one of the largest and most well preserved medieval castles of Europe, home to the mighty Corvin/Hunyadi royal family.

After the visit to this Gothic-Renaissance castle, the next stop will be at Alba Iulia, famous for its Vauban-style citadel. Alba Iulia’s citadel will teach you more about the history of Romanians from ancient times to the present day. Alba Iulia is a town with great importance for the Romanian people, mainly because here on the first of December 1918 was signed the document of Unification of Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania.

Late afternoon arrival in Cluj Napoca city, the capital of Transylvania in the 18th and 19th century, today an important university center. Take an orientation tour before arriving at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. In the morning, take a city tour of Cluj Napoca with the main landmarks such as the Hellmer & Fellner Opera House, the Gothic St. Michael's Church, the City Hall, and the birth house of Mathias Corvin.

After the walking tour, you will drive north and have a stop in a traditional 20th-century village where you will have the chance to taste homemade smoked bacon and cheese and see how to smoked bacon is made. Besides the tasting, you will have a homemade lunch served here.

After this stop, we head to the splendid and remote region of Maramures (The Land of Wood). Due to the relative isolation of their land, the people of Maramures developed a particularly strong community with a unique personality, traditions, culture, and lifestyle unspoiled for centuries. Today you will visit two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, first the early 1766's Church of Surdesti, the tallest oldest wooden structure in Europe. This is a good opportunity to learn about the Greek Catholics, the next one is Budesti Wooden Church, which finished in 1643 and had the tower built in Gothic style, unique for Maramures architecture.

Now is the time to understand the dowry traditions and to admire the wonderfully carved wooden gates of Maramures. Accommodation is in a private house in a Maramures village. The dinner and the traditional homemade plum brandy are included so that the people will faster get deeper into the local culture.

After breakfast, you will have an exclusive walking tour of the village including an icon-glass workshop - where you will learn about the technique too, the local traditional plum brandy distillery and a natural whirlpool still used by the local women to wash the carpets and the blankets. The next visit to improve the cultural connection is the colorful fruit and vegetable market in the town’s open-air market. After this, we will visit the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance, which is a former political prison in communist times. Alongside Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Battle of Normandy Memorial, this is one of the main memorial sites of Europe.

Next is the house of Nobel Prize Winner, Elie Wiesel who was born in this Romanian town.

Continue west reaching the village of Sapanta, with the world-famous Merry Cemetery. Here each wooden cross carries a funny epitaph about the person's life. Before returning to the village, take a view of what is the tallest wooden structure in the world at this moment, the Sapanta Peri monastery. In the evening enjoy the home-hosted dinner with an exclusively organized Maramures folklore show at the accommodation place.

After breakfast, we continue our Famous and Charming Romania tour along the picturesque Iza River Valley – an excellent opportunity to witness daily life in this corner of Romania. First, we will stop to visit another wooden church that is in UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Barsana village, where we will visit a famous master wood carver in his own workshop too. He represented Romania at the 1999 Smithsonian World Folk Festival in Washington, DC, famous for the wonderfully carved wooden gates. Next is the exquisite Barsana Monastery, an example of Maramures wooden church architecture at its best. Visit Ieud on the Hill wooden church (UNESCO World Heritage Site). In the village of Dragomiresti, we will visit the unique local museum located in a 300-year old home.

After this museum, we are crossing the scenic Carpathian Mountains through the picturesque Borgo Pass or the Prislop Pass into the northern part of Moldavia called Bucovina. Later, we will visit an egg-painter artist and we will learn more about this tradition, this being one of the ancient local traditions of the Bucovina region. You will also have the chance to admire painted eggs from all over the world. After arriving at the 4* hotel in Gura Humorului the evening is at your leisure.

We will start our day after the hotel breakfast with the Folk Traditions Museum of Bucovina, where we will see all the typical Bucovina household arrangements and traditional costumes for different moments of their life and main celebrations throughout the year. These traditions stretch back to pre-Christian times and are unique to the region. An authentic view into the local culture and a perfect start of your fascinating day with the visit to the unique 15th - 16th century Painted Monasteries of Bucovina: “The big four” - the Voronet Painted Monastery, the Moldovita Painted Monastery, the Sucevita Painted Monastery, and the Humor Painted Monastery; all of them listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The first is Voronet Painted Monastery, the most famous out of all, known as the “Sistine Chapel of the Orient” and featuring one the best Last Judgment fresco in this part of the world. Here the Voronet Blue is considered by the specialists to be unique in the world, and is known as Rubes red or the Veronese green.

Next, is Moldovita Painted Monastery with its towers on both corners of the facade and a powerful tower for the gate.

At the lunch, enjoy a traditional Bucovina lunch in the picturesque village of Sucevita. Later continue to the nearby Sucevita Painted Monastery, which is the largest of all, looking more like a mighty fortress than a monastery. Inside, the Virtues Ladder is considered one of the best of the frescoes from Bucovina, being the most impressive by its amplitude and the contrast between angles and hell’s chaos.

Next, we will visit the workshop on black pottery, the historians date the beginning of pottery here in 1500, they use a technique called “oxygen reduction”, and the same technique is used in Mexico only. The last monastery is Humor Painted Monastery, the only one without a belfry tower. The accommodation is at the same hotel as yesterday.

After breakfast, we will start our day with a drive to Neamt Citadel where you will have a guided tour inside the Moldavian 12th-century medieval citadel.

After Neamt Citadel, you will reach Bicaz Gorges, crossed by the road that links the historical regions of Moldavia and Transylvania. Bicaz Gorges are without a doubt one of the most breathtaking natural attractions in Romania, here you have the choice to leave the car behind and explore it on foot on a short hike. Next is the Red Lake, formed by a mountain sliding in 1838, because of the color of the water the names received this name.

After the Red Lake, you will have the chance to visit a Gypsy home, on this exclusive home visit you will have the unique opportunity to learn about this less known yet controversial ethnic group, its culture, identity, and lifestyle.

Afternoon arrival in Sighisoara, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the only still inhabited medieval citadel in Europe. Accommodation in the Upper Town.

We start the day with the breakfast at the hotel. Before starting your walking tour of old Sighisoara your tourist guide will have an informal talk with you on Vlad the Impaler - Dracula, what is truth and what is fiction. In Sighisoara, the German settlers built the city in the late part of the 12th century. The walking tour includes the two squares of the Citadel, the Scholars' Staircase, the Tinsmiths’ Tower, the House with Antler, and the Tower with Clock. Sighisoara is the place where Vlad the Impaler's father had a house.

After the tour, you will go to the fortified church of Biertan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for a visit to the former seat of the Lutheran Bishops of Transylvania. With its three belts of fortification, this is the most impressive fortified church in Transylvania.

The journey continues south to Brasov with a stop in Saschiz Village (UNESCO World Heritage Sites) with the imposing clock tower and the fortified church, which is the most important landmark of the village. The Late-Gothic fortified church from Saschiz is one of the strongest constructions of this type from Transylvania, widely considered one of Transylvania’s most beautiful medieval monuments, this is the main tourist attraction of the village. On the route, enjoy an exclusive tasting of organic Transylvanian “like Grandma used to make” jams.

The last stop for today is in Viscri village, the traditional Saxon village, one of the oldest in all of Transylvania. It is famous for the traditional houses that Prince Charles bought, restored, and converted into guesthouses for tourists. Here you will meet a traditional blacksmith in his workshop and he will show you how it works in a blacksmith workshop. You will spend the night in a traditional homestay and enjoy a dinner, prepared by your host from local ingredients.

After the organic breakfast, we continue our journey with the Viscri Fortified Church, that unlike many of the other fortified churches, was built around 1100 by the Szekler population and taken over by Saxon colonists 100 years later. Next is the last UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Prejmer village, where you will visit Prejmer Fortified Church, the largest fortified church in South-Eastern Europe.

Later, it is time for Bran Castle also known as Dracula Castle. This medieval structure was built in 1377 to safeguard the trading route between Transylvania and Wallachia, enlarged and restored a few times to become a royal residence in the 1920s under Queen Marie of Romania. After the visit, you will have time for buying souvenirs and have an exclusive natural cheese sampling.

Remain of the day is spent in Brasov, another of the important Saxon cities with a rich heritage and one of the oldest in Europe, dating from 1235. The tour will reveal the Old Town with the magnificent Black Church - the largest Gothic-style church in South-Eastern Europe and featuring a collection of over one hundred Muslim prayer rugs, Council Square, Catherine’s Gate, the Guild Towers, Schei Quarter with the First School in Romanian language and the narrow Rope Street. Hotel check-in in the lovely pedestrian area of the Old Town with its many restaurants and outdoor cafes.

After breakfast at the hotel, you will drive through Predeal, Romania's highest town. Named after St. Catherine Monastery on Mount Sinai, Sinaia became the unofficial capital of the Kingdom of Romania towards the end of the 19th century. The orientation tour of the resort includes a view of the famous Casino building, with its architecture inspired by the one in Monte Carlo. Then take a guided tour of the Peles Castle, the royal residence of King Carol I of Romania and known as one of the most beautiful summer royal residences in Europe. Once the famous Orient Express train used to be regularly called here and it still does once a year on its way from Paris to Constantinople.

After the visit drive to Henri Coanda International Airport for your afternoon return flight.