Carpathian Mountains in 9 days

Day 1: Welcome to Romania!

Upon arrival, your tour guide will pick you up from the airport and transfer you to your centrally located hotel, where you will check in and relax after a long flight.

In the evening you will start your Romanian adventure with a walking tour of Bucharest’s Old Town, the nightlife center of the city. Here, you will discover some of the historical buildings that bear the scars of the Communist regime, as well as numerous modern structures that were only recently completed. You will serve a delicious dinner with traditional products in one of the most beautiful and interesting locations in Bucharest, Caru cu Bere, a place where the interwar period brought to its tables celebrities like The Rolling Stones, Demi Moore, and the Crown Prince of Japan.  Accommodation in Bucharest.

Day 2: Bucharest –  Magura in the Carpathian Mountains

This day starts starts by travelling towards our private guesthouse at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains. Our guesthouse is situated in the quaint village of Magura at 1020m and within the boundaries of the Piatra Craiului National Park.

We spend the day walking around the area surrounding the unique Kalibash villages of Magura and Pestera, where the houses are built along the mountain ridges with deep ravines and valleys in between. We visit these traditional houses and learn about the history of the settlements, which were built against the mediaeval invasions of Mongols, Tartars and Turks. Dinner included. Guesthouse accommodation in Magura.

Day 3: Horse-drawn cart and hike in Barza Valley – Moieciu de Jos

Today we travel the traditional way as horse-drawn carts take us into Barza Valley, a long valley stretching along the Barsa River. As we make our way slowly through the valley we can enjoy the spectacular view to Piatra Craiului Mountain and the dispersed settlement of Poiana Marului. We leave the horse-drawn carts and hike through the hay meadows uphill to Moieciu de Jos. We return to Magura in the afternoon. Dinner included. Guesthouse accommodation in Magura.

Day 4: Hike through alpine pastures to Pestera

Setting off from Magura, we hike up to the alpine pastures. At the base of Piatra Craiului Mountains there are several villages at high altitude (800m) spread along picturesque hills. Some of the most beautiful views in Romania can be admired here! Locals have a traditional lifestyle and we can go on a light hike to explore the area, meet sheepherds and taste some cheese! We return to Magura in the afternoon. Dinner included.Guesthouse accommodation in Magura.

Day 5: Walk along a high alpine trail

Today we explore Postavarul Mountain, a well-known ski area in Romania during the winter and fantastic place for hiking in the summer. After breakfast, we set off from Magura to Postavarul Mountain. On arrival, we take the cable car up to Postavarul peak at 1,727 metres and continue to climb up to 1799m. At the top, we are welcomed with fantastic panoramic views over the whole region. Our walk continues down through Postarvarul Nature reserve towards the old Romanian quarters of Brasov. The trail is varied and will lead us over alpine meadows and through mixed forests (mainly beechwood and spruce) until we reach Piata Unirii the main square in Brasov, home to the Orthodox cathedral and the first Romanian school. From here it is about a 15-minute walk to the medieval historic town centre. After some free time to relax we meet the birder from the Romanian Ornithological Society and Brasov University. He will show us around a UNESCO Ramsar site at the Dumbravita lakes (near Brasov). In the evening we return to Magura for dinner. Guesthouse accommodation in Magura.

Day 6: Visit Dracula’s Castle and Brasov.

Would it be a Transylvanian vacation without Dracula?

After breakfast we drive to Bran Castle, an impressive fortress which was built on the border to Wallachia where Vlad the Impaler, the Duke of Wallachia, once ruled. The castle was built in 1377 to safeguard the trading route between Transylvania and Wallachia, enlarged and restored a few times since then. After Transylvania had become part of Romania in 1920, the castle was donated to the Romanian royal family. It became the summer residence of Queen Maria, a granddaughter to Queen Victoria. Enjoy cheese sampling in the village of Bran – know for its high quality cheeses.

From Bran Castle, it is less than an hour’s drive to the region’s culture and economic heart, Brasov, formerly the leading town of the mighty Transylvanian Saxons, see the Gothic Black Church with its precious collection of Anatolian prayer rugs. Brasov has one of the best preserved medieval quarter and fortifications. Continue to the old Romanian Quarter, Catherine’s Gate old towers and the narrowest street in South – Central Europe.  In the evening we visit a traditional Romanian restaurant in Brasov for dinner (at own expense). Guesthouse accommodation in Brasov.

Day 7: Local workshops

We will start the day with a short visit to Rupea Citadel, one of the oldest fortifications in the Brasov County, which offers a splendid view over the village and its surroundings. The Citadel was used both as a defense citadel as well as an administrative citadel of Saxon seat. After visiting it, we will head to Saschiz, a small town which, at one point, was the rival city of Sighisoara. Here, a local craftsman will teach the art of making ceramics according to ancient techniques. In Saschiz we will also meet a local couple, which settled here and made a goal out of promoting local products and growing short food chains. We will visit their household and the processing workshop, and we will enjoy some homemade cookies, a cup of coffee, and some delicious jams and pickles. Our next heroes are some people that developed a pottery workshop in the community, a workshop that reinvents the ceramics made in the area between the 16th and 18th centuries, together with the local authorities, a foundation from Great Britain, and another one from Romania. Together, we will find out their story and learn their techniques, which we will then apply when we will create our own ceramics, which we will keep as souvenirs. Guesthouse accommodation in Brasov.

Day 8: Visit Europe’s largest Brown bear sanctuary and hike to Vulcan

We head down to the valley and visit Europe’s largest Brown bear sanctuary, Libearty. This huge outdoor sanctuary in Zarnesti is a private initiative (not a zoo) that shelters about 90 rescued bears from circuses, closed zoos or abandoned in the wild from all over Europe. Now they are taken care of and happy and we’ll learn about their amazing life stories while seeing them play. From the Brown bear sanctuary, we go on a gentle hike across meadows to the village of Vulcan. This region, around Brasov, is closely related to the history of the Transylvanian Saxons, settlers who emigrated 800 years ago from the Rhine‐Moselle valleys. Their strong fortified churches have attracted international attention and some of them are listed as UNESCO world heritage sites. Vulcan derives its name from the Slavonic word ‘valc’, meaning wolf. In Vulcan we will be welcomed with coffee and tea in the yard of the fortified church. The churches in Transylvania were strongly fortified during the Middle Ages when the region was raided a number of times by Mongols and Tartars. Guesthouse accommodation in Brasov.

Day 9: Brasov – Poenari –  Bucharest

After a delicious Romanian breakfast, we will put on our trekking gear and we will start the second chapter of our adventure with a trip to an estate that belonged to Vlad the Impaler. Perched on top of a steep cliff is the Poenari Citadel, and in order to reach it, we will climb the 1480 stone steps. Afterwards, we will take a road trip on Transfagarasan, the best road in the world, as named by Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson. Get ready for a wonderful scenery,where the mountains seem so close that youll feel like you can touch them, and where the wilderness of the forest will charm you. For lunch, we will stop at the Valea cu Pesti restaurant (at your own expense), where we encourage you to try the trout, a delicious local fish freshly caught and cooked. After a full day, we will head towards Bucharest where our exciting journey ends.