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Day 1, approx. 15km.: meeting Romania…
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Program:
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Arrival at Bucharest Otopeni international airport at ….o'clock.
Transfer from airport to the hotel in Bucharest. After dinner the
group will have a get-to-know evening at the hotel in order to get
acquainted to one another and to be briefly informed about the program of the whole tour.
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Accommodation and half-board:
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on the 1st and 9th days in Bucharest.
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Day 2, approx. 315 km.: Introducing Transylvania…
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Itinerary:
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Bucharest - Pitesti - Sibiu - Ocna Sibiului
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Program:
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First stop of the day will be in the proximity of Bucharest, at Mogosoaia
where we will visit a beautiful palace built in 1698 -1702 by Constantin
Brâncoveanu (a famous Romanian ruler). The Palace is an architectural
monument having traditional elements, arcades and columns with capitals
(specific to the "Brâncovenesc" style) and also some Byzantine decorative adornments.
Next stop on our road to Transylvania will be at Cozia Monastery, a very old
and famous religious monument, built by a legendary Romanian ruler (Mircea, "the Old").
As we will cross the narrow path created by the Olt River, we will slowly enter the
mysterious area of Transylvania, "the land beyond the forests…". Our destination of
the day is the Ocna Sibiului salt water resort where we will be accommodated in very
neat hotel with wellness facilities.
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Accommodation and half-board:
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on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th days in Ocna Sibiului, 3***Hotel
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Day 3, approx. 60 km.: The proximity of Sibiu
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Itinerary:
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Sibiu - Cisnadioara
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Program:
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Sibiu is one of the major cities of Transylvania, once the capital of the "Siebenbürgen Gubernium"
during the Hapsburg rule and one of the biggest administrative and cultural centers of the
Transylvanian Saxons. The Brukenthal Palace houses the oldest museum in Romania and it gathers
together 14.000 exhibits, i.e. paintings, engravings, sculptures and decorative art
works; 1.100 works belong to the Section of European Art Collections including the
main schools of art between the 15th - 18th centuries, with works of well-known painters
among whom Tizian, Frans von Mieris the Old, F.Snyders, J,Jordaens, Lucas Cranach and
engravings by M.Raimondi, A.Dürer, H.Goltzius, etc. Sibiu itself is a jewel among the
other Saxon towns and a sightseeing tour including the Big Square, Small Square, The
Lies Bridge, the Huet Square with its beautiful gothic Cathedral is almost compulsory.
After the sightseeing tour we will shortly arrive in Cisnadioara, a small place near Sibiu,
where we will meet the local Saxons, have lunch and visit the beautiful and well-preserved
romanesque fortified church.
The last place to visit for the day will be the open-aired museum Astra, the biggest
ethnographical museum of Romania and also the best of the kind. It houses beautiful
examples from most of the ethnographical regions of the country and gives a large view
over the village life of all the ethnic groups of Romania.
At the end of this cultural day we will return to our base, in Ocna Sibiului, where we
will have program at leisure by bathing in the salt lakes of the spa.
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Day 4, approx. 280 km.: Castles in southern Transylvania
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Itinerary:
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Sebes - Hunedoara - Deva - Ocna Sibiului
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Program:
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On this day we will head towards west and visit castles, ruins and fortified churches
with major role in the history of Transylvania. But first we will have a short detour
in the proximity of Sibiu, the famous land of the Romanian shepherds and we will stop
in Sibiel, a very picturesque village of the area and we will visit a very interesting
icon museum. In Transylvania there has been a long tradition for the icon-painting craft
and this village preserves fine examples (over 700) of glass painted icons from various
places of Transylvania. Next will be the fortification of Câlnic, one of the most interesting
architectonic monuments of the Transylvanian Saxon heritage, dated XIII century.
We will leave Saxonland behind, but not before visiting one more Saxon church, Sebes, maybe the
best-shaped one, beautiful for its gothic interior and famous for the Weit Stoss painted winged
altar. The most important monument of gothic lay architecture in Transylvania is to be found at
Hunedoara. Built on the place of a former Roman camp, it served as a defense stronghold, as well
as a princely residence of the famous Hunyad family. The Deva castle is beautiful even though
today only its ruins can be seen on the top of the hill, guarding the valley of the Mures River.
Climbing the hill to the former castle may seem tiresome but the reward will be a great panorama
over the city. Among the ruins we will listen to the legend connected to the building of the castle.
After such a tiresome day, full of cultural sites we will return to our spa and benefit from the
curative salt waters of the Ocna Sibiului lakes.
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Day 5, approx. 80 km.: Riding the Transylvanian "Alps"
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Itinerary:
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Ocna Sibiului - Bâlea-Cascada
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Program:
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After taking one more bath in the salt lakes we will slowly move our base eastwards
to the high Fagaras Mountains. On the road we will make a short stop and have a small
cheese-shopping program. The shepherds of the Sibiu County are famous for their very
good and tasty milk-products.
Before starting to "escalade" the mountain roads with the bus we will make one more
stop at the former Cistercian monastery of Cârta. The monastery was built by the famous
architects-monks and it is a beautiful example of gothic architecture. We will arrive at
our hotel and before dinner we will have an easy hike in the afternoon. This hike starts
from the very hotel and it takes some 30-45 minutes to a very beautiful waterfall, the Bâlea Waterfall.
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Accommodation and half-board:
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on the 5th and 6th days in Fagaras Mountains, in a 2** hotel.
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Day 6, approx. 30 km. Hike and relaxation in the high mountains
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Program:
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We will travel from the hotel to the Bâlea Lake (2.030 m. above sea-level) with the
cable-car or with the bus. Alternative program: difficult hike (5-6 hours hike to
the "Vânatoarea lui Buteanu" peak, 2.507 m. high) or walk around the glacier Bâlea
Lake (for those who cannot go on the hike). The 5-6 hours requires good shoes,
waterproof jacket and worm clothing, too because the weather at these altitudes
can change rapidly. Also, the group will enjoy a picnic during the hike on the steep
mountain meadows. In the afternoon travel from the Bâlea Lake back to the hotel with the cable-car or bus.
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Day 7, approx. 190 km. Approaching Burzenland…
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Itinerary:
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Bâlea-Cascada - Fagaras - Zarnesti - Bran - Râsnov - Brasov
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Program:
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The Fagaras medieval stronghold and castle was built in the 14th century as a wooden fortress
commissioned by Transylvania's ruling prince, Ladislau Kán and later on, prince Gabriel
Bethlen has outlined it as a castle-like stronghold in the Transylvanian renaissance
style and during the Hapsburg rule it was reshaped in the Vauban system style. The
fortification once served as a seat for Diets and in the present houses the Fagaras
County Museum. Bran Castle is one of the most famous visited sites in Romania, mainly
due to the myth of Dracula connected to the castle.
During the Middle Ages it was used for defense against the Otoman raids and also served
as a custom station. The construction was commissioned by the citizens of Brasov and after
being possessed by several owners (Mircea the Old, The Hapsburg Empire) it was offered as a
gift to Queen Mary of Romania, niece of Queen Victoria of England. Not far, Râsnov Castle is
a Saxon peasant fortification built for protecting the villagers in case of sieges. The road
will guide us across the Postavarul Mountains to the most visited winter sport resort, Poiana
Brasov and in the afternoon we will arrive to our "camp", in a village near Brasov where we will
be accommodated in private houses (4,6 persons will go to each house).
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Accommodation and half-board:
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on the 7th and 8th days in a village, in the proximity of Brasov, in private houses.
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Day 8, approx. 50 km. Hiking and visiting
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Itinerary:
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Brasov - Prejmer
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Program:
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We start the day with a very beautiful hike near Brasov to the "Seven Stairs Waterfall".
We will have a very nice, quite easy walk in the forest and at the end of the walk we
will find ourselves in front of the waterfall. The waterfall is called "Seven Stairs"
because of its more levels and because there are 7 major stairs that lead from the bottom
to the upper part of the waterfall. The entire hike altogether with the picnic may take
some 3 hours. The next place to visit will be Prejmer, one of the most beautiful and
well-conserved fortified Saxon church of entire Transylvania. Started to be built by
the Teutonic Knights and reshaped later by the famous Cistercian order, the early gothic
church with its defending system and storage rooms built in its surrounding walls make
this item of the program a place worth to visit.
Afterwards, the group will have a sightseeing tour and program at leisure in the beautiful
medieval city of Brasov, the biggest Saxon town and important Saxon cultural centre.
The tour includes a visit to one of the most imposing church, the gothic Black Church,
the Weavers' Bastion and the Town Hall in the main square of the old city. One of the
highlights of the day will be the folkloric dancing show performed by a young Hungarian
Csángó ensemble in Sacele, near Brasov.
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Day 9, approx. 180 km. Back south, to Wallchia
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Itinerary:
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Sinaia - Târgoviste - Bucuresti
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Program:
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Sinaia, one of the most famous mountain resorts is also well-known for
its Peles Castle, the private residence of Romanian kings, erected in the time
of King Carol I. Next stop of the day will be in Târgoviste where we will enjoy
a visit to the remains of the old court, the royal residence of Vlad the Impaler.
In the afternoon we will arrive to Bucharest and at the hotel we will serve a last
festive dinner and remember the good times spent during the tour.
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Day 10, approx. 15 km. The last day…
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Program:
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transfer from hotel to the airport.
Departure at…o'clock.
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~ end of program ~
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