Roadtrip Romania - In search of bears and Count Dracula

 

A few weeks ago, I was finally (!) able to head off on my first trip of the year. I was lucky enough to discover Romania on a five-day road trip with my partner. Until then, I had mainly thought of Romania in terms of Transylvania, Dracula and bears, but I was taught better: Romania is a very exciting country with many highlights and an interesting history. Small, medieval towns, opulent churches, fairytale castles, but also incredibly green nature that invites you to hike and explore.

Our trip: We flew to Bucharest from Zurich and hired a car there. We had a small car, but it was enough. Apart from one stretch over gravel, the roads were in good condition.Our tour took us from Bucharest to Brașov (Kronstadt) --> Bran Castle (visit to Dracula) --> Sibiu (Hermannstadt)--> Sighișoara (Schässburg) --> Transfăgărășan Highway and then back to Bucharest. 

I have to share our absolute highlight of this trip here: The bears on the Transfăgărășan Highway. We had heard that there must be bears on this beautiful and famous pass road (some call it the most beautiful road in the world). But we never thought we would see eight of them, including a mother bear with her cub. We were very touched by these encounters.

We really enjoyed Romania. As we visited in May, we felt we had the country almost to ourselves and rarely encountered other tourists. We enjoyed this very much. Unfortunately, the Transfăgărășan Highway was not yet fully open (there was still snow in the Carpathian Mountains), so we had to drive it twice - once on each side.

So, enough preamble. Here are the pictures.

Bukarest

We had a whole day to discover Bucharest. Well worth it! The capital of Romania is an interesting mix of concrete slab buildings and magnificent palaces, there are countless museums to admire and a city centre (Lipscani area) that invites you to take a stroll.

Palace of the Parliament - the heaviest building in the world

The beautiful library of Carturesti Carousel

Papanasi - a delicious, traditional dessert

The roadtrip starts - 1st stop: Peleș Castle

Peles castle is a former summer residence of the kings of Romania in Sinaia near Brasov. A beautiful palace that was unfortunately being renovated when we were there. It was also pouring with rain. It was still worth a visit and a good start into our roadtrip. 

Brașov (Kronstadt)

Our next stop was Brașov, a charming town surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains in the Transylvania region. We liked it very much. In the centre of the old town there is a large square bustling with cafés and shops. In the shade of the old city wall there are gardens that invite you to linger. And after a short walk uphill you have a great view of the city.

Draculas Castle (Castelul Bran) 

Of course, we couldn't avoid visiting the Dracula Castle in Bran. Although the story of Count Dracula is a fictional one, the castle in Bran bears certain similarities to the castle in Bram Stoker's novel and is therefore marketed as ‘Dracula Castle’. Accordingly, we did meet a few other tourists there (but no Count Dracula). The visit was worthwhile, the castle is exciting to explore - and I definitely got some ‘Dracula vibes’!

Sibiu (Herrmannstadt)

Our next stop was Sibiu, another beautiful city that is great to stroll through. It is often described as the “most beautiful city in Romania” - and that could probably true.

The bridge of lies. The Bridge of Lies. It takes its name from a legend that says the bridge shakes when someone stands on it and tells a lie.

Do you probably feel observed? Sibiu is well known for its "houses with eyes"

Overland

On our road trip, we sometimes drove for hours through the Romanian countryside - and were amazed by the lush greenery and small villages. We were also amazed when we occasionally came across horse-drawn carriages. The clocks still seemed to tick a little differently here.

Sighișoara (Schässburg)

Our next stop was Sighișoara (Schässburg). Another beautiful little town with a colourful, cosy old town. It is said to be the birthplace of Count Dracula.

Transfăgărășan Highway

Now we come to my personal Romania highlight: the Transfăgărășan Highway. This mountain road is one of the most spectacular roads in the world and connects the Argeș Valley in Great Wallachia with the Olt Valley in Transylvania, crossing the Făgăraș Mountains. Unfortunately, we were a little early and couldn't drive the whole road, but at least we were able to drive it from both sides as far as we could. Although we had heard that there were bears along the road, we didn't get our hopes up too much. Why should the bears show themselves when there were hardly any tourists around to bring them food (which, by the way, is problematic and should be avoided!). We drove along the winding road and suddenly: a young bear at the side of the road! We cheered with joy! What luck! Of course, we immediately pulled out our cameras and mobile phones. We were alone on the road, only a motorcyclist was sticking behind us (out of fear of the bear?). It was incredibly nice to sit in the (safe!) car and just watch the bear without having to watch out for other cars or be afraid (it would probably have been less chilled on foot). At some point we drove on, already overjoyed with this encounter. Who would have thought that we would meet seven more bears, including a bearmama with her cub?

Still overjoyed, we made a short stop at the ‘Transfagarasan Treehouse Village’ - a camp and restaurant in the middle of the forest. How sad that we couldn't stay here. We would definitely stay here next time!

The next day we had to leave our bears and the green nature with a heavy heart and drive back to rainy Bucharest. The return to this loud and busy town was a little shock to us. We would have liked to stay in the countryside a little longer. 
Happy with all our experiences, we flew back to Switzerland - and since then I secretly hope on every walk to see a small bear somewhere. :-) 

Here's to the next adventure soon!

Valentina