Holidays in Romania
Romania's diverse outstanding natural landscapes offer numerous choices for exciting outdoor experiences. Travelers can walk through serene alpine meadows of Romania, covered with scores of wildflowers, trek around glacial lakes, take in the lush-green scenery while horse riding or mountain biking, climb curious rock formations, photograph fossil traces of 15,000-year old cave-bear species, track gold eagles or other rare birds, study endangered flora, wander in the countryside, picnic in the fields, try their hand at traditional crafts, or just relax in the home of a village family and meet wonderful locals, while sampling wholesome, country fare with home made wine and plum brandy.
Looking for holiday inspiration? Discover a selection of the highlights that make a holiday in Romania so special.
Please select the categories that are of interest:
Romania can offer Gourmet tours, the Romanian gastronomy being based on delicious dishes and traditions; even it receives strong influences from the Ottoman cuisine as well as from other neighbouring countries, it maintains its own character.
Top tours introduce you to the best of Romania, with an emphasis on food and wine, castless, fortresses and vineyards. Tried and tested, a guided tour opens doors, giving you insider information; you will meet and get to know some of the vignerons en route and get to the pulse of Romania. The food is typically Romanian but the wines are special, usually with an explanation from the sommelier on hand.
Wikipedia mentions Seven Natural Wonders in Romania. We would say that there a lot more.....Romania is a land of beauty, authentic and untouched nature...
A long trip may combine bear watching and birdwatching
inside the elbow of the Romanian Carpathians with a boating
trip in the Romanian paradise for birds and birdwatchers:
But shorter trips may worth as well - wildlife travel in
Piatra Craiului National Park and Bucegi Natural Park
(watch the Eurasian lynx and the Brown bear, track the wolves,
bears and lynx ...) or Rodney Mountains, Ceahlau...
Due to its mountains, forests and water range, Romania still
preserves the pure nature aspects and wildlife.
Carpathian Mountains are the largest intact ecosystem
of its kind in Europe.
Sightseeing
There are good reasons to book a tour in Romania, even if you're usually an independent traveller. Whether you long for a big city adventure or a down home country escape, there are breathtaking landscapes on every corner and here are some of the best:
The impressive natural parks of the Carpathian Mountains.
The incredible Danube Delta
Transfagarasan Highway, Romania’s most spectacular and best known road, thanks to an appearance on BBC Top Gear in 2009
Romania's castles and fortresses
Eco-friendly
If you’d like to get closer to nature and enjoy the many pleasures of eco retreats, then consider an eco vacation, where sustainability and ecological responsibility are an important part of each day’s itinerary, and where there are countless opportunities to experience incredible natural beauty and unique bio-diversity. Take the family away with a good conscience by spending your holidays here and try Romania! It’s a natural environment that makes for the perfect eco-vacation.
“Must do’s” include visiting Bucovina and Maramures, legendary
lands in the north of Romania where you can find traces from old
Romanian civilization and traditions born from the treasure of
Romanian folklore.
But don’t forget the Danube Delta, the second largest and best preserved of Europe's deltas. With 2,200 square miles of rivers, canals, marshes, tree-fringed lakes and reed islands, the Danube Delta is a wildlife enthusiast’s (especially a bird watcher’s) paradise. The traditional fishing villages the locals make their living from fishing, livestock breeding and reed harvesting in this vast area. Many villagers rent rooms to visitors making Danube Delta a natural environment designed for a perfect eco-vacation.
Romanian unique identity has been possibly developed from melting of the Roman and most likely of the ancient Dacian elements, combined with various other impacts, being seen ofter regarded as the meeting point of three regions : the Central Europe, the East Europe and the Balkans, althoug it is NOT really part of any of those regions.
The traditional Romanian folk arts, including dance, wood carving, ceramics, weaving and embroidery of costumes and household decorations, and fascinating folk music, still flourish in the country. Romania is adorned with many wonderful Orthodox monasteries, some of which date back to the 13th century. Medieval towns, fortified churches, painted monasteries, wooden masterpieces and outstanding ancient Dacian ruins are just some of the attractions that make up Romania's exceptional cultural heritage.
Family and children
Visiting Romania can seem like entering a magical past world – dark woods stalked by fearsome beasts, giant caves colonied by bats, medieval walled cities and ruined castles, myth of Dracula.
It's also a place where your family can engage with timeless
rural activities no longer seen at home – scything hay by hand
to pile into vast stacks, getting around by horse-drawn cart,
milking cows and making cheese, carving wooden utensils or
musical instruments. Or just enjoy the novelty of being invited
by a friendly local into their home to share food and drink.
Romania offers a beautifully balanced holiday program that
combines nature, local heritage and iconic sights.
City-breaks
You can have a spectacular city break in Romania, not only outside. I'm not saying do not go abroad ! God forbid, contact with other cultures will help a lot ... but if you've scheduled this year a city break to Prague , why do not you budget a city break in Bucharest, Sibiu or Brasov as well?
Bucharest is known for its wide, tree-lined boulevards, glorious Belle Époque buildings and a reputation for the high life (which in the 1900s earned its nickname of "Little Paris"). Today hostes the colossal Parliament Palace (formerly known as the People's Palace) which is the world's second-largest office building in surface (after the Pentagon) and the third largest in volume (after Cape Canaveral in the U.S. and the Great Pyramid in Egypt).
Sibiu is a historic city, full of beautiful buildings, very well preserved (a good part of them at least). The city is also full of churches, museums, palaces, city walls. Sibiu has tens of kilometers of bicycle path , you can rent a bike downtown and go to Astra Museum , the largest museum village in Romania ... You want something else besides Sibiu ? Simple ... do not miss the Saxon villages with fortified churches (Cisnadie, Cisnadioara , Sibiel ) or traditional Romanian villages (one is really photogenic, Rasinari village where Emil Cioran has been born).
Brasov is one of the most visited places in Romania. Founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1211 on an ancient Dacian site and settled by the Saxons as one of the seven walled citadels*, Brasov exudes a distinct medieval ambiance. The Black Church (Biserica Neagra) is the largest gothic church in Romania which houses one of the largest organs in Eastern Europe.
* The seven walled citadels populated by the Saxons of Transylvania were known in German as the Siebenbürgen.
The Siebenbürgen citadels were: Bistrita (Bistritz), Brasov (Kronstadt), Cluj(Klausenburg), Medias (Mediasch), Sebes (Mühlbach),
Sibiu (Hermannstadt) and Sighisoara (Schassburg).
It truly worth a holiday in Romania!
