Areas Traveled
Through the course of the trip we traveled to five main areas in the northern area of the country. Since there are only small backroads, no major freeways, by traveling in vans we got to see most of the countryside. We flew in and out of the city Cluj Napoca, making a loop. Other areas included Sigisoara, Bran, Gura Humuroli, and Maramures.
Cluj Napoca:
The first city we landed in was Cluj, it's the fourth most populated city in Romania. It's a University city full of busy college students. It also has a very rich history and tons of beautiful architecture. As you enter downtown Cluj you become surrounded by Communism Era buildings which was very interesting to see and was also where we stayed.
Sighisoara:
Sighisoara was the next place we stayed, and it transitioned us from a busy city into a more relaxed countryside. It's a very small town up on a hill, supposedly where Vlad the Impaler was born. It's an adorable little town with great food and drinks and wonderful people and service. This was a shorter stay, only one night but the town was small enough that that was more than enough time to enjoy it.
Bran:
Traveling into the Brasov/Bran area took us even further into the country. Instead of staying in hotels like we had previously, we all stayed together in a countryside cottage. It had a back porch and we were surrounded by beautiful fields with cows and sheep and flowers all around. This was my favorite place we stayed on the trip. While there we traveled to Vlad the Impalers Castle Ruins, Peles Castle, Bran Castle, and we got to visit an amazing bear observatory in the middle of the forest which was amazing.
Gura Humorului:
Gura Humorului was our next stop, this was an interesting place to visit. It's another city type area, though not quite as large as Cluj. While we were here we visited some painted monasteries which were really amazing, definitely a highlight of the trip. This place also had very good food, the bed and breakfast we stayed at had a cute little restaurant which was quite delicious.
Maramures:
The Maramures region was the last place we stayed in before we headed back to Cluj to fly out. This was probably my favorite of the places we stayed because it had a vibe like no other place I've been before. The place we stayed was a very traditional village. We stayed in a very kind traditional Romanian woman's house, and she cooked all kinds of delicious homemade traditional Romanian dishes. The town itself is a social community, people sit out on their benches every night and socialize with everyone else, and they all go to church together almost every day. They wear very traditional Romanian clothes, and I even got a traditional dress that a woman homemade and then picked out for me. It was an experience unlike any other.
See photos of all these places and more in my photos section!!
