Romania Travel Guide

Romania Travel Guide, climate:
Best: May-September [though mid-summer can be excessively hot]. Winter [December-February] is good only for low-price ski holidays.

Length of stay:
Minimum worthwhile stay, not including flights: Bucharest for a couple of days or a long and weird medieval weekend in Transylvania.
Recommended: 14 days to explore the place properly with a hike or two.

Main Festivals in Romania:
n.b. Folk music and dance is a major cultural activity in this country so expect to see plenty of this activity during festivals.
- June, Fundata Fair in Fundata near Bran, a folklore fair.
- Mid July for 3 days, Mount Gaina Maiden Fair, a song and dance about marriage; half-way up a mountain so climbing there is the first step.
- June 23, Sanziene Midsummer Festival in Maramures. Fairies in the ether and garlands of flowers everywhere else.
- 3rd week July for 3 days, East European Vintage Motorbike Rally in Turda, a town with a lovely atmosphere, classic architecture and a rich past.
- End of July for 3 days, Medieval Days in Sighisoara, a delightful fortified town; two weeks of theatrical shows - professional and amateur - all over the citadel, as well as painters, sculptors, body painters and fantastic costumes.
- Third Sunday of August, Hora la Prislop in Maramures, a celebration of traditional popular arts, with song, dance and folk costumes.
- September, Sambra Oilor, a sheepish event in Bran.
- September, Chamber Music Festival in Bran and Brasov.

Romania activities guide:
Hiking and skiing: An excellent walking country through wild and rural landscapes; the Carpathians are the most spectacular mountains in Romania, relatively untouched by human foot and barely two hours from Bucharest.
Bird watching and fishing: The Danube Delta is home to over 300 species of bird as well as varied animals and freshwater fish in its numerous lakes and marshes.

Romania Star Guide:

Monuments **
Shopping/souvenirs **
Walkability ****
Food Quality/Variety **
Value for Money ***
Hotel Prices/Value ***
Beaches black sea
Wildlife ***
Landscape *****
Local People ***
Architecture ****
Safety ****
Nightlife/Clubbing ***
Health Problems not really
Museums ***

Cuisine Guide:
Romanian cooks tend to focus on meats [especially in soups and on grills, meatballs or sausages are big] but vegetarians won't find life particularly difficult with vegetables appearing in soups, stews or mixed and fried, while fish [grilled carp, herring or sturgeon] and cheeses [fried in batter or inside pastries] are also served.
You will find a variety of ethnic eateries - especially in Bucharest - as well as fast foods joints if you're dying for a artery-choking fatburger.
Reasonable lager beers and wines are on the market though many locals prefer - at any time of the day or night - a hit of the potent and locally produced tuica, a plum brandy.

Travel to Romania:
Although international flights to the country are frequent, so are trains from most of Western Europe. The trains are low-cost, comfortable, no vast check-in lines and you get to see stuff on the way!
Check out the good value Balkan FlexiPass if you plan to travel a lot in the area.
Buses are available too, but not cheap.
Trains are also the best way to get around Romania.
Why Travel to Romania?
A new, mountainous yet flat-busted member of the European Union, Romania is an ancient place of
magnificent soaring landscapes buzzing with wildlife and travelled by peasants in horse-drawn carts, interspersed with primitive farms, monasteries, medieval towns and dramatic castles inhabited by Dracula legends.
Hosted by generally friendly and occasionally colourful people of mixed cultural backgrounds, Romania is one of Europe's least-developed countries, a place to step back in time - but be quick, Brussels bureaucrats are already imposing daft and oppressive regulations, while malls, office blocks, mobile phones and ski-runs are spreading like fungus and country folk are rushing for better paid work elsewhere in the EU.

Downside:
- Beggars can be a whingeing pain.
- Taxi drivers are skunks in human form so carefully agree prices beforehand but be prepared for still further demands. See right.
- Neither gypsies nor gays are popular.

Romania attractions:
**Bucharest, the capital, is a necessary tourist evil and an integral part of the Romanian experience. It's changing rapidly but still scattered with fine old architecture, a couple of good museums, huge megalomanic relics of Ceausescu's heavy handed rule, nutty traffic, fine eating at the right price and boisterous nightlife.
***Transylvania is a place of medieval streets and fortifications, majestic mountains, multicultural traditions, caves, forests and bears.
Of particular interest are:
the charming, hilltop citadel town of Sighisoara; the fortified Saxon villages of and around Sibiu [and its superb open-air museum of Romanian rural life, Muzeul Astra]; the stunning gothic section of Brasov [as opposed to the unpleasant modern bit]; the spectacular turreted castle at Bran built in 1377 by the Saxons and reputedly home to Count Dracula; another terrific, even spookier fortress nearby at Rasnov; and finally a new Carnivore Centre [zoo] at Zarnesti.

***The Carpathian Mountains, just a couple of hours from Bucharest are a grand and pointy hiker's heaven scattered with quaint villages and offering low-cost skiing in winter. [Picture top right].
***North Moldavia/South Bucovina regions are known for their fantastically painted UNESCO Heritage monasteries, such as Voronet [the 'Sistine Chapel of the east'] or Moldovita.
**The Merry Cemetery in Sapanta village, Maramures region, sports gorgeously painted - and often humorous - grave accessories that have been exhibited to great acclaim across Europe.
**Timisoara in the far west of the country is perhaps the most westernized of Romanian cities but still dominated by forts and cathedrals and home to relaxed, cosmopolitan inhabitants.
*The Danube Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage site is a prime target for anglers.
**Black Sea Resorts are hot to trot from spring to autumn. The best facilities on the Romanian coast, including a 10km beach, may be found in Mamaia.
Visa information:
EU citizens and nationals of USA, Australia and New Zealand do not need visas for visits up to 90 days.

Electricity:
Electric sockets are 230v and take 2 round pin plugs.

Safety:
Crime is rare but as usual take precautions against pick-pocketing and bag filching. DON'T change money in the street.

Taxi advice:
Only take taxis with a numbered plaque on the outside, and even then carefully check the cost of your trip before setting off.
'Private' taxis will probably be driven by demons freshly arrived from the gates of Hell.

Language:
Romanian is the native language but many locals speak excellent English.

Money:
The currency is the Ron and prices are moderate-low. ATMs are plentiful in towns, so DON'T change money in the street and be extremely wary of extortionate commissions charged by exchange offices.

Tipping Guide:
Romanian workers are paid little and depend on tips, so tip waiters [5%-10%], porters and even the rare good taxi driver, but not much.

Beggars:
The majority are professional, including children.

Internet:
No problem in towns.