24 Sep Adventures in Romania: Transylvania Road Trip
There’s a reason the Transylvania region of Romania is a fan favorite – it’s unique, it’s stunning, it’s affordable and it’s not overrun, yet. There are a variety of attractions, such as castles, scenic roads, gorgeous nature & hiking, wineries, and historic towns. Oh, and of course, Dracula fever.
Our Transylvania Road Trip Route
After a 3.5 week stint living in Bucharest, mostly spent working, we took to the road for some adventure. The inspiration for our Romanian road trip was born from following Wandering Earl’s travel blog and posts on Romania. Derek (Wandering Earl) lived and traveled in Romania for four years, so he’s also a great resource for reading further about Romania travel.
For six days we drove around south and central Romania: Bucharest > TransFagarasan Road (DN 7C) > Cartisoara > Sibiu > Hunedoara > Alba Iulia > Turda > Brasov
Each day we’d begin with an early start, eager for the new, unbelievable environments that we’d encounter. To relax a bit after our whirlwind road trip, we finished with an eight-night stay in the historic town of Brasov.
Here is a quick snapshot of our road trip route and activities. Note: the ‘Transylvania Sights’ section that follows directs you to more detailed information and enticing photos 😉
Day 1: Bucharest > TransFagarasan Road (7C) > Cartisoara
Departed Bucharest and drove ~2.5 hours to Poenari Castle. Put on our walking shoes and hiked up 77 flights of stairs to witness Vlad the Impaler’s fortress. Wicked views! Continued on along the TransFagarasan scenic road, stopping numerous times for photos and to stretch our legs. Checked into our guesthouse in Cartisoara and then drove about 15 minutes more to have dinner at a trout farm. Upon returning to our guesthouse, we shared some local drink, a homemade berry brandy, with our wonderful host.
Day 2: Cartisoara > Sibiu > Hunedoara
Started with a ~50-minute drive to Sibiu to visit the historic center. We spent a few hours walking around, taking in some of the sights and enjoying the hearty regional fare for lunch. We continued another 1.25 hours to Hunedoara. After checking into our hotel and eating dinner, we took a few minutes drive to Corvin Castle to get a nighttime glimpse of the remarkable structure.
Day 3: Hunedoara > Alba Iulia > Turda
Morning tour of Corvin Castle. Drove 1 hour to Alba Iulia. Headed to the old town to visit The Citadel for a few hours. Continued our drive, about 1.25 hours to Turda. Checked into our hotel, where we had a nice dinner and hit the hay.
Day 4: Turda
Visited the salt mine, walking the long hallways and taking the stairs down to the recreation center. We decided it was too busy to further enjoy (it was a Sunday) so we left and had a delicious lunch across the street at Sarea-n-Bucate. Realizing this restaurant was in partnership with the Crama la Salina winery (and ISSA brand), we made an appointment for a wine tasting/vineyard tour the next day. Finished the day by walking around the main street of town.
Day 5: Turda > Brasov
Early morning visit to the salt mine so we could finish our tour: rowboats on the small lake and to play some table tennis. Late morning, we had a private wine tasting at Crama la Salina winery. Once again, we ate lunch at Sarea-n-Bucate to try more of their fabulous food. Finally, we embarked on our 3.5-hour drive to Brasov… which unfortunately became more like 5 hours due to some congested roads/traffic. Checked into our Airbnb and had a late dinner.
Day 6: Brasov > Bran Castle > Brasov
Spent the first half of the day taking a short trip (30-minutes drive each way) to Bran Castle. The tour didn’t take too long, as the castle is rather compact. Upon returning to Brasov, we walked around the historic center and had dinner.
Day 7: Brasov > Bucharest > Brasov
Not needing our car in Brasov, and finding the extra expense to keep it and pay for parking, we drove ~3 hours to Bucharest to return it and then hop on a train back to Brasov. Easy and scenic.
Days 8 – 13: Brasov
Explored the historic city and some of the surrounding hills and Mount Tampa by foot. Dined out a lot. Worked a bit from our apartment and coffee shops. Partied it up at Brasov’s Oktoberfest.
Day 14: Brasov > Bucharest
Took the train back to Bucharest where we’d catch our flight to Portugal the following day.
Transylvania Sights
Be sure to click on the text within the images to read the specific posts about these sights.
Scenic Drive |
Historic Towns |
Possible Transylvania Itinerary Additions
There were a few additional activities or places that we were recommended to us. We didn’t get to them but wanted to share for your consideration:
Hiking in the Carpathian mountains
Peles Castle – located outside of Sinaia and about an hour from Brasov
Cluj – Napoca – a city just north or Turda that’s a cultural and higher education hub
Castle Jidvei & Winery – the largest winery in Romania producing Sauvignon-Blanc, Gewurtztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay
Sighişoara – a well-preserved medieval town with Saxon and ancient Roman heritage
Lessons
At the beginning of our trip, we had a 2.5 hour delayed start because our rental car was not ready. We had selected a rental car company with a downtown drop-off location. That didn’t pan out very well when we got there to find our car wasn’t there and wouldn’t be for ‘an hour’ which really ended up being over two hours. And we were the ‘lucky ones’… there was another couple that had arrived about 15 minutes after us and they had to wait for the guy to get a ~40-minute ride back to the airport, get their car and then drive it ~40 minutes back into Bucharest.
Lesson 1: While we were upset and anxious, we shook it off because we knew we had a spectacular day ahead. Try not to let stupid shit ruin your trip!
Lesson 2: If you are planning a road trip, our suggestion would be to source a rental car directly from the airport instead of downtown. You may even want to get it the night before your trip begins.
The road trip included a lot of driving. We like driving and we were jazzed by each day’s itinerary. But we may have front-loaded the driving a bit.
Lesson: We might have benefited from taking an extra overnight in the beginning of the trip, such as in Sibiu. It might have felt a little more balanced.
Planning popular activities on weekends can draw much larger crowds and be more chaotic.
Lesson: When possible, plan popular activities on weekdays.
In Conclusion
We really felt immersed in history during this Transylvania road trip. It was fascinating that a six-day itinerary could pack in charming old Saxon towns, a citadel, the quaint countryside, an iron curtain industrial town, castles, one of the best scenic roadways in the world, and a defunct salt mine turned playground.
We weren’t intimidated to do this drive on our own – the infrastructure was there, we were able to book our hotels online- even in the smallest towns, and we were able to communicate in English.
The hotel we stayed in ranged from 3-4 stars and were really affordable – ranging from $32 – $45 USD a night
The Romanian National Tourist Office – North America has been further developing their website and includes an incredible amount of useful information to further help you plan your trip.
* * *
Are you planning to visit the Transylvania Region? Or if you’ve been, was there a place or activity you loved that we didn’t cover here?
Leave a comment!
* * *
*This post includes several resource links for which we have no affiliation.
No Comments