THE BEST ROMANIA HOLIDAY IDEAS
Our pick of Romania's highlights, from buzzing Bucharest to mountain trails and ghoulish castles
Bucharest The capital is in an exciting stage of development, with EU investment resulting in
sympathetic modernisation projects and a general buzz around the city. But you can still visit
Ceausescu's obscenely grandiose palace and other communist-era monstrosities, plus medieval
churches and monasteries. Stay in the Hotel Christina, a boutique hotel in the centre. • Doubles from
£54 B&B, hotelchristina.ro Carpathian mountains Also known as the Transylvanian Alps, the Carpathians
are an unspoilt range perfect for hiking, biking and skiing. Or take the slightly lazier – but just as thrilling
– option of a motorbike tour.• Responsible Travel (responsibletravel.com) has a seven-day motorbike
tour for £826pp, staying in three- and four-star hotels, excluding flights Castles Romania isn't short of
fairytale castles. Peles (peles.ro) is the most opulent and Bran (bran-castle.com) is the legendary home
of Dracula. The ruins at Poenari were once one of Vlad the Impaler's fortresses, and so have more claims
to being the "real" Dracula's castle. Maramures This remote region of northern Romania is the place to
come for a slice of traditional rural life. Expect to see rolling green hills, wooden churches and
picturesque villages, all against a mountain backdrop. • Green Mountain Holidays
(greenmountainholidays) has a nine-day self-guided walking holiday in the Maramures for £372pp,
including guesthouse accommodation and luggage transfers, but excluding flights Ice Hotel The Ice Hotel
is 2,034 metres up the Fagarass range of the Carpathians, among the highest peaks in Romania, and is
accessible only by cable car. Rooms are made entirely from ice, as are the bar, restaurant and church.•
Explore (explore.co.uk) has a five‑day Ice Hotel Adventure from £469pp, including three nights in a
standard hotel and one night in the ice hotel, snowshoeing and toboganning, but excluding flights
Transylvanian towns Romania boasts several atmospheric medieval towns that are well worth a visit.
Among the most appealing are cobbled Brasov, brooding Sighisoara and beautiful Sibiu, all within easy
reach of each other.• Cox & Kings (coxandkings.co.uk) has a nine-day Timeless Romania trip that stops
at all three towns from £1,062pp, including flights and half-board Danube Delta Where the mighty
Danube flows into the Black Sea it forms a delta that straddles Romania and Ukraine. It offers some of
the best birdwatching in Europe. Explore the channels and lakes by boat, spotting white pelicans,
spoonbills, cormorants, ibis, egrets and white-tailed sea eagles. • Wildlife Travel (01954 713575,
wildlife-travel.co.uk) has a 10-day boat trip for £1,845pp, including flights, guides and full-board
accommodation Painted monasteries The monasteries of Bucovina, north-eastern Romania, are
decorated on the outside with 15th- and 16th-century frescoes depicting religious stories. The bestpreserved monasteries are within a 30-minute drive of each other – hire a car to take in a few in one
day.• More information at romaniatourism.com/painted-monasteries