Transylvania

Sighisoara

Sighisoara was recommended to me by Jorge who told me it was a must see on my way to Brasov. I googled images of Sighisoara and instantly decided to go there. Early that morning i took the Bla Bla car share with a lovely Romanian couple who had been visiting their daughter in Cluj, and they dropped me right in town when we arrived. I decided to go to the train station to get my ticket to Brasov and perhaps store my bag while i explored the town. And that I did! I had a few hours to explore, which was more than enough time to enjoy my time there. The fortified, medieval town was located on a height so i entered via some steep steps and once at the top, I began to explore the colourful streets. The view from the city walls were amazing as well as the town itself. I could barely take two steps in one direction before taking another photo. The architechture was so picturesque and the colours were so photogenic. I think i probbaly took over 100 photos in just a few hours. I wandered around enjoying the peace and quiet of the streets before sitting al fresco to eat some traditional lunch at the Medieval Cafe. I orderded the local bean soup, with 'draculas' potatos as well as a glass of house white wine. It was chilly but I was wrapped up and the sun was shining. This was one of the highlights of Romania and i was so happy i had some time to explore here.

Brasov and surroundings

Brasov, Transylvania

​Brasov was the town that everyone suggested when I first decided to go to Romania. I was excited to go here to explore the famous palaces and catsles nearby including the famous 'Draculas' castle in Bran. While In Brasov, I explored the beautiful town, did a free walking tour to get the history of the place and then on my other days there i took local buses to Rasnov Fortress, Peles Palace in Sinaia and Bran Castle. The buses all departed from Autogara 2 which was a 20 minute walk from the centre but was super cheap to take the bus to any of these places.

Rasnov Fortess

Rasnov Fortress- a beautiful fortified fortress with stunning views over the valleys and the town itself was incredibly picturesque as seen below. This is still one of my favourite pictures of my trip.

Bran Castle aka Draculas Castle was the castle that Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, based his book on. Dracula or Vlad the Implaler never actually lived here but rather the castle was just used as a fictional castle that he lived in, in the book. Nevertheless, the trip was well worth it and although the town itself was rather touristy, the castle was super cool to see and it was something I wanted to see when in Transylvania of course.

Sinaia- Peles Royal Palace

​This palace was incredible, unfortunatley at the time of year I went, they had closed the palace which meant that I could only see the grounds and not the inside, which was still incredible and saved me money. The town of Sinaia was rather pretty and I had lunch there in the local Irish pub, before taking the train to my final stop of Bucharest.

Bucarest

Bucarest was a nice surprise. Im not going to lie but a lot of people had told me not to go there or if i did, to only spend a day or two there. They always say a place is determined by the company you keep and maybe thats why I had such a good time. I met a few great people on my walking tours including Ling from China and Ashley from Canada. We were all there for different reasons but together we had such a great time. We did two walking tours that day which were very different and so much fun and informative. We then went for dinner together at Mamas restaurant which was a traditional Romanian restaurant recommended by our guide. We spent the evning at a local craft beer bar which was so much fun and we followed on to some bars and clubs before heading home. My first experience in Bucarest was amazing and I was staying at a lovely hostel called Old Town Hostel Bucarest right in the centre of the old town with an amazing view. The next day I planned to go to Ruse in Bulgaria and despite the banging hangover, i made it out of bed and on the train right on time.