And we praise the Prince of Wales for donating so much time and energy into preserving Transylvanian villages and tradition through his organizations. Yes, Transylvania is incredible. It took all of one train ride from Bucharest to Brasov to leave us enamored with this region, and even though we explored it for over three weeks there was so much we did not get a chance to see.
Before we arrived we heard mixed opinions about Bucharest. Some said it was dirty and warned us that the communist style housing blocks were an eyesore best avoided, still others told us tales of rude locals and scamming taxi drivers. We also heard that the city was great, the people were open and interesting, the ambiance palatable, the nightlife vibrant.
With so much conflicting information coming in we did not know what to expect. For the first couple of hours Bucharest felt a bit like a post-apocalyptic city; crumbling away while verdant mother nature embraced its steel and stony bones. After a few hours of walking around, however, we realized we absolutely loved the aesthetic. The more we explored, the larger our appreciation grew.
Within hours we found juicy peaches at a lush farmers market, drank dollar draft beers in a tranquil leafy cafe garden, and saw more cool looking architecture in a square kilometer than we could shake our cameras at.
There is a palatable energy in the city and ambiance not easily ignored. We were never bored, and the nightlife kept us more than entertained during the dog days of summer. All reports of rude locals turned out to be extremely over-stated. In fact, we found that talking to people was very easy in Bucharest, with many of the folks there happy to put their knowledge of the English language to use.
Engaging with others was easy and welcomed. So, after seven weeks of living in Bucharest our parting was bittersweet.
The Romanian countryside is deeply saturated with history, densely populated with incredible castles, and packed with picturesque fortified churches.
Anyone who has ever geeked out over medieval architecture, or has fantasized of re-enacting scenes from Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings , needs to do themselves a favor and visit the hundred and one castles of Romania. Every village in Transylvania seems to have a fortified church of some sort, most towns have walls, and castles dot the countryside.
It is incredibly difficult to say which of these places you should visit over the others, honestly all of them deserve to be seen and explored. They are bound to whet your imagination and fascinate the medieval lover in all of us.
So, if you fancy medieval architecture, castles, towers, and walled cities then Romania should be on your shortlist of places to visit. By and large we found Romanians to be an engaging people, mostly good-natured, and eager to interact with others. We had no problems striking up conversations in markets, gardens, on trains, and in bars. Many Romanians are bilingual and can speak English, French, or some Spanish. Beyond small talk and one time encounters, we also found making friends to be nearly effortless in Romania.
Many of the people we met seemed to be genuinely interested in spending time with us, sharing their culture with us, and going out of their way to be helpful. They are without a doubt among the most welcoming people we have come across in all of our travels. Romania is an extremely affordable country, especially by European standards. We had an incredible time and never felt like we were putting much of a strain on our bank accounts. One of the main things that drew us both to Romania is that we knew very little almost nothing about the country before we decided to spend three months there.
We were intrigued by the idea of exploring the unknown and ended up making most of our travel decisions based on what our new Romanian friends told us to see and do. By mostly ditching our traditional method of online research we ended up feeling like we were truly discovering Romania even if we only scratched the surface.
We are hard-pressed to think of a country better suited for those of us who live a location independent lifestyle. So, if you can work remotely and want to live in an affordable and fascinating country, well hell, Romania is right up your alley.
Romania rocks. Go there!! Disclaimer — We have included a few handy little affiliate links in case any of our readers want to book accommodations.
We receive a small commission for any sales made, without any additional cost to you, our dear reader. What a fantastic post! So comprehensive, and I really like your writing style!
The perfect blend of poetry and information. Thanks again! Amy — Thanks a ton! When you are ready to explore Romania check out our page on it, we have 6 articles now. Romania has so many to offer…. Hi there, This was a great article to stumble across. We are currently in Croatia, spending two months here before we are allowed another days in the E.
We have been exploring some other off the beaten track places and have been considering Romania to try to extend our RTW for as long as possible. This was a great article to fuel our desire to explore this region and sounds like a great way to stretch our dollar.
Thanks for sharing! This is a most interesting article and reflects a side of Romania which some Romanians and superficial travellers would be delighted for you to see. Unfortunately, there are also other sides to this corrupt, selfish, disjointed, unfair and failing nation which only those of us unfortunate enough to have lived there can tell you about. There are, of course, many exceptions to the rule and I found occasional Romanians who were genuinely friendly and hospitable without having an ulterior motive.
These were few and far between. Most folk are after all they can get and, apart from their own superficial obsession with image, take no pride in any aspect of their national life. Romanian attitudes towards orphans, homosexuals, gypsies, Russians, the mentally handicapped and anyone outside of their own narrow lifestyle, even stray dogs were — under Communism — based primarily upon ignorance. This, maybe, could be excused. Ignorance now, though, cannot be used as an excuse and yet bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, distrust and outright animosity continue to be prevalent.
It is, truly, a beautiful country with generally loathsome people and, as such, best avoided. Well Jonathan, it sounds like your experience was diametrically opposed to ours.
We had some incredible interactions with Romanian people during our three months there. Give us a call and we'll look it up for you. For non-Canadian international performing tours , login to your account by clicking the button below.
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Log in to Your Account To manage your account online, select your program. Contact your program team for more information. Make a Payment To make a payment, select your program. Meanwhile, the wonderfully remote Danube Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, offers up an array of winged fauna unmatched anywhere else in Europe; expect egrets, herons, red-breasted geese and white-tailed eagles, but best of all, the superb great white and Dalmatian pelicans.
Try and catch a concert or, better still, visit a music village, such as Clejani, where, for a few leu and a couple of beers, you should be able to find a group of musicians willing to bash out a few tunes. Also corralled into this stunning corner of the Carpathian redoubt is the awesome Piatra Craiului ridge and the Bucegi massif.
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