Six days from a capital of belle-époque boulevards and communist megastructures up into Transylvania, where Saxon settlers built fortified churches and walled towns eight centuries ago and the Carpathians still hold Europe's largest population of brown bears. See the full itinerary.
From the same hand-researched library as our Romania itinerary. Last reviewed 2026-08-08.
Bucharest
A city that was called Little Paris in the 1930s, then had a third of its historic centre demolished by Ceaușescu to build the second-largest administrative building on earth. Both layers are still visible on the same walk, which is what makes it interesting rather than merely handsome.
1
Palace of the Parliament
The heaviest building in the world, ordered by Ceaușescu, requiring the demolition of a whole district and still only partly used. Guided tours cover a fraction of its 1,100 rooms and are booked ahead with ID.
Bucharest
2
Romanian Athenaeum
A domed 1888 concert hall funded by public subscription, with a circular fresco of Romanian history around the auditorium. Go to a concert if you can; the daytime peek is a poor substitute.
Bucharest
3
Stavropoleos Monastery
A tiny 1724 Brâncovenesc church with a carved stone porch and a quiet cloister, marooned among the Old Town bars and all the better for it.
Bucharest
Brașov and the Carpathians
A Saxon town founded by German settlers in 1211, ringed by mountains, with a Gothic hall church that survived the fire that blackened it and gave it its name. It is also the base for the two castles everyone comes to Romania for, and for the Piatra Craiului ridge behind them.
4
Black Church
The largest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul, begun in the 1380s and scorched black by the great fire of 1689. Inside is a large collection of Anatolian carpets, gifts from Saxon merchants.
Brașov and the Carpathians
5
Peleș Castle
A Neo-Renaissance royal residence at Sinaia, finished in 1883 and one of the first castles in Europe with central heating and electricity. Closed Mondays, and shut entirely for maintenance in November.
Brașov and the Carpathians
6
Bran Castle
A genuine fourteenth-century fortress on a rock at the Transylvanian pass, well worth seeing. Its Dracula billing is a twentieth-century invention: Vlad III almost certainly never lived here, and Stoker never visited Romania.
Brașov and the Carpathians
7
Râșnov Citadel
A peasant fortress on a ridge where villagers sheltered during Ottoman and Tatar raids, with a well the defenders spent seventeen years digging. Quieter than Bran and a better view.
Brașov and the Carpathians
Sibiu
The best-preserved Saxon town in Transylvania and a former European Capital of Culture, with a defensive wall, three linked squares, and roof dormers shaped like half-closed eyes that make the buildings appear to watch the street. It is also the northern gateway to the Transfăgărășan.
8
Bridge of Lies
The first cast-iron bridge in Romania, 1859, which local story says creaks when someone standing on it tells a lie. It creaks constantly.
Sibiu
9
Council Tower
A thirteenth-century tower between the two squares, climbable for the view over the roofs to the Făgăraș mountains.
Sibiu
Museums, parks, and neighborhoods are on the full Romania itinerary, sequenced into a realistic day-by-day plan with transport between cities.
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