The beauty of travelling is to be able to go beyond Hollywood myths and the grave. It’s the ability to experience real terror on a private tour in Romania’s legendary tourist attractions.
Would you like to get yourself into Transylvanian folklore as you explore medieval villages and crumbling Gothic sites? You should then prepare to visit the two well-known castles in Romania.
A brief introduction of Dracula
Dracula is a Gaelic translation of Drac Ullah which carries the meaning of bad blood. It is a fictional character of a novel that was published in 1990 in Romanian for the first time. This character was inspired by a well-known figure called Vlad Dracul, nicknamed Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler), from Romanian History.
Bram Stoker is an Irish writer of this novel who took a tale of supernatural and made a golden tale. In this novel, he puts himself in the history, legends, and lore of Transylvania.
For this reason, many people tend to have an extra-sensory view regarding Transylvania. They also believe that vampires walk around crossroads on November 29th (St Andrew) and April 23rd (St George’s day).
When you travel along with this town’s ancient forests, roads, and mountains, you might be caught in the tale. It’s indeed an exciting place to visit.
Where can you explore in this place?
You will enjoy each day on your visit to Transylvania. Some of the places you can explore Brasov, Bucharest, Targoviste, Snagov Monastery, Poenari Fortress, Bran, Arefu Village and Bistrita, among others. Let’s have a look at each place.
Bucharest
Bucharest was nicknamed Paris in the 1990s. This is the capital city of Romania that is treasured because of its high life, glorious Belle Époque buildings, and extensive tree-lined boulevards.
Be sure to enjoy its historical charm like the Royal Palace’s grand architecture, the flourishing green area of Cismigiu Park and streets in the Old City Center.
You will be thrilled to visit the plethora of art galleries, museums, exceptional architectural sites, and superb Orthodox churches of Bucharest. In Bucharest, the Old Town is called Centrul Vechi.
It looks like people view it as the heart of the city because it has tourist attractions, cafes, and restaurants. The Old Court in Bucharest was the first royal court. Vlad Tepes once inhabited it.
Poenari Fortress
On your first day at Transylvania Romania, enjoy the striking landscapes along the Carpathian Mountains. You will love seeing tall mountains, some as tall as 2042m. Below the mountains are also stunning sceneries with enchanting landscapes for photo enthusiasts.
You can as well visit Sibiu, which is a medieval town. It is over 600 years of age. In Sibiu, you can get to see the Astra Museum with Romanian monuments. This museum has many classical household stuff and over 300 traditional buildings.
Snagov Monastery
Do you love having a walk near Islands? Snagov Monastery is a traditional state in a small cute island in Bucharest that might interest you. It is found 25 miles away from North of Bucharest. You can access this area using a boat or a pedestrian bridge.
It’s the place that Vlad the Impaler was buried, and it also inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He had requested to be buried in the church before he died.
Various archaeologists tried to prove if this is true. However, none could confirm whether this was true or not. They dug some burial stone on the site and found some human bones and horse bones as well. If you are religious, this is a beautiful place for worship because it is water-locked, and this brings excellent isolation.
Bistrita
You will find Bistrita 265 miles away from the Northwestern areas of Bucharest. It’s near the Bargau Mountains. Bistrita is among the oldest towns in Transylvania. If you have read Dracula novel before, you can attest that Jonathan Harker once paid a visit to the Golden Krone Hotel in Bistrita and spent a night there. In this town, you will still find the remains of the old 15th and 16th-century merchant houses.
Targoviste
For about three centuries, Targoviste town used to be a capital city of Wallachia. Get to know about Targoviste Royal court located 64 miles away from Bucharest North West. This Royal Court is an architectural building created in the 15th and 17th centuries.
It consists of a bell tower, a southern gate, royal gardens, the royal palace, a few churches, Lady Balasa’s home, the Chindia Tower and fortifications.
In this place, you can see old pottery work and photos of Wallachian rulers. If you love adventure, you could find pleasure in the Chindia Tower. This is a tower built in the 15th century. It has a viewing platform that you reach by climbing a flight of over 100 stairs.
You can get guides of navigating around Targoviste at the Royal court. The guides are in two languages, that is English and French.
Arefu Village
Enjoy exceptional untouched charm in Arefu village 104 miles away from Northwest Bucharest. In Arefu village, there are descendants of the minions. Villagers in Arefu are proud of the fact that Minions served Vlad Tepes.
There is Lake Vildaru a kilometre away from the fortress. This lake was created with the motive of feeding the hydroelectric power plant. You will enjoy spending a night with area residents of this village as you listen to their fascinating old folk tales.
Brasov
Brasov is well known for its wealth of Historical attractions, and it is only 100 miles away from North Bucharest. This is a gateway to Transylvania with cool air and a relaxed atmosphere. There are many things to do in this medieval town.
Some of the things to do are hiking and riding the cable car to Tampa Mountain and touring the Biserica Neagra Black church. This black church is the largest in Eastern Europe.
If you are thrilled by Dracula’s mystery, Transylvania would be the best place to have a fantastic encounter. You will enjoy sightseeing for many old things and discover fortresses and castles that inspired the author of this chilling novel.
