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Christmas celebration has a unique charm all over the world
Spend your Christmas holiday in Maramureș
Where traditions and customs are well preserved and winters are always filled with crystalline snow!
Mocănița steam train
4 nights of a memorable Christmas Experience
- Ride a narrow-gauge steam train called Mocănița
- Listen to Christmas carols
- Go to the church with the locals
- Taste the traditional meals
- Enjoy the beautiful picturesque winter landscape
- Visit a Christmas market
- Book accommodation in rural guesthouses
About this trip
Every country has its own way of telling a story of the birth of Jesus Christ through their traditions, beliefs, and customs. These traditions transform Romania in a festive mood, giving it a unique identity and a special charm during the winter holidays.
Christmas celebrations begin on Christmas Eve, 24th of December, where families take the time to hang Christmas baubles, candies, and coloured lights around the Christmas Tree. They gather around the tree to decorate it while they are singing magical and meaningful carols.
Be my guest!
Crăciun Fericit is how Romanian say Happy/Merry Christmas!
insights!
Christmas in Romania is more than just families decorating the Christmas tree, friends exchanging gifts, and children preparing for their wishlist and waiting for Santa.
There are a lot of traditions and customs that are kept well, particularly in rural areas and in the countryside. And these can be found in the beautiful and breathtaking region of Maramureș, which by the way, is our top suggestion for your Christmas getaway.
Christmas carol singing
Music is an important part of the Christmas celebration all over Romania. As a matter of fact, Christmas carols were first sung in Europe thousands of years ago as part of the winter solstice celebration. On Christmas Eve, children go out caroling to different houses and perform their songs to the adults. In return, the children receive sweets, fruits, traditional cakes called ‘cozonaci’, and sometimes money as a reward for singing well. You’d be delighted to know that even adults go caroling during the Christmas season. If in the past, only young unmarried men could be part of these groups, nowadays, both men and women go caroling to celebrate the essence of this joyful season.
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Accommodation in a guesthouse
(4 nights) - Call UK +447427652074
- Call RO +40726524267
- € 680 per passenger
- Full board and local drinks
- ON – Trip transport
- Christmas Eve spent with locals
- A souvenir gift
- Mocănița steam train
- Visit Unesco Wooden Churches
- Beautiful winter landscape
- Traditional meals
- Merry Cementery
- Bârsana Village
- Christmas market
A different Christmas Experience
Most Romanians practice Eastern Orthodoxy and are known to be religious people. According to Orthodox religion, the process of soul and body purifying starts way before the holiday itself– from November 14 up to Christmas Day. Christmas Fast lasts 40 days and people don’t eat meat or any animal products (eggs, milk, etc.), with the exception of eating fish. Even though the fasting lasts for six weeks, it’s amazing to see how many people consciously respect this religious practice.
Prepare also for mouth-watering dishes, especially when visiting the countryside. Each year on the 20th of December, an Ignat Day (St. Ignatius), Romanian families all over the countryside sacrifice their pig in order to have a sumptuous meal for Christmas. Delicious is an understatement when it comes to describing these Romanian dishes so you better go there and taste them!
- As much wilderness as you can take!
- Traditional villages and Unesco Wooden Churches!
- Time-Travelling is Real And it takes place in Maramureș!
- Unique winter landscapes!
YOUR ITINERARY
Cluj-Napoca
Vișeu de sus
Breb
Săpânța
Caroling
a different christmas experience
It is a truly amazing place to spend Christmas, right?
So, this is your chance to make your winter dream trip a reality!
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Day 1 Greetings and transfer from Cluj-Napoca airport to the authentic village of Maramureș.
- Day 2 Enjoy this rural fairytale and take walk between the villages and visit the wooden church of Budești. While visiting The Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance, you will learn more about the communist period that took place.
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Visit Merry Cemetery in Săpânța
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Day 3 Free time in the village. From joyful carols to delicious dishes, this is truly an ideal Christmas holiday!
- Day 4 Prepare for the ride with the Last of the Carpathian Forestry Railway called Mocănița.
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Visit Bârsana village and the church made entirely of wood.
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Day 5 Transfer from Maramureș to Cluj-Napoca.
Visit the Christmas Fair
fun fact
During the Communist era, the religious meaning of Christmas was banished but Romanians still continued to secretly celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in the safety of their homes and observe the old Christmas customs and traditions.
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Maramureș is our top suggestion for your Christmas getaway
Greetings and transfer from Cluj-Napoca airport to the authentic village of Maramureș.
This will take around 3 hours of driving.
Enjoy this rural fairytale and take walk between the villages, try riding the horse-drawn sledge, and visit the wooden church of Budești. After this, you would want to have a sip of a hot drink, tea or, even better, a pălinca! This is Romania’s national drink.
While visiting The Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance, you will learn more about the communist period that took place. The memorial is a former prison but is now a museum dedicated to what happened during the communist regime in Romania. To make it more interesting, the cells have been transformed into museum rooms.
The next stop is the Merry Cemetery in Săpânța, probably the only artsy cemetery in the world where each grave has a lively and beautifully carved wooden cross painted in the radiant blue of heaven. The graves are also engraved with a painting and an original poem that discloses a little something about the life and character of the plot’s eternal inhabitant.
This is your free time in the village where you get to spend the afternoon Christmas Eve with your host. You get to receive carolers and delight yourself with a culinary feast. From joyful carols to delicious dishes, this is truly an ideal Christmas holiday!
Prepare for the ride with the Last of the Carpathian Forestry Railway called Mocănița. The steam train track leads along the River Vaser and is the only means of transport to the heart of Maramureş Mountains (protected area). At Paltin, the last station, you are invited to take a picnic and admire the view from the rock platform located nearby. There is a catering service with a variety of food supplies to make your picnic more convenient (train ticket, mixed grill-picnic, one soft drink, one coffee, one pastry included).
In the afternoon, visit Bârsana village and the church made entirely of wood.
Transfer from Maramureș to Cluj-Napoca, depending on flight time, visit Cluj-Napoca city and the Christmas Fair.
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