Day 1: Bucharest / Brasov

Arrive to Bucharest Coanda International Airport. Meet your guide. Departure to Brasov, Transylvania passing thru the marvelous Sinaia mountain resort. Developed by the Transylvanian Saxons as of the 12 C, Brasov grew to be one of the main centers of manufacture and trade of the Middle Ages.  Its existence has been documentary proven from 1235, on an ancient Dacian establishment and mentioned in the Order of the Teutonic Knights documents as early as 1211. Brasov consists of two main areas: the largely Austrian Baroque area coiled beneath Mount Tampa and Mount Postavaru, and the surrounding sprawl of apartments and factories. The main attraction is the old town - the Schei Romanian district - still having oodles of charm, where you will surely find lots of old sights to see.

The panoramic tour of Brasov includes: the medieval part of town with: The Black Church, The Council Square and Council Hall, The Black Tower, The White Tower, Catherine's Gate, Schei Gate and the Rope Street - the narrowest street in South - Central Europe.

Day 2: Brasov / Sighisoara / Baia Mare

Hot buffet breakfast at hotel. Today we will cross Transylvania from South to North, and on the way we will stop and visit Sighisoara, known as Europe's best-preserved medieval town.

Sighisoara, which Vlad Tepes - Dracula called home, is one of the most beautiful towns in the heart of Transylvania. Since 1999 the entire medieval citadel/Upper Town is a part of UNESCO's World Heritage. German architectural influences are visible all over. Sighisoara was for several centuries a military and political stronghold. One of its most famous attractions is the Clock Tower (Council Tower), built in the 14th Century. This was the control tower of the main gate of the 2,500 foot long defensive wall. The tower has seven foot thick walls and was used to store ammunition, food reserves, archives and the city's treasures. The clock was placed in the tower in the 17th Century. Your walking tour of the Upper Town/ Citadel includes: the Tailor's Tower, The Tower with Clock, the Medieval Weapon Museum and the Torture Chamber as well as the Venetian House (built in the 13th Century), Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) House, Antler House, Wooden Covered Staircase of the Scholars, a view Hill Church and the Hermann Oberth Square.

Optional: lunch in the house where Dracula was born, today a famous restaurant OR enjoy a plum brandy tasting session with light lunch in one of Sighisoara distilleries.

Continue your journey to the city of Baia Mare, the gate to Maramures. Pass thru Targu Mures and admire the Art Nouveau Palace of Culture in the center. Evening arrival to Baia Mare.  Accommodation in Baia Mare at Mara Hotel*** (centrally located). Dinner on own.

Day 3: Baia Mare / Sighetu Marmatiei / Iza Valley Churches / Bucovina

Hot buffet breakfast at hotel. This entire day is dedicated to the splendid region of Maramures, known for its unspoiled culture, traditions, fashion and lifestyle. Some say it is like a trip back in time.

On the way from Baia Mare to Maramures pass thru picturesque villages along Mara Valley with the beautifully carved gates. Stop in the village of Giulesti and learn about the dowry tradition. Later reach the famous Merry Cemetery in Sapanta, unique in the world, amazing due to its originality. Here, each wooden cross, sculptured and painted by craftsman Stan Patras, turned it into an authentic museum. The colors of the crosses and the humorous texts on them capture for eternity the essential episodes of life and show the strength of the Romanian spirit, which do not fear of death.

Next, visit the wooden churches of Maramures. Following the Iza River, we will admire impressive landscapes and we will visit some of the oldest churches made of wood - great examples of local engineering and artistry, special places within UNESCO's patrimony, as well as a row of Maramures gates, authentic rustic triumphal arches. A visit to the workshop of a local carver is included.

Later in the afternoon cross the mountains into Bucovina. Accommodation in Campulung at Eden Hotel*** (rooms with Jacuzzi baths)

Day 4: Campulung / Moldovita / Sucevita /Humor /Voronet

After breakfast drive to a nearby village for an interactive demonstration of egg painting - a local tradition. Later drive to the monastery of Moldovita - built in 1532 in the Moldovita Hearth village, it appears as one of the most beautiful and most valuable church historical monuments. It is here that "The Golden Apple" 1975 prize for all the Bucovina monasteries is kept.

The "Painted" Monasteries is the major Moldavian destination, because of the vivid and animated frescoes on their church walls. These depict Biblical and other scenes, designed in sequences almost like strip cartoons to educate the local people in the Orthodox religion. In acknowledgement of their singleness, the monasteries in Bucovina are now UNESCO protected cultural sites. The art historians compare their artistic value with the mural paintings of San Marco church of Venice or the church of Orvietto. The secret of the Moldavian painters who prepared the colors and the techniques that made the paintings incredibly resistant is still a mystery.

Continue to Sucevita - the largest of all, looking more like a mighty fortress than a monastery. One fresco here shows a rare scene; the Ladder of Justice.  Stop in the nearby village of Marginea for a visit to the traditional black pottery workshop.

Next is Humor Monastery: founded in 1530, is quite small. Its paintings include illustrations for a poem on the "Siege of Constantinople", which shows the feelings of the Romanians towards the invading Turks. On other walls are the "Return of the Prodigal Son" and the Devil amusingly depicted as a greedy woman.

The last and nevertheless the best is Voronet also the most beautiful, founded in 1488 by the ruler Stephen the Great. It is also named the "Eastern Sistine Chapel" and the dominant color is the famous "blue of Voronet". On its Western façade it features one of the most complete and dramatic "Last Judgment" scenes. Receive complete explanation of this outstanding fresco. Accommodation in a typical Moldavian guest house in the village of Voronet.

Day 5: Voronet - Agapia - Varatec - Bicaz Gorges - The Red Lake

Breakfast buffet at the hotel. We will drive to the South. Today you will tour some of the Moldavian Highlights such as the 15 century Neamt Fortification. Next is Neamt Monastery - Romania's largest and one of the most valuable in terms of architecture, the most important centre of culture and art of the Medieval Moldavia. The church of the monastery is the most impressive construction of Stephen the Great (1497). We find here one of the oldest libraries in the country (more then 600 years old) as well as a museum illustrating the vivid cultural life that lasted here for centuries.

Continue to Agapia Monastery, a picturesque nun's monastery. Then, we will visit the monastery, and its famous tapestry manufacture. Agapia Monastery - built in 1497, the Agapia's museum includes precious testimonies of the Romanian medieval civilization: embroideries, fitted with gilded silver old books, crosses sculptured of cedar and ebony, gold and silver embroidered garments, other gems and worship objects.

A few miles down the road lies Varatec Monastery. Built between the 1781 and 1785, and it is actually a nunnery monastery dedicated to the Holy Virgin. This monastic complex accommodates an important art collection.

Passing thru Piatra Neamt we continue via the dramatic Bicaz Gorges on the river Bicaz, making the connection between Transylvania and Moldavia. Stop for pictures and souvenirs. The gorges attract by its beauty many tourists every year. They are crossed by a narrow winding road.

Accommodation in a three starhotel in The Red Lake village, small resort in the heart of the mountains.

Day 6: The Red Lake / Lacu Rosu / Harman / Prejmer / Bran

Breakfast buffet at the hotel. Drive south to the fortified Church in Prejmer - the largest fortified church in the Southeastern Europe built in the 14th century. The fortress with double walls and dungeons makes me think to the ancient tales. Inside its walls there is a church, but the interesting thing here is the honeycomb like inner wall. Every family had one small room for sheltering in case the village was attacked. In peaceful times they used it as a storage room for food. Nowadays only one family lives here and takes care of the citadel. Few years ago a complete restoration of Prejmer was done with the help of the village community. Optional: The Fortified Church in Harman - in Romanesque style, with Gothic elements, valuable frescoes. The fortress is located in the middle of Harman village. Its history dates back from 13th century when the Saxons built the original church. This is the only Transylvanian village fortification with dwellings attached to the body of the church.

Afternoon arrival to the picturesque village of Bran.. Accommodation at Villa Bran*** offering great panoramic view of the Carpathian Mountains.

Located right next to the famous Bran Castle - Dracula's Castle, Bran will delight you with its specific beauty. The breathtaking landscape invites anyone to walks. Pine forests on the Carpathian Mountains that surrounds the village, creates a large ozone concentration in the air. Sub alpine climate with cool summers, the average temperature is 16 C. In any direction you may want to roam from Bran, there is no chance to get bored. The area of Bran is famous for its home made smoked cheese, and the cheese in tree bark. Every meal here tastes better, because everything is home made and pure biological food.

Day 7: Bran / Sinaia / Bucharest

Situated at 30 Km from Brasov, between the Bucegi and Piatra Craiului Mountains, Bran Castle is an important national monument and landmark of the Romanian tourism, due not only to the beauty of the Dracula's Castle and the landscape. The first documentary attestation of the Bran Castle is the act issued on November 19, 1377, by Louis I d'Anjou giving the inhabitants of Brasov the privilege to build the Citadel "on their own work and expense"... In exchange for this, the king confirmed the subordination of 13 localities to Brasov town and conferred the leadership of Bran Fortress to a lord of a castle who had also jurisdictional attributions. The permanent garrison was numerically restrained to 12-24 soldiers: archers and ballisters. Between the years 1419-1424 the Fortress returned in Sigismund's possession.

On December lst, 1920, the Brasov Town council donated the Bran Castle to Queen Marie of Great Romania, as a symbol of gratitude for her contribution to the achievement of the "Great Union" of 1 December 1918.

Between 1920-1927, the Bran Castle was restored under the guidance of the Royal Court architect, Carol Liman. He transformed it into a beautiful summer residence, surrounded with a park, fountains, a lake, walking alleys and halt terraces and built the "Tea House" of Queen Maria. In 1938 Queen Maria left with will the Bran Castle to her daughter, Princess Ileana.

Continue south to Sinaia, very popular resort at the turn of the 20th century. Panoramic tour includes the famous casino built by Petre Antonescu and the Central Park. Later arrive to Peles Castle, considered by many one of the most beautiful royal summer residencies in all Europe, Peles Castle is a masterpiece of German new-Renaissance architecture. Commissioned by King Carol I in 1873 and completed in 1883, Peles' interiors are an opulent display of elegant design and historical artifact. Its 160 rooms are adorned with the finest examples of European art, Murano crystal chandeliers, German stained-glass windows, walls covered with Cordoba leather, Meissen and Sevres porcelains, ebony and ivory sculptures. Arrival in the afternoon in Bucharest, the Romanian Capital city.

Day 8: Bucharest / departure

Hot buffet breakfast at hotel. Drive to Bucharest for a city tour including stops at: the Arch of Triumph, the former Royal Palace (nowadays the Art Museum), the Athenaeum, ride along Victoria Avenue, the revolution Square, the National Theatre, the Opera House, Manuc's Inn, the medieval core of the town, the Patriarchy, the Antim Monastery, the Italian church, St. Joseph Cathedral. Visit the Palace of Parliament, the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon in US). Later, transfer to the Bucharest International Airport for departure OR take our BULGARIA EXTENSION OR THE BLACK SEA & DANUBE DELTA EXTENSION.