Another year, another weekend trip. This time we decided to head to the hidden gem of Eastern Europe; Romania, for our first weekend trip of the year. The country is perhaps best known for its picturesque forested region of Transylvania. But even more so for its association with TVs favourite undead character; Count Dracula.
When planning our trip, we knew that we wanted to see the region of Transylvania (for the reasons above). But we also knew we wanted to see the capital city of Bucharest. So that’s exactly what we did. We packed in the two into our weekend in Romania.
Things to do in Bucharest, the capital city of Romania
Having reached Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport in the extremely early hours of Saturday (3 am), our first call of duty was to get some sleep/rest at the airport. We crashed on the sofa at a coffee shop just outside arrivals. We did the polite thing and ordered some food as well.
Come 7 am, we collected the car we hired for the weekend and made our way to the capital city. We parked the car in underground parking near the Intercontinental hotel at a cost of 30 LEI (£5.3/$6.9) for 5-6 hours. Listed below are the places we visited.
1. Palace of Parliament
This magnificent building is the HEAVIEST building in the world, has 8 underground floors (the last one being a nuclear bunker) and is the world’s 3rd LARGEST administrative building. The building supposedly sinks by 6mm each year due to its weight.
2. Arcul de Triumf
Perhaps this is one of the reasons this city is dubbed as “Little Paris ”. Originally built in 1878 to celebrate Romanian independence, it has seen renovations in the coming years that has resulted in the now seen design closely resembling the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
3. Carturesti Carusel
This place is what dreams are made of. Sure, it’s Instagram famous and ever so charming, but for me, being a drooler for stationery and bookshops, this was a dream come true. I could spend hours here if I had the time.
4. Revolution square
The Romanian revolution began 30 years back in 1989. The statues in the area resemble the communist era in Bucharest.
5. Curtea Veche
The oldest church in Bucharest. Near here you can find the statue of Vlad the Impaler aka. Dracula.
6. Stavropoleos Monastery Church
A quaint little eastern orthodox monastery for nuns in the old town of Bucharest. We spotted the nun ringing the church bell and it was the most perfect sound in the early morning.
7. Kretzulescu Church
Another orthodox church, this time near the revolution square.
8. Cismigiu Park
We wanted to visit the park but decided against it given we were there during winter. We figured it would be best to visit during Spring/Summer/Autumn.
Things to do in Brașov, Transylvania
After spending around 6 hours exploring the capital city and indulging in Romanian food, we got in our car and headed towards Brașov where we were spending the night. The drive was 2.5 hours but could be more depending on traffic. After checking into our hotel, we headed towards Brașov city centre for our dinner at La Ceaun (they don’t take reservations, so you may have to queue – we waited around 10 minutes before we got a table) which we highly recommend. We ended the night early in hopes of waking up early the next morning to explore Brașov and the nearby areas. Unfortunately, we ended up sleeping for 11+ hours which meant we had limited time for exploring. Here’s a list of places we visited the next day.
1. Bastionul Țesătorilor
A preserved fortress now turned into a museum. There’s an ice skating rink right in front of the place if you’re keen.
2. Catherine’s Gate
We couldn’t get enough of this fairytale-like entrance.
3. Strada Sforii
A few minutes away from Catherine’s gate, you can find the street that is believed to be one of the narrowest streets in the whole of Europe. Its width varies between 111 to 135 cm and is 80 meters long.
4. Black Church
Believed to be one of the biggest churches in the whole of Romania, built by the Germans in Gothic style, this is not to be missed.
5. Brașov Council Square
Surrounded by charming buildings all around, make sure you make a stop here to admire the surrounding beauty. We were in awe. You can even see the Hollywood-esque Brașov sign on top of the Tampa mountain from here.
6. Bran Castle
A half an hour drive from Brașov, this is perhaps the most famous castle in the whole of Romania, Bran Castle. Now here’s one thing that baffles me. Every single post/article/video I’ve read/seen says that this is mistakenly claimed to be Dracula’s castle. So who made this initial claim? Anyway, knowing all this, we still went to Bran castle and can see why it has the fame it’s attracted over the years. It is breathtaking.
As we said before, we overslept so we didn’t have much time on the Sunday for exploring. After spending most of the afternoon sight-seeing, we headed back to the airport to catch our flight at 7.50 pm. Might we add that there was terrible traffic on the way back which meant that our journey was delayed by an extra hour – keep this in mind when travelling in Romania.
We really enjoyed our weekend in Romania and hope to come back during Autumn. I can’t wait to see the Transylvanian forests in all its autumnal glory.
Happy travels,
Amana
If you enjoyed reading about our weekend in Romania, why don’t you read more about our other weekend trips! We spent 4 days chasing the Nothern Lights in Lapland, Finland – this is definitely one of our favourite weekend trips. You can read about it HERE.