Nestled at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, the medieval settlement of Brasov served as a lovely home-base for us in Romania. The city was clean, picturesque, and centrally located, making it easy for us to take a number of day trips into the Transylvania region using the country's surprisingly well developed bus and train system.
Our dollar went unbelievably far in Romania. We stayed in a very comfortable, updated guesthouse - equipped with cable TV, kitchen, and private bath - for less than 90 lei ($25 USD) a night. It ranked among the cheapest and nicest lodging that we've secured to-date. Heavy, delicious, multiple course meals, accompanied by Romanian house wines (a local beer option wasn't available), managed to cost even less than our guesthouse - inclusive of tax and tip!
We were pleasantly surprised by how adequate the tourist infrastructure was, especially considering that Romania doesn't draw a large number of visitors. All in all, things were so comfortable, so wonderful, that it was really difficult to leave!
Our favorite moments in Romania:
- Eating! Like so much of Eastern Europe, Romania's cuisine is a tasty hodge-podge mix of neighboring countries - and with prices so cheap, we were free to liberally sample from menus ("We'll have one of everything!"). Some of our favorites: beet and horseradish salad, Transylvania bread, peasant potatoes, sour soup, sheep cheeses, polenta with cream, and cooked cabbage. About the only thing we missed while we were there was ice cream, as we found Romania's Betty Ice brand to be rather unpalatable.
- Climbing the black tower located outside of the Brasov's city walls for a bird's eye view of the gorgeous Gothic Black Church.
- Making day trips through the countryside to neighboring villages in order to see the historic sites of Bran Castle (more infamously known as Dracula's Castle), Pele's Castle, and the Rasnov Citadel. We got a kick out of the white font hillside signage (very like the Hollywood sign in California) that marked each town we visited.
Next stop: Krakow, Poland
Our dollar went unbelievably far in Romania. We stayed in a very comfortable, updated guesthouse - equipped with cable TV, kitchen, and private bath - for less than 90 lei ($25 USD) a night. It ranked among the cheapest and nicest lodging that we've secured to-date. Heavy, delicious, multiple course meals, accompanied by Romanian house wines (a local beer option wasn't available), managed to cost even less than our guesthouse - inclusive of tax and tip!
We were pleasantly surprised by how adequate the tourist infrastructure was, especially considering that Romania doesn't draw a large number of visitors. All in all, things were so comfortable, so wonderful, that it was really difficult to leave!
Our favorite moments in Romania:
- Eating! Like so much of Eastern Europe, Romania's cuisine is a tasty hodge-podge mix of neighboring countries - and with prices so cheap, we were free to liberally sample from menus ("We'll have one of everything!"). Some of our favorites: beet and horseradish salad, Transylvania bread, peasant potatoes, sour soup, sheep cheeses, polenta with cream, and cooked cabbage. About the only thing we missed while we were there was ice cream, as we found Romania's Betty Ice brand to be rather unpalatable.
- Climbing the black tower located outside of the Brasov's city walls for a bird's eye view of the gorgeous Gothic Black Church.
- Making day trips through the countryside to neighboring villages in order to see the historic sites of Bran Castle (more infamously known as Dracula's Castle), Pele's Castle, and the Rasnov Citadel. We got a kick out of the white font hillside signage (very like the Hollywood sign in California) that marked each town we visited.
Next stop: Krakow, Poland
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