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John Osaki's Blog
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THIS TRIP IS NOT CURRENTLY SCHEDULED. Over the years, Walking Softly Adventures has developed and operated trips to a variety of destinations including this one, but not all trips are offered every year. Though this trip is not currently being offered as a scheduled departure, we can organize and operate this trip as a private departure. |
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Start organizing your private Romania adventure here. |
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Journey through three distinctive
regions of Romania to gain an appreciation for its diversity of culture
and landscape! Explore the museums and historic sites of Bucharest, the
vibrant capital of Romania. In Wallachia and Transylvania savor the
Saxon towns, fortified churches, castles, and monasteries that evoke the
region's German and Hungarian heritage. In the rolling hills and forests
of the Maramureş region in the north discover a treasury of stunning
wooden churches and music and crafts that exemplify traditional Romanian
culture. In the northeastern region of Moldavia thrill to the renowned
and dramatic painted monasteries of Bucovina. On the way back to
Bucharest, travel the spectacular highway across the Făgăraş Mountains,
the highest and most dramatic portion of Romania's Transylvanian Alps!  |
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University Library, central
Bucharest. |
Day 1 Arrive in Bucharest and settle into your hotel, your base for three nights. To work off the jet-lag, take a stroll on your own through the lovely (and lively) Cişmigiu Gardens. |
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The Cretulescu Church. |
Day 2 Begin your discovery of Romania’s capital city with a walking tour of central Bucharest around the Piata Revolutiei including a visit to the Cretulescu Church. Have lunch in central Bucharest near the neo-classical Romanian Atheneum. In the afternoon visit the Palatul Parlamentului (known in English as the Palace of the Parliament) housing the Romanian Museum of Contemporary Art. Later tour the Cotroceni Palace (the 19th century palace constructed for Romania's Queen Marie). The south wing of the Cotroceni Palace is the current residence of the Romanian president. |
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Museum of the Romanian Peasant. |
Day 3 Visit Bucharest’s National Art Museum (Muzeul National de Arta) housed in the former Royal Palace containing works by Romanian painters and sculptors including Theodor Aman, Constantin Brancusi, Gheorghe Patrascu, and Gheorghe Tattarescu. Enjoy lunch at a nearby restaurant. Later, visit the Museum of the Romanian Peasant (Muzeul Taranului Roman) said by some to be the finest museum in the country. The museum features a collection of peasant artifacts (textiles, painted icons on wood and glass, carvings, ceramics and more). |
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Pelişor Castle The
church at Sinaia monastery. |
Day 4 Depart Bucharest this morning bound for the mountain resort town of Sinaia, the “Pearl of the Carpathians.” On the way out of town, stop by Bucharest's Arc de Triomf (built in 1935 and modeled on Paris's Arc de Triomphe). Once in Sinaia, pay a visit the Sinaia Monastery named by Michael Cantacuzino who founded a monastery here in 1695 after a visit to Mount Sinai; the town of Sinaia grew up around the monastery. Visit the opulent, neo-Renaissance Peleş Castle commissioned by Romania's King Carol I in 1873 as well as the more intimate Pelişor Castle built by Carol for his eventual successor Ferdinand and Ferdinand's wife Marie. |
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Watching the world go by in Brasov. |
Day 5 Travel to Bran Castle. During your tour of the castle recall the passion with which Queen Marie renovated what she once called a "pugnacious little fortress." Continue to Braşov (which some have called the Romanian Salzburg) and enjoy lunch and a walking tour of the town’s main square including the Biserica Neagră ("Black Church") so named for its walls that were once blackened by a 17th century fire. Drive to Prejmer to visit its 13th-century fortified Saxon church ringed by a forty foot high wall. Overnight in the once fortified town of Brasov with its lovely central square. |
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Brâncoveanu Monastery
The Clock Tower at Sighisoara. |
Day 6 Travel to the Brâncoveanu Monastery at Sâmbăta de Sus in the foothills of the Făgăraş Mountains. Don't miss the beautiful painted chapel on the second floor! After a picnic lunch, travel to the 13th-century Viscri fortified Saxon church which was encircled by walls in the early 16th century. The church, whose German name is Weisskirch ("White Church"), stands atop a hill and commands wonderful views over the surrounding area. Later, continue to Sighisoara, a town whose central, fortified old quarter has been designated a World Heritage Site. Set off on a walking tour of the citadel before dinner. Lodge for the evening at a hotel located within the citadel walls. |
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The fortified Saxon church at Biertan
Biertan. |
Day 7 This morning visit the Sighisoara clock tower and its museum before traveling to the village of Biertan for a visit to to what may be the finest of the fortified Saxon churches. Continue to Bistriţa stopping en route to enjoy some wine tasting and lunch at one of the countries best wineries. Upon arrival in Bistriţa, a medieval Saxon town which was once heavily fortified, enjoy a walking tour of the Piata Centrala with its gothic-style Evangelical Church and the arcaded 15th-century Şugălete buildings. Dracula fans may recall that Bram Stoker's character, Jonathan Harker, stays in Bistriţa town at the fictional Golden Crown Hotel. |
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A poarta in Maramures. |
Day 8 Drive north from Bistriţa to begin an exploration of the the Maramureş region which has been described as an area locked in medieval isolation. Here, folk costumes are regularly worn. The Maramureş is known in particular for its wood carving tradition; watch for the carved wooden gates (poarta) in the villages throughout the region. Visit one of the region's wooden churches notable for their strikingly tall steeples. Several of the wooden churches of Maramureş have been inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Overnight in one of the picturesque villages of Maramures. |
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Barsana Monastery. |
Day 9 This morning visit a few more outstanding examples of the wooden churches of Maramureş. Calineşti village boasts two wooden churches; the Caieni church is said by some to be the loveliest in Maramureş. Travel eastward through the Iza Valley and enjoy a picnic lunch and a stop in the village of Ieud with its lattice-work fences and church containing some of the best known Maramureş paintings. Other possible stops include the village of Bogdan Voda (for carpets), and Sacel (for unglazed red ceramics). Continue up the Viseu Valley and over the Prislop Pass into the Bucovina region of Romanian Moldavia. Spend the evening in the town of Gura Humorului. |
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Sucevita Monastery. |
Day 10 From your base at Gura Humorului, begin a tour of the painted monasteries of Bucovina. Several of these monasteries are World Heritage Sites. Visit the Suceviţa, Humor, Voroneţ and Moldoviţa monasteries whose exterior walls are covered with colorful frescoes dating from the 15th century that depict scenes from the Bible. Be sure to check out the handicrafts on sale at the kiosks you’ll find set up at the entrances to the monasteries. Return to Gura Humorului for the evening. |
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Day 11 Depart Gura Humorului heading south into Moldavia’s Neamt County. Visit the Neamt Monastery (15th century), the oldest and largest in Romania as well as the Agapia (17th century) and Varatec Monasteries (18th century). The latter two monasteries are convents and Varatec Monastery boasts an embroidery school that was established by Queen Marie in 1934. There is also the option of walking through the woods from Agapia to Varatec passing through the lovely village of Filioara. (This hike is about 4.3 miles in length and takes about two hours.) Spend the evening in the small village of Ceahlău at the foot of the Ceahlău mountain (said to be the abode of the Dacian deity, Zalmoxis) where wolves still roam. |
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Sibiu's central square.
The Powder Tower, Sibiu. |
Day 12 Depart the village of Cealhau, cross the Carpathian mountain range via the spectacular, narrow limestone gorges of Bicaz, and re-enter Transylvania. Continue to the city of Târgu Mureş, a center for Hungarian culture in Transylvania. The city’s central Piaţa Trandafirilor ("Rose Plaza") makes a great spot for a lunch break and some leg stretching! Noteworthy sights on the piaţa include the secessionist-style Palace of Culture and the Prefecture with its spires and green-tiled roof. After lunch continue to the Transylvanian town of Sibiu (founded in the 12th century) which has been named as a European Capital of Culture for 2007. Upon arrival, join a short walking tour of the old town including the Evangelical Church, Liar’s Bridge, and remnants of old fortifications. Overnight in Sibiu. |
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Day 13 Spend the morning walking through the grounds of the Ethnographic Open Air Museum, part of Sibiu's excellent Museum of Traditional Folk Civilization. The open air museum extends over two-hundred acres and boasts ten kilometers of footpaths that lead you to three hundred buildings brought here from different parts of Romania. |
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Lac Balea in the Fagaras. |
Day 14 Drive over the twisting and spectacular Trans-Făgăraş Highway back to Bucharest. En route, enjoy lunch at a mountain chalet on the shores of Lac Bâlea. Descend the highway into Wallachia and stop at the Curtea de Arges Monastery where Queen Marie (along with King Ferdinand and Carol I and Elisabeth) are buried. Continue to Bucharest where you'll spend the evening. |
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All photos on this page by John Osaki unless otherwise credited |
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© Walking
Softly Adventures, Inc., PO Box 86250, Portland, OR 97286 |
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Castle Bran.
