OLD TRANSYLVANIA

Today it is all about the “little Paris”, as Bucharest was known between the 2 world wars. We begin our visit with the Parliament Palace, the second largest building in the world. We continue with the Church of the Patriarchate, that is the Orthodox spiritual leader, lives and works. Lunch and afterwards visit to the Village museum, an open air museum, where we will admire the traditional Romanian architecture of the houses. We continue with the visit by foot of the Revolution Square, then, we switch the attention towards an icon of Bucharest, the Athenaeum, a place for chamber music concerts, Transfer to the hotel. Dinner.

Today we will go to visit the Peles Castle located in Sinaia, “the pearl of the Carpathians”. Since 1873 it has been a royal destination. Free time for lunch in Sinaia and transfer to Azuga for champagne tasting. Later we will go search for the dark prince, Dracula, at Bran Castle, located up on a hill, overlooking the Bran Gorge. On our way to Predeal we will see up on a hill, another point of defense, the Rasnov citadel, part of the Transylvanian defense system against enemies. Dinner at the hotel.

We are going to understand better the history of Transylvania visiting 2 fortified churches of

Prejmer and Harman, in the afternoon the city center of Brasov where we are going to visit the old city center, the Black Church, the Rope Street, one of the narrowest streets in Europe, the city gates. Free time for shopping. Festive dinner with folkloric program. Overnight in Predeal.

We leave towards Sighisoara. A XIIth century citadel, Sighisoara was too part of the defense system of Transylvania and also an important commercial city, cobbled streets, burgher houses and ornate churches rivals the historic streets of Old Prague or Vienna for atmospheric magic, Other attractions include: the Church on the Hill, the Church of the Dominican Monastery, After lunch we head towards Biertan*, home to one of the largest and most impressive medieval strongholds in Transylvania ,the 15th century fortified church at Biertan is perched high on a hill in the middle of the village. After Biertan we go to Medias. Dinner and vernight.

*closed on Mondays

After a quick panoramic visit of Medias, we head to Sibiu- a medieval city that was the largest and wealthiest of the seven walled citadels built in the 12th century by German settlers known as Transylvanian Saxons. Sibiu’s Old Town retains the grandeur of its earlier days when rich and powerful guilds dominated regional trade. Like Sighisoara and Brasov, it has a distinctly Germanic feeling. Sections of the medieval wall still guard the historic area, where narrow streets pass steep-roofed 17th century buildings with gable overhangs before opening into vast, church-dominated squares such as Great Square and Little Square. Here stand witnesses to the passing of the time buildings such as: Bruckental museum, the City Council, the Evangelical Cathedral, the Orthodox Cathedral, the Liars’ Bridge. Lunch in Sibiel, a small village close to Sibiu. After lunch, visit to the Museum of painted glass icons, admiring the naïve painting of the icons by the local people.  Back to Medias, free time and dinner in the hotel.

After breakfast. Departure for Bucharest with a stop and visit the Cozia monastery, Arrival in Bucharest at lunch time where we will taste Romanian typical food in a famous restaurant called The Beer Chariot. Located in the Old Princely Court, in the city center, after lunch we will spend the afternoon walking in the Old City, admiring the eclectic style and the ruins of the Old Princely Court, Free time and dinner in the hotel.

Breakfast. Free time for shopping. Transfer for the airport (depending on the flight schedule).