Transylvania Private Tour

Day 1 - Bucharest

Arrival transfer from Bucharest airport to your hotel.

Our driver will meet you at the airport and drive you to your hotel. Arrive in Bucharest, meet up with your guide, and rejuvenate after your flight at the sleek Berthelot hotel, situated right in the centre of town.

Day 2 - Bucharest - Peles Castle - Sinaia Monastery - Brasov

Bucharest Private City Tour

Our guide will meet you at your hotel reception and take you for a city tour of Bucharest, discover the highlights of Bucharest and get an insight into daily life in this outstanding city. After lunch, depart Bucharest for Transylvania. Enroute you will stop to visit Peles Castle, a magnificent 19th-century royal palace, full of marble, crystal and priceless examples of carved exotic wood. Next, take a small side trip to view the Sinaia monastery, the Romanian Orthodox church that inspired the name of this high resort town. Finish the day in the picturesque city center of Brasov on a guided walk through the Old Town. Explore the vast Black Church and the Old Town square, surrounded by beautifully-preserved medieval houses. A visit to the old city walls and fortifications completes your experience; spend the remainder the day and evening at your leisure, perhaps enjoying a drink or local meal in one of Brasov's excellent cafés or restaurants.

Day 3 - Brasov - Bran Castle - Bicaz Gorges - Gura Humorului

This morning, you’ll visit one of Romania’s most loved and renowned sites: the breathtaking Bran Castle (widely associated with the fictional Dracula, despite the warm 1920s décor instituted by Queen Marie). After your tour, check out the souvenir merchants surrounding the castle and sample some of the culinary specialties of the region: cheeses, pálinka (plum and pear brandy), and meats preserved in the traditional way. Next, on to Bucovina by way of the heart-stopping Bicaz Gorges. The view is truly unbelievable. Arrive in Gura Humorului in the late afternoon.

Day 4 - Bucovina Painted Monasteries

Painted Monasteries Day Trip

After breakfast, set out to discover Romania’s kaleidoscopic painted monasteries, each celebrated for the use of a certain predominating color. Begin at the monasteries of Humor, celebrated for its vibrant reds; and Voronet, where you’ll learn about Saint Daniil the Hermit.
At midday, you’re cordially invited for a delectable home-hosted lunch at the private house of an internationally-recognized egg-painting artist. Egg painting, exacting and complex, remains one of the most important traditional art forms in Bucovina. You’ll discover how to identify both secular influences and religious symbolism within the intricate designs.
Later in the day, you’ll tour the remaining two monasteries: Moldovita, dominated by the use of yellow, and Sucevita, featuring extensive medieval fortifications.
Return to Gura Humorului in the afternoon.

Day 5 - Gura Humorului - Popa Ethnographical Museum - Gypsy Home Visit - Sighisoara

Ethnographic & cultural day trip

Before leaving Bucovina, diverge from the beaten path to discover the extraordinary Nicolae Popa Ethnographic Museum, located in the home of the renowned Naïve sculptor. The incredible collections document Romanian peasant tradition, and represent a cultural labor of love carried out by the artist.
Next, we head south… On the way, stop for a fascinating cultural adventure in a Roma (Gypsy) village. Learn more about these enigmatic, sometimes misconstrued nomads as you are welcomed at the home of the Gabor family. It is truly uncommon for Gypsies to open their lives to outsiders, but you will be given the exclusive opportunity to discover the details of their cultural history, day-to-day lives, customs, and traditional costume—which you’ll be invited to try on. As the afternoon progresses, you may find yourself deep in conversation over coffee and cake as you receive explanations to all of your queries about Gypsy life.
Following this rare and wonderful experience, proceed to medieval Sighisoara, where you’ll be taken on a short walk to get orientated, before dinner.

Day 6 - Sighisoara - Biertan Church - Sibiu

UNESCO sightseeing day trip

Start the day with a guided walk through the centre of the UNESCO World Heritage Old Town in Sighisoara. You’ll find yourself in the middle of a perfectly-preserved medieval citadel, surrounded by fortifications and filled with the secrets of the past. Visit the History Museum inside the Clock Tower, and climb the unusual, centuries-old covered staircase to the Church on the Hill, a lovely surviving example of the Gothic architecture of the Middle Ages. Sighisoara is also known as the 1431 birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, merciless warlord and fierce defender of Transylvania against the Ottoman Turks.
Next, a fascinating tour of the Biertan Church, a significant UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Saxon townspeople did not skip steps when it came to the protection of their villages, and through a complex system of fortifications, thick doors, and multiple locks, they were able to successfully secure both themselves and their valuables. Today, you’ll witness Biertan, a gorgeous example of the “peasant fortified church” and the very last.
Afterwards, on to exquisite Sibiu, arriving in the late afternoon. After you check into your hotel, meet your guide for a relaxed walking tour of the medieval old town, the most heavily fortified of all Saxon cities. As a critical trading post, Sibiu experienced frequent assaults, and the townspeople responded ingeniously.

Day 7 - Sibiu - Transfagarasan Road - Poienari Fortress - Curtea de Arges Monastery - Bucharest

Sightseeing back to Bucharest

Today, you’ll head back to Bucharest, travelling along the breathtaking Transfagarasan road. The road crosses the Carpathian Mountains at an altitude of over 2000 m (6000 ft) and you will make two fascinating stops along the way.
First, climb more than a thousand steps to the ruins of Poenari Castle, the evocative cliff-side home of Vlad the Impaler. The cruel prince of Wallachia chose the location for its inaccessibility, used forced hard labor to fortify it and ended up with an eagle’s eye view of any oncoming attacker.
Next, take a small excursion to the monastery at Curtea de Arges, a living architectural phenomenon and the dreamlike inspiration for local archetypes, myths and legends.
Continue to Bucharest, arriving in the afternoon.
*please note that you will travel on the Transfagarasan road between June and September. Outside this period, the road is closed due to snow for the rest of the year, and you will use the road going along the Olt river valley

Day 8 - End of the tour

Private transfer from your hotel to the airport

Our driver will pick you up from your hotel reception and drive you to the airport.