Romania and .......

Old Mar 9th, 2007, 04:11 PM
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Romania and .......


I plan to participate in a volunteer opportunity in Romania this September. Looks like I fly in and out of Bucharest.
I would like to travel for a week or so after our work is finished. I will most probably travel by myself. I have been to Europe twice before, once to Paris and London and once to Italy. If course I am on a limited budget ( a teacher) If you can offer suggestions on where I might visit I would appreciate your input

thanks
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Old Mar 9th, 2007, 04:35 PM
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you cannot go too far
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Old Mar 9th, 2007, 10:40 PM
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You might want to see more of Romania besides the capital. Bucovina for its painted monasteries, Maramures for its wooden churches and wood carvings, Brasov and Sighosoara and the surrounding area for its fortified Germanic churches, Sibiu, etc. You will have to edit this list since you have only a week. My trip report might give you some ideas:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...2&tid=34659808
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Old Mar 10th, 2007, 01:48 AM
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Romania's on the edge of mainstream Europe, with surprisingly poor connections to other countries. A glance at whichbudget.com will show you how few low cost flights there are out of the country. Its domestic train system is OK cheap, if shabby and slow, but trains to neighbouring countries are a great deal slower and can be surprisingly pricey. Cars are costly to hire, petrol's not particularly cheap and border crossing with a Romanian-registered car can be a nightmare (though in fairness, my experience of this predates Romania's EU membership. But remember, EU membership means goods flow freely: it does nothing for making humans cross borders more easily, and potentially makes borders with non-EU countries even more fraught). And although there's a thriving Bucharest bucket shop business in cheap buses and mainstream flights to Europe and the Middle East, it's astonishing how little commerce there is in many towns outside Bucharest. So tracking down easy access to other countries won't be that easy if your volunteering is somewhere like Barlad or Roman.

So, unless you can organise your flight into or out of Romania to stop off somewhere, stay in Romania for your free time. Michael's given you a list of wonderful places to go, and I'd strongly recommend seeing them before it's too late.

All of which said, do remember that Romania has a lot of the EU's more exotic borders - such as those with Serbia, the Ukraine and Moldova. If a glimpse of an utterly different world is to your taste, you might find it worthwhile organising a trip to, say, Chisinau. Where the wine BTW, is excellent - something that can't always be said for Romania.
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Old Mar 10th, 2007, 03:39 AM
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A agree with quite a number of the statements above. Especially DO see more of Romania than Bucharest. Much more. You can more easily revisit a number of countries to it's east at a later time, but Romania isn't as easy to pop back in - especially it's northern areas, which are chock full of history, old castles, mountains and rural life much like 50 or 100 yrs ago. It's a good place to be on a limited budget.

But I do think a pop into the list Flanner provided would be very interesting as well. Those are other places you don't just fly into from outside of Europe. Romania and any one of these places will possibly be THE place you remember most clearly later on, maybe even moreso than a tourist packed Tuscany, etc.

Flanner - I will say it turns out that Romania's Reislings, or at least some of the dry varieties, are coming along very well these days.


Flanner,
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Old Mar 10th, 2007, 04:22 AM
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I think Transylvania is the best bit of the country (air clean small villages) but I suggest you research hotels or you will end up paying international prices for Old state rubbish. Look for new pensiones and western european funded hotels

The wine is and has been very good for some time. Just the bottling and the marketing is pretty bad. So Pinot Noir (sold as a variatel) is good. Tamioussa (look I'm sorry I think of it as Tammy Wassa) is the local good stuff and comes in a wide range of versions (it is a region not a varietal) but good value and worth a shot. Bucharest has a village made up of all the local old houses brought together and the locals of those regions sell the local crafts there. I've seen others in Europe and this is one of the best.

Michael's trip report looks good
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Old Mar 10th, 2007, 08:15 AM
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Old Mar 10th, 2007, 08:27 AM
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Micahel is right; visit Maramures, or Bucovina or Transilvania as per his advice.
Or, you can go to Sinaia, Brasov or Poiana Brasov in Bucegi Mountains for three days, visit all of them and walk in the mountains.
There are good hotels there and not expensive.

Do not hire a car. You can go by train (first class only) , or find a driver with car.
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Old Mar 11th, 2007, 01:24 PM
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Hello Thanks for the info.
I hope to use the weekend before, and the weekend after my volunteer week touring Romania. Looks interesting - and a chance of a life time. It looks like I can get an affordable flight out to Brussells.... so perhaps I will travel around Belgium/Amsterdam- possibly Germany for 6 or 7 days.
Thanks for your info. on whcichbudget.com that is where I found the airfare to Brussells....
Can't wait to try the wine!
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Old Mar 18th, 2007, 07:16 PM
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You won't be able to get too far afield in a weekend - where is your volunteer work? Bucovina and Maramures are fascinating regions in the northern parts of the country and it takes a while to travel up there and back, not to mention seeing anything.

We did not get to Bucovina but did get a taste of Maramures and I will definitely return for more days there, including a Sunday so that we can attend services in one of the wooden churches.

We saw the major towns of Transylvania: Sibiu, Sighisoara, and Brasov, all of which have wonderful medieval architecture. We spent an entire day just meandering around to the villages with Saxon fortified churches - truly amazing
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