Help with possible Romania trip
 

We are considering a trip to Romania for next May and I'm so confused. I've been wanting to go to Romania for quite awhile but I've never really researched and now that I have I'm looking for some advice. We will only have a week, and will be flying FF miles, hopefully into Bucharest unless someone tells me there are better options. Anyways, here goes:

1) We are interested in the areas of Transylvania (castles, Sibiu, Sighisoara, etc.), Maramures and Bucovina. I would love to see the painted monestaries. I know we cannot visit each of these areas in a single trip. Would someone that's been to each area tell me which they would prefer, and why?

2) If we did want to do Bucovina or Maramures, how would we get there? Drive times seem long (using viamichelin.com). Are there smaller airports we could fly into from Bucharest? Trains? Would Budapest be closer?

3) How is Romania in May? I don't mind a bit of rain and chilly weather, but I don't want it to be pouring down rain the entire time we are there. I know it's impossible to predict the weather, but I'm hoping someone who has been in May can chime in.

Thank you!
Tracy

1) Considering your two options I'd say visit Maramures and Bucovina (you can do them both in a week), these regions are 'more' unique than southern Transylvania (that's the part with old cities, castles etc.).

2) There are airports in Baia Mare (Maramures) and Suceava (Bucovina). Baia Mare has flights from Bucharest, while Suceava has flights from Bucharest, Timisoara (a large city in western Romania), Rome and Venice.

There are trains to these regions from various parts of Romania (from Bucharest there are 3-4 trains daily to Maramures and 7-8 trains to Bucovina); travel times are relatively long.

Budapest is slightly closer to Maramures than Bucharest, but further away to Bucovina.

You could also fly into Cluj Napoca (largest city in Transylvania), it gets flights from several European cities and it's close to Maramures.

3) The weather in May is usually reasonably warm (above 20°C/70°F), but it can get rainy for short periods of time. Anyway, it's unlikely it will rain the whole time you're there.

Thank you for your help! I think I am leaning towards Maramures/Bucovina and combining the two. Transylvania too looks wonderful, but I'm looking for a more unique/less tourisy experience. I appreciate your help with the smaller airports. I'm going to do some research to see which cities fly into those airports, as this will allow more flexibility should awards flights to Bucharest be unavailable when we book.

Tracy

You can certainly do Bucovina and Mamamures in a week (great choice). However, public transport in those areas isn't great - you need a car, or a car and driver. I certainly can't recommend the guide I used, but I'm sure there are others that are better.

Thank you thursdaysd! We were planning our driving ourselves. Hopefully this is an okay idea! We like to have the flexibility. I read on Clifton's report about the tretcherous roads, so we'll have to be prepared! But do you think a private guide is the way to go? If so, I would prefer one for just certain tours or days.

Tracy

I'm not the best person to ask about guides as I had a bad experience! If you're driving yourself and have a good guidebook or two, I think you'll be fine on your own. I loved Romania despite the guide, so I'm sure you'll have a good trip, but do be careful with the driving.

For my TR see http://wilhelmswords.com/eur2006/index.html - Roaming Romania. You might find this useful about driving: http://tinyurl.com/328jcvt

thursdaysd, I read your report yesterday. I found the link on another Romania post you had replied to. Very helpful! I am so sorry about the guide from hell! But I'm glad to know that it didn't ruin your experience.

Tracy

Glad it was helpful! You're not going 'til next year? Plenty of time for anticipation, lol, and the roads may have improved some more by then.

Pathetic, I know! I am going through travel withdrawals (I have 6 month old twin daughters) and haven't been on vacation since our trip to Turkey last February. I am a perpetual planner, and it gives me something to do when the girls are sleeping!

You've been to some amazing places, btw. I loved looking at all of your pictures! I am so envious. I love how you travel off the beaten path.

Wow - congratulations on the twins! Are you taking them to Romania? Or leaving them with doting grandparents? Glad you liked the pix - I still have lots I haven't processed yet...

Thank you! We are leaving them at home with grandparents. We don't live as close to my parents as I would like, and they are looking forward to having the girls to themselves for a week!

Tracy, for what it's worth, I honestly don't think Transylvania is as touristy as one might think. Well, Bran Castle and Rasnov are, but I was surprised that Sighisoara in October really wasn't nearly as touristy as say, your average Andalusia white town. And this was on Halloween (unintentional on our part but very quiet that night anyway)

Anyway, I think the Marmures and Bucovina plan is a good one and the idea of flying into Cluj is pretty brilliant (which is why I mention Sighisoara, since it's pretty close and IMO, kinda cool). But more so, most of Transylvania is chock a block with walled churches and small villages that probably never see a tourist. Judging by the astounded looks we'd get from the grannies anyway. But not sure about car rentals around Cluj and I know everyone says that public transport around there isn't great at getting you into the far corners of RO.

PS - 6 months??? Already?? Wow. Just wow.

Clifton,

Thank you! I'm so glad you found my post and responded. I've been diligently reading my Romania travel guide and doing research. My concern is that, given our lack of time in Romania and the transportation options, it may make more sense to just stay in Transylvania. I really want to at least see the painted monasteries, but distances seem to be far between and trains not so great. We definitely want to see at least some of Transylvania, but driving between Transylvania and Suceava would be a long drive. I am considering maybe seeing Sighisoara and Sibiu, and then driving to Suceava to see the painted monastaries for a few days and then flying back to Bucharest before flying home. However, that seems kind of hectic for a shorter trip. In your opinion do you think we could have a good time if we only get a chance to see Transylvania?

Actually they will be 7 months on Monday! I can't believe it either. It makes me a little sad and sappy, as they are growing up so fast, but they are getting more fun each day. I hope your daughter is doing well and that your family is enjoying Australia!

Tracy

We found it cheaper to go from Budapest. You might want to take a look at my trip report.

Michael, I read your trip report when you first posted it but I'll look for it again. I could use all the help I can get!

In the meantime, did you drive from Budapest to Romania? I am considering Budapest but it still seems a long way from Maramures and Bucavino and flights back to Budapest are surprisingly expensive and seem to require a layover in Bucharest which is annoying because it should be a short flight. I'm just torn on the logistics of all of this, which is why I guess I am considering just a simple Transylvania trip...it seems so much easier!

Tracy

I think either trip would be good, but you're right. For such a short trip, it probably would be a long day spent just getting from the central part of Transylvania to Bucovina. Well, not probably - it was for us. We started in Sighisoara early one day, went through the very Hungarian towns just east of there, up along Lake Bicaz and the Gorge (beautiful scenery) then rolled into Guru Humorlei (sp? from memory) a little after dark. A long day and driving later than is a good idea on those roads. People seemed to think you'd see them coming in from work... or that it was their roads after all... but they're all dressed in black! Plus the livestock and such just makes it a bad idea to still be on the road after dark. Of course, it's probably light a bit later in May than it was in October but the drive really is tiring, all that dodging stuff on the road.

Anyway, once in Bucovina, we saw the monasteries in what was really no more than a day. I could see spending longer, but they're similar in a lot of ways as far as construction and it's the paintings you're really checking out. And once I saw Suceavita, that was my fav and I was sort of mentally coasting after that, to be honest. Enjoying, but I saw the best one already, so not driven to keep staring at murals, as shallow as that sounds. After that, it was more about the peace and quiet and the nuns gardening and that sort of thing for me.

In Transylvania, yes, it's different, but not so different. It's still Romanian. Still horses and carts and cabbage with sour cream and Reislings and life is pretty much the same. But instead of remote monasteries, it's walled churches and goth towers in towns. I loved Transylvania, for getting lost on back roads between Sighisoara and Sibiu (around Agnita) if nothign else. Slice of life stuff. Personally, I wasn't wowed by Bran. Rasnov I understand has gone the same themepark route. Sinaia isn't in Transylvania. Pretty mountain town, nice monastery and 1800's manor house, but not worth going so far south on your tight schedule.

But I can honestly say that I found Sibiu a very beautiful and interesting city who understands a little about tourism but isn't wrapped up in it. Sighsoara by now may be a bit more touristy, but it really is a little marvel of gothic architecture and it sure ain't no Bruges or Rothenburg in terms of hordes and t-shirt shops. In the citadel, most houses are still lived in and the churches still in use. Then you have all these towns with the Saxon churches - like Beirtan and Harmann and more that don't even register on maps and in books.

Beirtan for instance... Unesco Heritage site. Big walled church on the hill (referred to as a peasant fortress) in the center of town. Immaculately kept. And how touristy is it? A student was sitting on the grass reading a book until we got there, and she quietly came in with us to show us the town vault and the other features of the church. Not another person there. The hand crocheted seat pads meant to hold a spot in the pews were all around the church staking out various grandma's spots for next Sunday's services. At the bottom of the hill had been a little cafe and that was it. At the best known of the walled churches in Transylvania.

So yeah, while I think the buildings in Bucovina are the most unique in the country... I think you'll see *the real Romania* no matter where you go.

I'd say the absolutely more unaffected place in RO is Maramures which I found fascinating. Honestly, I think my wife found it a bit off-putting. Not all of Maramures, and it's hard to explain but imagine being a stranger walking around a tiny village in the Ozarks - circa 1890. A village where everyone knows everyone else. And there you are, dressed so totally different. And you don't speak English. And everyone comes to a dead stop and watches even when you *drive* by. But tons of unique culture going on up there... but not a place you blow through and see the big sites. Because the big site is usually the town church and you got to start by miming to passersby that you'd like to find whoever it is that has the key. LOL. It's an adventure in Maramures.

On the family front, I totally get that sad and sappy thing... ours is almost 32 months now. It goes by so quickly. She's tagged along to Peru and Bali though in the last year... she's a good little traveler. Yeah, as they get older, they'll develop personalities and you'll wonder were it all came from. Enjoy it, it's a blast.

Thanks Clifton! Your report was a treasure to read and I really appreciate your imput.

I really want to go to Maramures, even more so now that you described it! We've been around a lot of Western and Central Europe and we are looking for something different, perhaps a little more exotic. Our FF miles won't get us further than Europe so Romania seemed like a good choice. I'm just struggling with how to get to Maramures in the least amount of time as possible and still have a relaxing trip and be able to enjoy ourselves without rushing. That seems to be my biggest struggle with planning this trip...I just can't wrap my mind around the logistics. And perhaps I'm suffering from wanting to see it all and knowing that, especially given the road conditions, we have to limit ourselves.

I really want to see Transylvania. It sounds like it have so much of what we enjoy about traveling. Midevil towns, walled towns, beautiful scenery, castles. I figure if we can limit ourselves to just Transylvania, and perhaps some of the towns around it, we could enjoy ourselves at a more leisurely pace. Visit some wineries, smaller towns, and basically just take our time. But that doesn't keep me from wanting to visit Maramures and Bucovina! I think I could visit Maramures and/or Bucovina but I would have to give up Transylvania but I'm not sure if my husband would like that idea as he really wants to see some of the sites in Transylvania.

Luckily we still have quite a bit of time to research and plan....although too much time may not be a good thing because I'll just keep adding to my list of things I want to see!

Wow...she is already 32 months? Time really does fly! I think it's wonderful that you are traveling with her, and I'm envious. If we had just one baby I think I would seriously consider taking her. But with two I just can't right now. Way too much stuff that is needed...everyone behind us in the security line, and on the plane, would hate us! But we are traveling with them to the beach this summer when they learn how to sit up, and we plan on renting a cabin in the northern Georgia mountains this fall. We won't be able to do much hiking with them, but it will be nice to just get away.

Thanks again!
Tracy

We have friends who went to Romania on a guided tour with www.originalworld.com. They raved about their guide and driver and said he can be contacted directly for his services. His name is Cristian Reisen and his email is [email protected]. Hope this helps.

Hi tcreath - minor heads-up, when we were getting ready for our trip to Budapest earlier this year, I called our bank to make sure they knew and wouldn't flag our ATM/Debit cards. She asked if we were headed to nearby Romania, as apparently our cards would not work there - the country was blacklisted, I guess, by my bank... might be worth some due diligence in advance. Have a great trip!

AHaugeto, thank you for the heads up! Yikes...we would be in a pretty tough bind if that is the case. We'll definitely have to call our bank beforehand.

jrjcollins, thank you for the information. We will probably go ahead and do it ourselves though. We prefer to go at our own pace and, well, we are too cheap for that! :)

I think from the perspective of someone who hasn't been yet, I can see your husband's point. I remember before our trip that Transylvvania was "it" - the thing I thought of when I thought of Romania.

It's a conundrum, that's for sure. 3 fairly distinct areas that, IMO, aren't basically the same as anything elsewhere. I've heard people say that because the "Saxons" had such a strong presence in Transylvania, that the towns were essentially German. But to me the history, not to mention the current day to day life, after the basic construction seems so different that it renders the point irrelevant for me. But architecture is only a portion of what I usually come to see. Part of the environment, really interesting but not what I stare out while ignoring everyone going past.

I honestly don't think you could go wrong in ANY of the areas, but I think you'll have to accept that there's something unique and right next door that you're going to miss with a 7 day window. Especially since transport isn't a breeze. But you won't lack for interesting things to see.

Since you read the report, you probably already know we took a about 13 days if I recall and that we started in Budapest also. The whole car situation thing looked to be trouble (or pricy) at that time if starting in RO and honestly, we thought Bucharest wasn't particularly closer to some of our targets (Maramures & Timisoara) than Budapest was. Mind you, a lot of rental companies at that time weren't allowing cars to cross the border into Romania, but Budget out of Budapest (from a hotel on Buda hill) did. Plus, we figured that roads in Hungary were fast in comparison which turned out to be mostly true, so we made good time to the border. No dodging around there once I drove us out of central Budapest.

Oh... if you know any Italian, it's not hard to pick up a bit of Romanian. Pimsleur isn't too bad if you can work past the pick-up lines part of the dialogue. "So, she we eat at the hotel?" he asks... Just asking for a bill in Romanian would send cafe waiters away beaming and they'd bring back witnesses from the kitchen. haha Probably so they could share a chuckle over our pronunciations later.

And if you know any German or French, those would have both come in handy at certain points. Rural people around Agnita sometimes tried to see if we spoke German. Nice that people were surprised to see strangers and wanted to have a chat. Unfortunately, my grandparent's influence has mostly faded in my memory now. And French was the foreign language of choice for older people who went to school in the days of communism so that was tried on us at times too.

On the family front. Just wait until they're this age... first you think it's so weird that you're having real conversations with the same little faces you were looking at, only a couple of months ago, thinking "what DO they want??". And now they're pleading their case for wearing their shiny ballet shoes to the playground. Telling you how to drive..... and they're winning the argument!

Clifton, I so appreciate your input. I never thought about possible problems with renting a car in Romania, but I just did a sample reservation on Auto Europe for next May, choosing all locations and all types of cars, and they do not have anything available. Of course this could be because it's too far in advance. I'll have to check out other car rental websites, but this will apparently add just another challenge to the trip! We may have to fly into Budapest if this is the case. We prefer to drive, and given the train options in Romania going by rail isn't much of an option.

At this point I'm thinking that where we choose to base ourselves may come down to where we can fly into. If we have to fly into/out of Budapest it doesn't make any sense to drive all the way to Transylvania because it's just too far away and we would have to get back to Hungary to avoid the exhorbant drop-off charges. If we do need to fly into Budapest then perhaps we'll concentrate on the Maramures area. I haven't yet been to Budapest, so this too would add to the challenge because I'll be tempted to spend a few days there that we won't really have.

Decisions decisions! I think you are right though; given what I've read and seen I think we'll be happy with any of the three regions. Romania as a whole looks quite different from anything we've seen before and that's mostly what we are after...something different and unique!

It's amazing how quickly they grow up, isn't it? I still get a little shock when I see Elizabeth on her tummy even though she has been rolling over for about 3 weeks now! I have to give your little one credit for already being quite the fashion plate...a girl has to look cute, even on the playground! ;)

Oops...forgot to mention that I did take 4 semesters of college German. I'm certainly not great at it, but I *think* I may be able to brush up. My husband took German as well, so between the two of us we may be able to get by with a little bit of broken German if it's spoken. I've attempted to learn Italian before a few of our trips, but when it comes to French I am completely lost!

Sorry to keep responding and topping my own post! Clifton, rental cars from Budapest are almost half the cost over renting in Bucharest! Was this the same scenario you experienced? I decided to try a sample week in October and there were cars available but I was really surprised to see such a vast difference in cost. If we did want to reserve in Budapest I'll have to call Auto Europe to make sure we would be allowed to take the car across the border.

For everyone that responded to my post, I have a question. I really want to see Romania but our short time frame of one week seems almost too short to do it any justice. And with the stumbling blocks with airports and transportation I'm just wondering if you think it's even worth going to Romania for just a week? It just seems like if we had even three or four more days we would have much more flexibility.

<i>rental cars from Budapest are almost half the cost over renting in Bucharest</i>

Bingo! That was big motivation for us. Well that and two other things. I was cheating it into the itinerary because I was game to see Budapest anyway... and... because sometimes we'll do a two country gambit in case we hate the big focus country of the trip. In other words, if we hated Romania, we'd be able to cut it short and head *back* to Hungary early. Such a cop out.. lol. We've never had to use it, but it's not the only time we scoped it out that way. We did the same thing with Morocco. Planned to cross the straits to Spain at the end, figuring of we didn't like Morocco, then we could go north right away and wing it on hotels in Andalusia. Ended up loving Morocco and wishing we'd spent the last few days there too, but that's the cost of insurance.

Anyway, back to your trip... yeah - call Autoeurope. Their site used to tell you who you'd be renting from, as in what actual company, before you finalized the offer. And you'd get to see the terms and conditions on the screen for each pickup location, which was of course different companies. Now I don't think they have that. So someone on the phone should be able to suss that out if you end up starting in Budapest and use AE to arrange the car deal. I remember they were on top of things when I had to call them about a different trip and very nice.

All of the Romanian rentals we'd see were either with small indy companies that always give me the heebee jeebees... or with Hertz, who seem to think, based on their rates, that their cars are made of diamonds and gold. And that's the case no matter what country I've checked them in. Of course, some time has passed.., it may have gotten better as far as selection of companies. Back then, even the few there were wanted us to bring the car back to Bucharest (there goes the chance to fly back) or they'd sort of pretend to have other Romanian drop cities on their website, but in reality once we got to the fine print were planning on charging us a hefty fee to have someone come from Bucharest and pick up the car themselves. (we considered an open jaw, from Bucharest to Budapest, maybe leaving the car in Oradea or Satu Mare or Sibiu and going by train to Budapest but it wasn't to be)

Hopefully you get to use that German and that it's still holding up. I, ahem, have several of Spanish and I'm sure I still sound like I've taken several blows to the head trying to have a reasonable conversation.

The "Saxon" population (really a 700 year old displaced group from the Rhineland area) have been dwindling due to age and going to Germany, but quite a few were still maintaining their churches. Yeah, French totally zooms me too. All I hear are vowels and breathing. I've got no ear for it at all. Romanian is actually a latin language, with some slavic thrown in. So since I'd been listening to Italian CD's for 8 months, a lot of it sort of transferred.

You're right. Central Transylvania would be a haul. I forget that we stopped in Timisoara and Hunedoara on the way. Actually though, I think you probably could do something like 2 or 3 days in Maramures. and the rest based in Sibiu or Sighisoara and still pull it off. Maramures is not a big area and again, it's not a lot of attractions - just villages mainly, plus the Merry Cemetery. A bit more driving one day, but you can really haul once you hit one of the Hungarian highways. I checked and we had 12 days in RO... but we did do Timi and Hune (the Banat) and Bucovina... and Sinaia in the mountains too. So, just saying...

If you do try Budapest, I could see though why you'd want to stick to Maramures. Budapest itself would be hard to ignore coming and going. Don't know what you like in hotels, but if basic with a nice staff and a monster view is appealing - an unsolicited reco - Room 93 at the Victoria. www.victoria.hu

ok, I looked at my own old url and I see their prices have jumped. It was like 79 euro when we went. Ah well. Still, what a view from the little balcony of that room. http://www.travelisfatal.com/gallery...w&gazimage=149

and the view if you turned your head to the right slightly was an equally impressive view of the Chain Bridge. Normally I don't worry about views because I want to be out there... but that was one I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at. Hey, at least if you want to see sights and don't have the time... you got all night.

Of course it's worth to go to Romania even for a week - southern Transylvania, Maramures, Bucovina are all extremely interesting regions, seeing any of them will make up for not having the time to visit the whole country.

As for car rentals, the best way is to rent directly from Romanian companies. The larger ones like Autonom ( http://www.autonom.com/ ) or Eurocars ( http://www.eurocars.ro/ ) are reliable enough, have offices in most large cities and are relatively reasonably priced.

In case you decide to go through Budapest another option to get to Transylvania fast is flying with the low cost airline Wizzair ( http://wizzair.com/?language=EN ) to Targu Mures; the flight takes one hour and costs about $20 if you book with a few weeks in advance. Targu Mures is quite close to southern Transylvania (less than one hour's drive to Sighisoara, 2 1/2-3 hours to Sibiu) and respectively about four hours away from Maramures.

Tracy,

Just got back from Bucharest ... Short time but loved it. I have some Lei ($$$) left over (Could not get them exchanged in US) that you can have for you trip in May! You can check out my report at:

http://dmbtraveler195.blogspot.com/2...bucharest.html.

Hi Tracey. I went to Romania for just three days and did some sightseeing while my husband was attending to some business there. Although it was only a short time I am very glad I went. Should you decide to use a guide for any portion of your trip, then I can highly recommend CTI Tours. I did a full day tour of Bucharest and the next day, I did a full day tour of Transylvania (Brasov, Bran and Sinaia). I had an excellent english speaking guide (Maria) and a driver and they really enhanced the experience for me because they could explain the significance of the sites I was seeing much better than a guidebook could. Having lived through the latter Ceacescu years, Maria was also able to give some extremely interesting insight about life during Romania's not too distant communist past. I highly recommend them if you choose to go this way.
http://www.studyabroad.ro/cti/en/index.htm

Clifton, I had to laugh at your comments about adding Hungary just in case Romania didn't work because we too have done something similar in the past. We've often planned trips with a backup plan in case we didn't care for our original plan. Sad but true....our vacation time is much to valuable to spend it in a place we don't care for!

I am still working on the logistics for this Romania trip. I really, really want to visit Maramures and/or Bucovina. I'm thinking that I may see about flying from OTP to maybe Baia Mare and then driving to Sighet and from there to Suceava and then back down to Bucharest. A lot of driving, probably more than I would prefer, but we do typically like driving and will see about possible places of interest to stop along the way to make the journey more interesting. We still want at least a night in Sighisoara and then maybe a stopover at Bran Castle before arriving in Bucharest to fly home. I'm not really too interested in Bucharest so we don't plan on spending much time there other than to catch our flight back.

I guess I shouldn't be getting too much into the details, though, until I make sure we can even get a flight to Bucharest with AA miles! I don't want to get too ahead of myself. If we have to fly into BUD then will will have to skip Transylvania all together, and maybe even Bucovina, depending on how much driving we want to do. And if we can't get AA flights to Budapest, well, I guess the whole Romania trip will have to be scrapped for plan B (which, at this point I *think* will be centered around Krakow/Poland).

Thank you everyone that replied and given me your advice, opinions and links! I really appreciate it!

Tracy

Not to pry, but if you have plenty of FF miles, look into OneWorld partner awards. They'd cost more miles usually, but the availability is totally different.

I know British Airways flies to Budapest, because that's how we got there and I'm almost certain Bucharest too. Also, Malev, the Hungarian national airline, is now a OneWorld member too.

We were looking for award tickets to Australia and couldn't get them once. Then we came up with one of the OneWorld plans that sent us through Hong Kong and we were able to go anyway. Just more miles... and in our case, a couple extra days because we decided the HK layover would be too good to pass on.

Even if you were able to fit in a couple of days in Maramures and a couple in central Transylvania, I think you'd have a great trip and not too rushed.

ps - those car companies flat4 suggested weren't around when we went, so they might be an answer to your problem, if they're not limited miles/km's.

Thanks Clifton! I can use AA OneWorld partners for miles. I just have to call them to book because they won't allow online bookings for miles tickets on partner airlines. I think I'm just more worried about availability. I don't have as much experience with flying on awards miles as some on here, and in the past we've had to tweak our trip plans a bit because of flight options, but I'm hoping that if we try to book sooner we can either get what we want or continue calling until flights open up.

Have you done much traveling from Australia? I know that at one time you mentioned cheaper flights to SE Asia, and from your post above it sounds like you made it to Bali? So much fun..I'm envious!

Yeah, definitely call them. Oh - and there is a difference between a partner award and a OneWorld award. For instance, not all AA's partners are OneWorld. And the OneWorld alliance offers something a little different than a straight partnership arrangement. Best I can tell, OneWorld has very specific types of awards, but it seems like they may override at least some of the availability issues. So if you looked at the OneWorld.com site and found an award that would work for you, when you called AA and they ran out of options, you could say... "what about the OneWorld award XXX". When we called about the Australia trip, they would check their own routes, then Qantas as a 'partner' (as in, did Qantas have any seats in their FF program on those dates).. and then said "no". Then we pulled the OneWorld award question out, and it was "no problem".

Bali was our only trip so far. It was a gift - a family member loaned us their villa there and the flight was just a 5.5 hour non-stop on Jetstar (a budget airline). That's probably it for a bit. Maybe see some more of Australia. It's just a big move and re-buying everything and getting set up in a house and starting new careers is going to keep us grounded for a while. But I am pretty excited about Air Asia running budget flights from here non-stop to Kuala Lumpur and from there to all sorts of places for relatively cleap tickets... like Sri Lanka or Guilin or Borneo. And especially to Siem Reap for $58, since I've been dying to get back there.

Oh, on that OneWorld thing. With our ticket, the "special" part of the qualifying for that particular ticket was "must use three OneWorld members to make the trip". So then we said... well, what if we stopped in Hong Kong? And so we took AA from STL to LAX, Cathay Pacific from LAX to Hong Kong... Qantas from HK to MEL and again MEL to LAX where we picked up AA again to get home.

I was thinking with your route, it may not be so hard to creatively combine AA, BA and Malev to build an 3 airline itinerary to either Budapest or Bucharest (or open jaw), if you had to. --

AA to London and back. BA to Bucharest, Malev from OTP or BUD back to London? 3 airlines, all OneWorld.

Thanks Clifton! You know so much more about this stuff than I do! I think I could get three OneWorld flights with some creative planning. I believe most flights that leave Charlotte have an AA flight to ORD or JFK, then a BA flight to LHR. From there I can see if I can get a Malev flight to OTP or perhaps back from BUD to LHR. Interesting! I'll definitely have to look into it.

Bali sounds great. A private villa too....I think I would die! I know what you mean though about starting over and all. Hopefully you'll get to do lots of traveling in the future. I would love to return to Asia (we've only been to Japan) but the flights are so long, and expensive, that it makes it difficult for just a week or so.

Good news! I just called AA this morning and I have flights on hold! CLT to ORD to LHR to OTP and back. The flights aren't really that bad...no really long layovers and, best of all, no overnight in London necessary! The flight doesn't get into Bucharest until 4:15 pm, but I can handle that. We'll probably immediately rent the car or fly to our next destination.

It sounds like Romania is vastly different from western and central Europe, which is what we are looking for. I have 5 days to confirm the booking. Any last minute words of encouragement or your personal thoughts on your Romania trips?

Thanks!
Tracy

Yayyyy!! Knowing your interest in the new and unusual, I think you're going to enjoy it!

Thanks Clifton! I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised when I got my preferred dates without having to do any juggling around. And many of the flights on AA.com showed overnights in London and I'm so happy I don't have to do that. Too expensive, I don't feel the need to return, and I don't have to take a night away from Romania. So excited!

Clifton (and others), I'm putting together a rough itinerary because, well, I'm bored and the girls are in bed for the night! This is very rough, but how does this sound?

1st night - Bucharest (4:15 pm arrival)
2nd night - Sighisoara (see Brasov/Bran on the way)
3rd night - Sighisoara (day trip to Sibiu)
4th night - Sighet
5th night - Sighet
6th night - Suceava
7th night - Bucharest (flying from Suceava to Bucharest)
Fly home

Is this entirely too much traveling? I'm using viamichelin and I admit that it's a lot of driving, although we do like driving and the scenery looks gorgeous. If so, should I eliminate Maramures or Bucovina? I want to drive one direction and fly back, but I'm not sure which would be more appealing? It looks like we could fly back to Bucharest on Tarom from either Baia Mare or Suceava.

Thanks!
Tracy

Depending on how/where you're getting your car... and keeping in mind, I haven't started this way myself but just based on old ideas from old research...

What do you think about the idea of catching the train from OTP to Brasov on arrival and being that much further along the next morning + less driving before sight seeing the next day?

I think then your longest bit is Sighisoara to Sighet - if you could cut down on that idea of starting in Bucharest one morning, driving the mountains (the road runs along the tracks anyway) and ending in Sighisoara along the way, with Brasov (a pretty good sized city) and Bran on the way. That would be a rough day. By starting in Brasov that morning, you may even find time to see some of the more authentic Saxon walls, like the churches in Harmann or Prejmer. They're about 20 miles the other side of Brasov, opposite the way from Bran.

Sighet to Suceava is long, but not a hard drive IMO. A one highway drive for the most part with one high pass and a few interesting looking villages on the way, but not much specific to stop at. One village just inside the Bucovina area had quite unique houses, but you look as you pass, more or less. I think I might suggest stopping short of Suceava. A place like Guru Humorliei(sp) is closer to the monasteries, should you still need some time in the morning before you head to the Suceava airport. We actually stayed in a guest house very near the Voronet monastery called Casa Elena. We were winging it without reservations. Not a lot of character and not close to town, but they had a lot of rooms and were nice, plus had decent food. But we could get up in the morning after a long drive, grab some breakfast and be at the first of 4 monasteries in about 5 mins, so that was ok with us.

Around Sighisoara, you might plan for the Sibiu day trip, but also think about leaving time to poke about Sighisoara's citadel area. It's small, but it has a lot of nooks and crannies, plus the ancient wooden staircase to the old church and cemetery hovering above the town. Leave time to snoop. Also, if you have a good map and a car, you may find yourself curious about the nearer towns and run out of time for Sibiu. For instance, Medias has a lot of that old architecture... and I swear for a good sized city, with avery old and colorful center, I never saw any tourists. Mind you, it's not quite as evocative and not nearly as spruced up as Sibiu. In fact, I'd say it's fair to say that it's rough around the edges. But I liked it. So, if you get into a pinch....

Oh, and on your question about what to eliminate if you had to - I'd start with what I've already said, but if it came down to Maramures or Bucovina... for you I'd say eliminate Bucovina. If someone seemed to be ga-ga about churches, architecture and painting, I'd go the other way and say to keep Bucovina. But what you expressed about being more interested in living culture... that's more Maramures. Although, one sticky point is that the drive from Sighioara to Bucovina is much more scenic (and slow and winding and tempting to stop for photos!) than from Sighisoara to Sighet (we drove a lot of that in between area in day trip from Sighisoara).