Remarkable Romania!
 

I visited Romania, as a woman traveling solo, for 22 nights in May of 2023. I hadn’t planned on writing a trip report, but decided that my experiences might prove of value or interest, so….

In this brief report, I'll

• Outline my itinerary,
• Indicate what I liked least about this trip, and
• Note the things I like most about my experiences in remarkable Romania.

Itinerary:

• Iași – 2 nights (1.5 days)
  • Then Piatra Neamț (for the Muzeul Cucuteni) and
  • Mănăstirea Agapia en route to…
• Gura Humorului – 2 nights as a base for the painted monasteries of Bucovina (I saw Saint John the New, Pătrăuți, Arbore, Moldovița, Voroneț, and Humor)
• Mara – 2 nights
  • as a base for the wooden churches of Maramureș(I saw Ieud Deal, Ieud Șes, Poienile Izei, Bârsana, Desești, Budești, Şurdeşti, Plopiș, and Rogoz);
  • and for a day trip to Săpânța’s Cimitirul Vesel and
  • Sighet (aka Sighetu Marmației)
• Cluj (aka Cluj-Napoca) – 1 night
• Oradea – 1 night
• Timișoara – 1 night
  • Then Deva – en route (for the Muzeul Civilizației Dacice și Romane) to…
• Targu Jiu – 1 night for the Brancusi ensemble
  • Then Mănăstirea Hurezi – en route to…
• Curtea de Argeș – 1 night
  • Then Mănăstirea Cozia and
  • Sibiel – en route to…
• Sibiu – 3 nights
  • Then Valea Villor (a fortified church) – en route to…
• Târgu Mureș – 1 night
• Sighișoara – 1 night
  • Then various fortified churches, including Biertan (which was closed, so from the outside only), Dârjiu, Saschiz, and Viscri, en route to…
• Brașov – 2 nights
  • With a side trip to the fortified church in Prejmer and
  • Then Castelul Peleș – en route to…
• Bucureşti – 4 nights

Here’s a photo of one of my favorite places in Romania, Sibiu:
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e21154e96.jpeg

kja, I am very happy to see this! Romania has been on our radar ever since our youngest daughter and her husband spent their honeymoon there. I know; it's not a traditional honeymoon destination!:) We were planning on going in 3 or 4 years but just yesterday my husband suggested that we go in September 2025. We might combine Romania with a trip to Hungary. Gorgeous photo of Sibiu! Looking forward to more. This will be very helpful in our planning.

Always exciting to read reports about the less traveled places.......I've signed one to follow!!!
If you don't mind, could you add a bit about what you ate?

Have you read the ongoing current aport about 'Albania?

Everytime I consider, for a minute, some of these less travels European destinations, my mind sends me back to Italy and Spain.

I've been but once in the Balkans hitchhiking down the Adriatic Coast to Dubrovnik, spending some time on Hvar, and then busing to Belgrade to get on the OLD Orient
Express in a low class where our companions were the gastarbeiters traveling home from Germany to Turkey....

And now you are in today's Balkans,,,please continue and give us all photos and musings that you can manage....thank you!

Looking forward to reading more!

Though, I admit I am a tad worried that reading this is going to shift my focus away from what I am already planning for 2026, 2027...?! Romania has been on my radar for a while.

Finally! Your TRs are always a delight. You got to places that were on my radar but I did not have the time to visit. Looking forward to it.

We walked down that street in your photo for dinner. At night, that's where everyone was.

exs,
Years ago I have seen some parts of former Yugoslavia . I visited and loved Prague, Moscow and St. Petersburg.
. Although I enjoy reading trip reports from the Balkans and Eastern Europe , when contemplating the next trip, I inevitable
end up in Spain or a big European city .Again.
The OP’s reports are always very informative and a pleasure to read.

You can have your cake and your cupcake too! In today's world of travel there's nothing that precludes you from combining Western and Eastern Europe in one trip. It can be so simple and certainly affordable. it's really all so close.

I'm happy to see you are back to writing your wonderful reports kja!

I loved Sibiu too. Probably my favorite place in Romania but I did not get to all the places you did. Looking forward to more.

I'm so glad you're writing this report! Romania has been on my radar, but I've wondered what it would be like to navigate as a solo female traveler. I would love to hear your comments on that aspect. How would you compare solo travel in Romania to the other places you've been?

It’s nice to find some many comments on this TR!

@ KarenWoo: I think your daughter and her husband chose well! And if you decide to go to Romania, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I'll be glad if this report helps you plan.

@ ekscrunchy: I ate some wonderful meals in Romania! I remember a stunning wild mushroom dish in Gura Humorului, and from a breakfast buffet in Cluj, a wonderful bread stuffed with eggs and ham and I think some onion and maybe paprika – delicious! About half my meals included traditional Romanian or regional specialties; the other half were generally Continental, prepared with locally sourced ingredients. Unfortuantely, I don't have your palate and didn't take notes that would allow me to provide detail. Sorry about that!

@ Travel_Nerd: I didn't mean to throw a wrench in your plans! But you could, I think, do worse than contemplate a trip to this remarkable country.

@ shelemm: Thank you for the kind words about my TRs! That street in Sibiu was vibrant, wasn't it? Especially in the evening, but IME, at any time of day.

@ danon: Even if you end up traveling only and always to Spain or a big European city from now on, I hope you enjoy this report. Prague, Moscow, St. Petersburg ... such wonderfully distinct places! I loved them, too.

@ rialtogrl: Many thanks, though I hope I don’t disappoint by keeping this report quite brief. I thought Sibiu a delight – so chill, with gorgeous plazas and some wonderful museums and delightful pastel buildings.…

@ memejs: I didn’t have any trouble visiting Romania as a solo female traveler. I should note that I rented a car for this trip, and so can’t speak to how easy or difficult public transportation would be. English was widely spoken, though the little bit of Romanian I had learned before the trip was greatly appreciated. I found it no more difficult than any other trip I’ve taken and certainly easier than Paris in the days when Parisians refused to speak Engligh. ;)

I found it delightful to see a part of the world that hasn’t been overtaken with tourism! I ran into increasing numbers of tour groups and other independent travelers toward the end of my trip, particularly in Sighișoara, Peleș Castle, and Bucharest, but was otherwise often the sole person visiting something. It felt so unspoiled! That said, the trip wasn’t without some less desirable elements:

What I liked least about my experiences in Romania:

• The inability to see everything I wanted to see in a finite amount of time – a common problem for me! It was compounded on this trip by a few (but only a few!) unexpected closures (e.g., Iași’s Muzeul de Arta and Biertan’s fortified church were closed when I tried to visit them).
• The difficulty of finding parking in Brașov. Yikes, that was a pain!
• Evidence of the damage Ceaușescu caused, from systematic torture of intellectual and religious leaders (documented in Sighet’s Prison Museum) to the leveling of huge sections of Bucharest.

Here’s a photo of a photo in the Bucureşti Muzeul Municipiului showing the movement of a beloved church – St. John the New (Biserica Sfântul Ioan cel Nou) -- to make room for Ceaușescu’s re-design of Bucharest. Many other churches and monasteries were destroyed, despite the protests of the Romanian people. It’s not a great picture, but then, this section is about the things I liked least, so maybe that’s fitting.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0a6cedaac.jpeg

I guess my list of the things I liked least about traveling in Romania left everyone speechless! I hope the same is not true about the things I liked best.:worry:

The things I liked best about Romania.

I’ll start with some of Romania’s magnificent UNESCO World Heritage sites:

• The painted monasteries of Bucovina – utterly awesome, not only for their beautiful and unusual design, but also for the fact that their exterior frescoes, protected by sweeping eaves, have survived the weather through centuries – literally, about 5 centuries! (The interiors are also glorious, with Byzantine images covering every inch.) This photo shows the one in Moldovita, Mănăstirea Moldovița.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fe0ffbc19.jpeg

• The wooden churches of Maramureș – amazing! The craftsmanship of these typically small churches, with their tall, tall spires, was superb. The interiors are impressive, too, typically decorated in rustic / naïve Byzantine-influenced styles. Most have flower-filled cemeteries and beautifully carved wooden gates. Here’s the church in Poienile Izei.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c9e2a72d6.jpeg

• The Brâncovenesc monasteries of Horezu and Cozia (only the former is a WHS) – stunning elegance, magnificent interior decoration, and gorgeous rural settings. Here’s the main church of the Mănăstirea Horezi, which is still a working nunnery.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ff1eef563.jpeg


More to come….

I am so glad you are sharing your thoughts and photos with everyone. Magnificent! These places deserve more attention.

Yup. Romania is a shiny, shiny squirrel that is attacking my adhd. Tbf, so is Sicily.

Still following, kja, just got horribly sidetracked reading about the devastating storms in Switzerland.

I’m enjoying your photos and narrative, such an interesting and beautiful country.

I am still following with fascination! I actually like the photo of the church being moved. Obviously, I sympathize with the Romanian people, but I like the photo because it is so interesting and documents history. Do you know approximately what year the move took place?

And the painted monasteries and wooden churches are amazing! I love that they are in rural settings. We were originally thinking of going to England and Ireland in September 2025 but we are now seriously thinking of putting that trip on the backburner, and moving Romania to the forefront. Your TR and shelemm's TR have us sold!

Did you fly in and out of Bucharest?

I would love to see photos of your accommodations if you have them.

Interesting to read about a part of the world not many people visit. I hadn’t really thought of going there myself, but your TR is intriguing, thanks!

Thanks to all of you who have responded!

@ shelemm: I think it would be great if some of these wonderful places get a bit more attention and a few more tourists’ dollars! I trust we won’t turn Romania into the next Cinque Terre.;)

@ Travel_Nerd: “… a shiny, shiny squirrel”—now THAT made me laugh! Sicily and Romania are both delightful, IME, and incredibly different from each other. You’ll have some tough decisions ahead!

@ Adelaidean: I’m delighted to see your name on this thread! The news out of Switzerland was truly tragic. I can see why you were sidetracked.

@ geetika: So nice to see that you’re taking the opportunity to learn a bit about Romania! I’m glad you’re finding my TR intriguing.

@ KarenWoo: So many wonderful questions! Please see my next post .:pray:

As understand it, the church in that photo, St. John the New, was moved in 1986. It was shifted 25 meters on rails constructed for the purpose, twisted 90 degrees, and is now crammed between two rather ugly (to my eye) and much taller Soviet-style structures. It “lost” its cemetery – but it survived! There were a few other churches that were moved at/ about that same time – massive undertakings, but nothing in comparison cost of Ceaușescu’s broader efforts to remake Bucharest. I couldn’t help but notice rooms in various museums both in and outside of Bucharest that were devoted to one or another monastery that had been destroyed in that effort, each showing whatever had been salvaged – these things were so precious to Romanians! And of course, huge sections of residential housing and neighborhood businesses were also destroyed as part of this effort.



I flew into Iași and out of Bucharest, routed through Vienna in each direction.

Accommodations… With rare exception, I have no photos to share – sorry! I can, however, name the places I stayed. I booked most of them through booking.com and chose them based primarily on location (for my purposes), cost, and -- for places outside of Iasi and Bucharest -- the availability of parking. With the exceptions noted below, they were basically all what I’d call “standard” hotel accommodations – clean, comfortable, helpful staff, very good breakfast.


Iași – Unirea Hotel & Spa

Gura Humorului – Hotel Buchenland

Mara – Pastravaria Alex – very rustic rooms; delightful setting; fresh trout – see picture below

Cluj -- Hotel Capitolina City Chic – this hotel is the one that offered the wonderful stuffed bread mentioned above (post # 10) as part of its breakfast buffet

Oradea – Astoria Grand Hotel

Timișoara – Atlas Hotel

Targu Jiu – Pensiunea Antique – desk was not 24/7, IIRC, and the woman who staffed the desk when I arrived seemed a bit brusque. BUT I got there a bit late, thoroughly stressed after a long unexpected detour, and although her English was FAR better than my Romanian, our initial communication was not ideal. I take responsibility! My other interactions with staff were very pleasant.

Curtea de Argeș – Hotel Subcarpati

Sibiu – The Rabbit Hole – decidedly quirky, but superb location and excellent staff. Free parking nearby, with staff help for finding it.

Târgu Mureș – Plaza Hotel

Sighișoara – Hotel Central Park Sighisoara – old world elegance

Brașov – Safrano Palace – oddly shaped room because the hotel was built as a caravanserai. I have a LONG saga about this hotel, which I'll defer until finalizing my list of hotels, just below.

Bucureşti – Europa Royale Bucharest Hotel



Brașov – Safrano Palace: This hotel does not have its own parking, but I had been assured that there was parking nearby. The hotel had said that I could stop in front to leave off my suitcase, but when I tried to do that, a police officer (or other uniformed person) waved me on, perhaps because it was a busy street at rush hour. So I used google to find the recommended parking lot. I ended at the bar-controlled private lot for staff of a nearby hospital, and after circling, confirmed that there was no way for me to use that lot. Sigh.

I drove around and around on very busy, often one-way streets, but I FINALLY found a parking space. YAY! And bonus – it was free! … until 8 a.m. the next morning. Grrrr. AND it was about a mile from the hotel. Knowing that the hotel had assured me that there was a parking lot just a few minutes’ walk from the hotel, I left my luggage in the car and walked to the hotel.

The woman there assured me that of course, I could stop in front with my suitcase – I should just ignore any officials who said otherwise. Hmmm. And then I showed her my GPS map, and she said, well you can’t park THERE. (Duh.) Thankfully, she entered the correct parking lot into the system, and soon I was on my way again. I walked back to the car, thankful that I had noticed enough landmarks to find it again. I drove through Brasov’s maze to the hotel, where I left my suitcase, without difficulty this time,

And then I tackled the many one-way streets and … OMG, there’s the parking lot! Yay and halleluiah! Except that it was full. I waited and waited and waited and FINALLY, someone pulled out – and another car got there before I could. More waiting. I did eventually get a space … and the news that I either had to pay or leave by 8 a.m. And as I understood it (I could be wrong), that meant that I could not pay then, I had to be there in the morning. ARGGH!!!

I was NOT a happy camper. It was about a 10” walk to the hotel, and trust me, I was not my preferred self when I finally checked in – more than 2.5 hours after I first drove by that hotel. If the woman at the desk at that time remembers anything about me, I suspect I would not like the image she carries, but she was very kind.

For unexpected personal reasons, I was up after midnight that night and decided to try to pay fpr the parking. To my surprise that woman was still at the desk, and when she heard my plan, she offered to pay for my parking before 8 a.m. the next day. (I gave her the money.).

That was above and beyond! As I said in post # 11, finding parking in Brasov was among the things I liked least about my time in Brasov – and now you know why! But as you’ll see, the people I met were among my best memories, and the kindness and helpfulness of this woman, despite my frustration (and worse), count among those best memories.

Oops -- I forgot to attach this photo of Pastravaria Alex in Mara:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6901b1bc1.jpeg