Stay in Brasov or Bran?
 

We're booking accommodations for our June trip to Romania. We will have 3 nights in the Brasov/Bran area. We are driving from the painted monasteries in the northeast down to Brasov/Bran and after our 3 nights here we will continue on to Peonari Fortress. We plan to spend one day seeing Brasov and immediate surroundings (Black Church, Prejmer, Harman fortified church), one day visiting Sinaia for Peles Palace and Rasnov on the way back, and then one morning in Bran before moving on to Poenari.

We've looked for accommodations and have found suitable places in both Brasov and Bran. Which one would people suggest we stay at? Which is prettier in the surroundings? I realize if we stay in Bran we have a slightly longer drive on our long drive day from the northeast and we'll have to back track on day one, but we'd already be in Bran for the last day. So I'm fine with the distance either way and am just wondering which has better places to eat, which might allow my husband a little time in the morning or evening for landscape photos, etc...

Thanks for the input.

Brasov. It has more to offer. You might want to take a look at my trip report, although prices surely changed since I wrote it; click on my name to find it.

I'd also suggest Brasov, it has a wider choice of restaurants, attractions, things to do etc. (Brasov is a city with over 200.000 inhabitants while Bran is a village of ~6000 people). The scenery is nice around both places.

However, on your planned itinerary it would make sense to spend two nights in Brasov and the last night in Bran (after Rasnov you could just head to Bran, it's ~10km/7 miles away).

Thanks for the replies. We don't want to move hotels during this time so we'll pick one place for all 3 days. Based on those town sizes we might actually lean toward Bran. The smaller towns are usually more to our liking. I'll look around a bit more.

Thanks again.

Brasov for sure.

The only thing that the cute little village of Bran has to offer is the Bran Castle.

Rasnov has the Fortress.

I live & work in Brasov but have a place in bran. When i can, i
Commute from bran because its so restful
There. If you dont mind the 35min bumpy drive back after a late night in bv, stay in bran, eg branvilla.com. Highly recommended, both places on your list!

I've been looking a bit more and agree Brasov obviously has more restaurants and shops. In general we prefer smaller villages to bigger towns but does Bran have ANYTHING other than the castle? I don't mean other sites to visit, but any restaurants or small grocery shops to buy food? I see one restaurant right by the castle and can't find anything else.

Some of the guesthouses in Bran have restaurants ( http://www.nobillis.ro/en/Restaurant_Nobillis, http://www.pensiuneacristal.ro/?pens...newlanguage=en , http://www.tavernalupilor.ro/despre_noi.php?lang=en , http://www.vilabran.ro/restaurant.php?schimba_limba=2 , http://www.popasulreginei.ro/ser_res_uk.html etc.)

There are some small shops as well but it's better to stock up when you pass through Brasov.

I just returned from 10 days in Romania.. we stayed 3 nights at Hotel Natural in Brasov.. it was the cleanest hotel I have ever stayed in... perfect location and wonderful staff...

We have decided to stay in Brasov and are currently deciding between two hotels.

One is Hotel Natural, which frugaltraveler mentioned above. This hotel is close to the Black Church and right in the center. It gets good reviews. My one concern is parking. The website says there is parking but some of the reviewers say there was not. frugaltraveler, was there parking?

The other option is Pension Casa Timar. This also gets good reviews but is about 1 mile from the Black Church and center of town. It definitely has parking though.

Anyone other than frugaltraveler have experience with either of these?

We stayed right on the main square by the Black Church and I think that the hotel was Casa Wagner. We also worried about parking.
If you drive in to the square from the main part of the city(so driving slightly uphill towards the church on your left,) there is a parking lot immediately after the church on the left. We parked here for long enough to check-in. We then drove on in the same direction about 100 yards up and turned right up the side of a hospital. This road has unrestricted parking and we parked here throughout our 3 days. The only time it is busy is around hospital visiting hours. It was within 5 minutes of our hotel.

I am not sure about parking - sorry, its been awhile that I have been on the forum... but, I recommend Hotel Natural - it was immaculate.. and a great location.. a restaurant we went to was something Muzica - it has wonderful romanian soup in copper kettles... the prices were 1/3 of what we pay in the US....

One good upcoming site I can recommend for finding property is airbnb. Odd name, but here is an example of an apartment overlooking the square, opposite Hotel Wagner. http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/131211

Another place to stay is Bran, which has a lot more than just the castle. Within 30 a mile radius is the stunning Pestera, fundata, Moieciu, Zarnesti gorges etc. but one is a city break & the other is a country break. Very different, both gorgeous. For example, http://www.branvilla.com is one way to stay in a rental home in Transylvania, which is definately worth serious consideration with time spent in both Bran and Brasov. Ps, according to some historians, there is evidence of life around Bran dating 10,000 years!

Stay in Brasov (sorry, I can recommend a hotel) and spend also half day in Poiana Brasov (13 km from Brasov) and have lunch at Sura Dacilor or at Coliba Haiducilor.

In Brasov try a traditional Romanian dessert called "Papanasi" (cheese balls). They are delicious!