Starting with Prince Mihai Cantacuzino on 17th century, Romanian princes were fascinated by this valley and built here a monastery, a castle and eventually a residence. The pride of the valley is the resort of Sinaia, where future king of Romania, Prince Carol I, enchanted by the beauty of the surroundings, decided to build his summer residence, the Peles Castle. The castle is one of the nicest in Europe. In the neighbourhood we shall also visit the Castle of Pelisor, settled at the request of Queen Maria of Romania, and decorated partly by her. Later on we shall visit Bran Castle, set by the Saxons on the former Wallachian border. In the evening, we shall return to Bucharest.
·Visit to Peles and Pelisor Castles
·Visit to Sinaia Monastery
Curtea de Arges Monastery
Starting from Bucharest in the morning, you stop in Mogosoaia, where one can visit the palace built by Prince Constantin Brancoveanu in the beginning of the 18th century. A very enlighetned personality and a cultural harbinger of his time, Brancoveanu developed his own architectural style, by greatly blending the traditional outlines of local households with the Baroque style. He settled the palace on the shore of Mogosoaia Lake, in a beautiful park. Later on you will have the chance to visit Targoviste Fortress, the former capital of the Wallachian Kingdom under Voyevode Vlad the Impaler, before the Court was moved to better located (in respect of the Turkish invasions) Bucharest. The fortress still preserves the Tower of the Sunset, providing great views to the neighbourhood, and the two Voyevodal Churches. On a hill overlooking the fortress and the city there is Dealu Monastery, one of the most important cultural centres of the Middle Ages in Wallachia. In the late afternoon, you will reach Curtea de Arges Monastery, beautifully settled by King Neagoe Basarab at the foothills of Fagaras Mountains, and linked to a beautiful and interesting legend. Up the Transfagarasan Road which crosses the mountains into Transylvania, there is the spectacular Vidraru Dam and Vidraru Lake, where - time allowing after such a busy day - one can have a few moments of breath-taking view to the surroundings.
·Visit to Mogosoaia Palace
·Visit to Targoviste Fortress
·Visit to Dealu Monastery
·Visit to Curtea de Arges Monastery
Monasteries around Bucharest
During this tour you will have the chance to discover the hidden treasures around the bustling city. You will start with Comana Monastery settled by Vlad the Impaler to the South of the city, in a swampy area that saved it from the often Turkish invasions. Later on we shall go to Cernica Monastery, settled on a scenic lakeshore and preserving an interesting old cemetery. We shall continue with a visit to Cozieni Monastery, surrounded by a whole village consisting of nuns’ cells. Later on we shall go to St. Nicholas – Balamuci Monastery, the only one in this area having frescoes on the exterior walls, similarly to the monasteries in Northern Moldavia (Southern Bukovina). We shall continue with Caldarusani Monastery, which preserves an interesting museum in a vaulted, interesting hall.
·Visit to Comana Monastery
·Visit to Cernica Monastery
·Visit to Cozieni Monastery
·Visit to St. Nicholas – Balamuci Monastery
·Visit to Caldarusani Monastery
Sibiu and theTransylvanian Alps
Departure: on request (Tue-Sun)
Accommodation included: 1 night (on bed and
breakfast basis)
Pick up / drop off: your hotel
Duration: 2 days
Itinerary: Bucharest - Olt Valley - Cozia - SIBIU - Cartisoara - Transfagarasan Road - Curtea de Arges - Bucharest
The tour starts on the old road, crossing cosy villages along the river of legends, Arges, the Dacians' guide towards the mountains. In Curtea de Arges you'll visit the Princely Court surrounded by high and thick walls made of river stones. The Princely Church is the oldest historical monument in Romania which was totally preserved. The prince, Neagoe Basarab, built here an outstanding monastery. Its unique architecture impressed the popular imagination, giving birth to a ballad about its erection, the ballad of Master Manole. Today the monastery is the burial place of the Romanian Royal Family.
The itinerary continues through the mountains along Olt Valley. You will make a stop at Cozia Monastery, built six hundred years ago, by Vlad Tepes' grandfather, Mircea cel Batran.
Soon you'll arrive in Land of Lovistea where the faiths, myths, rites and legends intersect giving birth to genuine stories about pixies and dragons. You'll cross the Land of Lovistea in daylight to arrive in Sibiu, but not before passing by the Emperor Franz Joseph's well or the Red Tower, a mediaeval fortification, the favourite place of Empress Maria Teresa for her crazy love affairs. Finally, you arrive in Sibiu, one of the most fascinating cities of Romania, astonishing its visitors with its mediaeval look: narrow and crooked streets, old Gothic houses with triangle gables and pointed roofs.
After a good night’s sleep, you'll start to climb Fagaras Mountains, but not on foot, by car, as the road winds around their peaks. You'll drive by the highest waterfall in Romania (Balea Cascada), by one of the largest icy lakes in Romania (Balea Lac), the highest tunnel in Romania (liking the counties Sibiu and Valcea) you'll cross the highest range of mountains in Romania, Fagaras and you'll drive by the sea between the mountains, Vidraru Lake. At the end, you'll pay a visit to Dracula to his historical citadel of Poienari, but only if you dare walk up the 1400 stairs that lead there.
- Sightseeing tours: in Sibiu
- Visits of: Princely Court and Arges Monastery at Curtea de Arges; Cozia
Monastery and Poienari Citadel
Sighisoara of the 15th Century
Departure: on request (Tue-Sun)
Accommodation: 1 night (on bed and breakfast basis)
Considered to be 'the most beautiful and complete mediaeval architectural ensemble of Romania and the most beautiful inhabited citadel throughout Europe', the museum-town of Sighisoara offers its visitors the rare chance of retrospect into a mediaeval atmosphere of the past. Thick walls surround the citadel, hosting inside round 150 houses, all of them still inhabited. Here lived, between 1431-1435, Vlad Dracul (Vlad the Devil), future Prince of Wallachia. He was Vlad the Impaler's father, who is known as Dracula (the son of the Devil), born in 1431, mostly probably in Sighisoara.
The tour includes a short sightseeing tour of Brasov. Driving through the main boulevards you'll discover its beauty and picturesqueness, the combination between new and old blacken stone buildings and red bricks chimneys above the coloured tile roofs, over the crenels and buttresses.
From Brasov, a short drive will take you to Bran, where high on a rock stands the Bran Castle. The fortress was built by master masons of Brasov, according to the privilege granted to the town on November 19th, 1377, by Louis I d'Anjou, who was the ruling Prince of Transylvania at that time.
Using a shortcut across the mountain, you will arrive in Sinaia. At the end of the 19th century, the future king of Romania, Prince Carol I, was enchanted by the beauty of the surroundings and decided to build here Peles Castle. The castle is one of the nicest such buildings in Europe. It stands at the foot of Bucegi Mountains, on the left bank of Pelisor brook.
A Bible in Frescoes - The Monasteries of Sweet Bukovina
Departure: on request (Mon-Sun)
Accommodation included: 1 night (on bed and breakfast basis)
Situated in the North of Moldavia, Bukovina, a region blessed with a luxurious nature, wrapped in a diffuse light which tones down colours and blends them with the blue of the sky, presents itself to you like an art album with its monasteries bearing impressive frescoes. Here history lies asleep in monasteries, citadels and churches containing treasures of old Romanian civilization, traditions and beliefs sprung from the rich Romanian folklore.
The exterior frescoes of the churches represent one of the most astonishing treasures of Moldavian art, which has been preserved for almost 5 centuries. They are like a genuine, illustrated Bible, unique of their kind in the world, of an unreached artistic value.
- Sightseeing tour of Suceava, the former capital of the Moldavian feudal state.
-Visits of: Dragomirna, Arbore, Sucevita, Moldovita, Voronet and Humor monasteries; the Black Pottery Workshop at Marginea; the Museum of Wood in Campulung Moldovenesc
Trip in the Danube Delta
Departure: on request (Mon-Sun)
1 Lunch included (drinks not included)
Accommodation included: 2 nights (on bed and breakfast basis)
Is there anywhere in Romania a small piece of land without its tiniest trace of natural beauty? There is strong evidence for a clear NO! One could easily see whole areas showing treasures of flora, fauna and geology. The Danube Delta should be considered a privilege in itself, as at this very moment, the SOS signals are constantly multiplying for every being of the planet and soon the very blade of grass will claim to be included in the category or rare an protected species.
Travel across this natural wonder by boat, along its miles of twisting canals and floating islands. Recommended during the warm months, this is truly a bird watchers’ heaven.
Uzlina is a piece of land between the lake and canals, on Sf. Gheorghe branch (the Southern arm of the Delta). Here you will enjoy both the comfort of 3*/2* hotels and unforgettable cruises on magnificent lakes.
-Optional cruise: Sf. Gheorghe Branch - Uzlina Canal - Uzlina Lake - Isacov Lake - Uzlina village (6-7 hours)
A DAY IN BUCHAREST AND ITS SURROUNDINGS
There are many contradictory statements when it comes to Bucharest: "le Petit Paris", the world's second biggest building, the colourful population, the Village Museum, the Balkanic air... Maybe a best way of defining Bucharest would be "city of the contrasts". Bucharest cannot be put in the books as a standard tourist attraction, because its look and its sometimes dizzy nature are proofs enough to demonstrate this: this city has not been conceived for tourists, but rather for its inhabitants...
So, we invite you discover the city and its surroundings beyond its first sight and beyond the impressive façade. Let us peek over at the Old Princely Court carefully watching the surroundings. Let us walk on the narrow streets around this fortress, enjoying the Oriental-looking crowd, the noise and vibration of the multiethnic population that make nowadays Romania. Let us admire the splendid architecture of the Athenaeum or of Cantacuzino Palace, and let us walk among traditional households brought from all over Romania and hosted in Herăstrău Park, hence making the Village Museum. In the afternoon, let us have a short, but nevertheless interesting of the places around the city, including Căldăruşani Monastery, and Mogoşoaia Palace built by Constantin Brâncoveanu, an enlightened Wallachian voyevode of the late Middle Ages.
The day will certainly leave us with a blend of Oriental and Occidental flavour, and we shall feel that scent of uniqueness with the passengers of the forgotten Orient Express train that once bound Paris with Constantinople via Bucharest or Belgrade.
•‘Selectour’ guide will meet you in the hotel lobby
•Sightseeing tour of old Bucharest
•Visit to the Olt Court
•Visit to Manuc Inn
•Visit to the Metropolitan Church
•Visit to Stavropoleos Church
•Visit to the Royal Palace hosting the Romanian and European Art collections
•Visit to the Village Museum
•Visit to Caldarusani Monastery
•Visit to Mogosoaia Palace
4 hours
Departure: on request (Mon, Wed, Thu)
Welcome in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. Bucharest has many reminders of Romania’s Jewish heritage: the Choral Synagogue, built in 1866, the Holy Union Synagogue nowadays hosting the Jewish history museum, the Great Synagogue nowadays hosting the Holocaust Museum. In the same area one can attend to a representation at the Jewish Theatre, while other sites of interest include the Sephardic Jewish Cemetery.
•Visit to the Choral Temple
•Visit to the Holy Union Temple (hosting the Jewish History Museum)
•Visit to the Great Synagogue (hosting the Holocaust Museum)
3 - 4 hours
A walking tour will always be the best means of approaching a city, as it brings the closest touch to the local community. Let us show you the old centre of Bucharest, with its palaces, churches, cobblestone streets, picturesque parks, Turkish inns and vibrant market-places. Let us have a walk in this controversial city where Countess Waldeck once wrote her everlasting “Athenee Palace”. Then we can end this half a day tour with a meal, be it lunch or dinner, in a traditional restaurant, where the contrasting life of the city will be best depicted in the so diverse cuisine, bearing a lot of Turkish, Russian and French influences.
•Walking tour of central Bucharest (4 hours), no entrance tickets included
•Lunch or dinner in a local restaurant (not included in price)
2 - 3 hours
The legendary founder of Bucharest was a shepherd named Bucur. He founded the place in the perfect location, as it is situated halfway between River Danube and South Carpathians, on the banks of River Dambovita. First, he built here a church as the beginning of a winter shelter for him and his people. Along the centuries the former winter shelter became one of the most interesting cities in Central Europe.
From North to South, from the ancient to the newest sites of the city, Bucharest will reveal to you its treasures and people.
•Outside sights of: the Palace of the Parliament (the 2nd biggest building in the world), the Royal Palace, the Romanian Athenaeum, the Romanian Opera House, the Patriarchal Palace.
4 hours
The tour drives you on boulevards, which were cut mainly in the 19th century. The palaces and mansions were built in about the same period. French and Romanian architects gave the city the elegant touch of late 19th century.
Bucharest welcomes the visitors with its rich and interesting architecture, large boulevards, with its green parks and crooked streets.
•Outside look of: Elisabeta Palace, Sutu Palace, Cantacuzino Palace, Romanit Palace, the Royal Palace, the Romanian Athenaeum, the Army Club, the former Post Office Palace, the Saving Bank Palace
•Visits of: the Palace of the Parliament and the Village Museum
Visit to Peles and Pelisor Castles
