Have the desire to dig deeper into Europe and go off the beaten tourist path? Enjoy villages and cultural interactions with locals? We have the destination for you! Our Romania tour will take you to visit old-world Europe in a leisurely-paced, hands-on, small-group experience.

Step back in time to this mysterious land. Travel around the country’s heartland of Maramures where local traditions live untouched and dinners turn into feasts. Traverse through villages frozen in time and experience the traditions of rural life, handicrafts, and folk music. Visit the magnificent painted monasteries of Bucovina, known as the Sistine Chapel of the East. Dine with the locals, distill Romanian brandy, and learn the old recipes of the Romanian kitchen. Get a taste of the medieval in historic Transylvanian cities while hunting down clues to the real Dracula in castles and atmospheric citadels.

Transfer from airport to hotel. Walking tour around Cluj, a bustling university city that is also the capital of the Transylvania region. A sign of things to come, our ‘welcome dinner’ is more like a welcome feast. Hearty portions are the order of the day here in Romania!

Day 2 - Travel north to the rural fairytale that is the Maramures region. Maramures means “country of the wood” and you’ll marvel at the skilled craftsmanship of the towering wooden churches and elaborate carvings on gates and houses in all the small villages that we visit. Life here still gives a glimpse into the past few centuries and you will see folks still dressed in traditional clothing. Visit the village of Surdesti with its impressive oak church with a spire that reaches a height of 72m – the second-highest wooden church in Europe. Visit Merry Cemetery, which owes its name to the carved and decorated wooden gravestones with colorful and often humorous epitaphs.

Days 3-4 - Visit to the idyllic village of Breb for an outdoor cooking class where local ladies will teach you traditional recipes. There’s no shortage of food, wine, spirits and laughter. Afternoon to explore more off-the-beaten spots. See how locals use water pools as washing machines, try some local honey, check out the work of a wood carver, and find out which villages have the most photogenic ‘Babas’. A lively dinner at a local’s home with music, song, and dancing.

Easter Sunday will be spent taking in the festivities, feasts, and music during the celebration of this important holiday in the villages of Maramures

Day 5 - Visit the impressive wooden convent in Maramures before heading to the Bucovina region over the Prislop Pass, a scenic road in the Northern Carpathians. Visit one of the four ‘painted monasteries’ of this region, the Voroneț Monastery. Unlike normal monasteries and churches, these have their exterior walls adorned with traditional Orthodox frescoes painted in Byzantine style from the 16th century. Dinner at our pension.

Day 6 - Visit to the Modovita-painted monastery before embarking on a steam train ride for a few hours around the bucolic Bucovina region with lunch included. Visit an artist who is renowned for her work making hand-painted and colourful Easter eggs.

Day 7 - Travel from Bucovina into Transylvania. Check into a hotel in Sighişoara, the only medieval citadel in the world that is still inhabited. Tour around its atmospheric and well-preserved walled old quarter. The tour includes the 210-foot-high Clock Tower, the Venetian House, the Stag House, and the Dracula House – the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler.

Day 8 - We start our day exploring a string of small Saxon towns with citadels and fortified churches such as Biertan and Richis, both UNESCO world heritage sites. Make sure to ask Alexandra, our Romanian guide, about the ‘marital prison’ which kept the divorce rate quite low here. Visit with a young Transylvanian couple and try their wines and enjoy a home-cooked lunch.

Day 9 - Depart Sighisoara and visit the impressive 13th-century Rasnov fortress that withstood attacks by the invading Ottoman army. Check into Transylvania’s essential city of Brasov. City is one of the best-preserved historical centres in Romania. and became an important craft centre for the German Saxons in the 14th-18th centuries. Take a guided tour of the city takes us to the Council Square, Black Church, Rope St (the narrowest street in Europe), and the Defense Walls.

Day 10 - Full day at leisure in Brasov to explore, go to a museum, hit the amazing jewelry stores or take the cable car up to Tâmpa mountain with its Hollywood-esque BRASOV sign. Optional excursion for a pretty nature walk in a deep and narrow limestone canyon called Zarnesti Gorge where parts of the Nicole Kidman movie Cold Mountain were filmed.

Day 11 - Depart Brasov and travel to Bucharest. On the way, we stop in the town of Sinaia, nestled at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains. Visit the stunning Peles Castle, a masterpiece of German new-Renaissance architecture built by King Charles I. Continue on to Bucharest, Romania’s capital. A walking tour followed by our farewell dinner.

Day 12 - The tour is over after breakfast and your guide will be available to assist with departures.