2020 Budget Tour - Off the Beaten Track: Transylvania and Maramures in 12 Days

2020 is a special year because of the Coronavirus pandemic which affected our lives and our way of travelling. We hope that from this summer situation will start to get better and we’ll be able to travel again and enjoy life!

We, at Touring Romania Private Guided Tours decided to offer some options at lower prices for 2020. We understand the moment the world is going through, so we propose this off the beaten track tour in Transylvania and Maramures. We focus on more remote areas, very beautiful with superb landscapes, not crowded and offer you a more personal experience by meeting the locals and see their traditions. Only you and your group will be travelling and we’ll choose small beautiful accommodations, small pensions or apartments.
Transylvania is very well known being a must for everyone visiting Romania. Many people thinks about Transylvania as the land of Dracula and because of Bran Castle. In this program, we’ll show you that Transylvania is far more than Dracula and Bran Castle. It’s about history, medieval castles, medieval cities, a rich saxon heritage, saxon villages and local food !
Maramures is without a doubt the most traditional area of Romania with incredible warm and friendly people. It is the simplicity of life which makes Maramures a great travel destination in Romania. Rich traditions and superb landscapes will make you fall in love with Maramures.

Day 1
We meet you at the Airport in Bucharest and take you to your Hotel. We’ll choose for this year a smaller hotel, not so crowded. Or, if you are ok with this, we can choose for you an apartment only for you and your group, in a centrally located area. After you accommodate, we’ll have a walking tour in Bucharest for 3-4 hours to mark the main sites of the Capital. You  learn about Bucharest and Romania’s history. A special part of the walking tour in Bucharest will be related on the communist past of Romania and how it affected our country and city. So, you’ll enjoy a communist tour of Bucharest as well. We’ll recommend you good places to enjoy dinner in the evening. OVERNIGHT IN BUCHAREST 
 

Day 2
Today we start our adventure to Transylvania heading for Sibiu Medieval City. We drive on Olt River Valley and you’ll enjoy beautiful views on the way to Sibiu. Once we reach Sibiu, we take the accommodation, a local small Pension or a nice apartment  in the heart of the Old City. We’ll enjoy a nice relaxed walking tour in Sibiu admiring the main sites from the old town of Sibiu: Large Square and Small Square, beautiful churches of the city, Liars Bridge etc . OVERNIGHT IN SIBIU
 

Day 3
We get up early in order to enjoy a ride on Transfagarasan Road crossing the Carpathians at 2000 meters altitude.  We go earlier to avoid crowds on the road. After 1 hour we reach the bottom of the mountain from where Transfagarasan Road starts. We drive slowly to admire the superb landscapes. Once we reach the top, you will spend some quality time there for photos or walks in nature. You can have lunch at a nice restaurant with an outside terrace. After this nice time in the mountains, we go back to Sibiu where we reach at 2pm. OVERNIGHT IN SIBIU
 

Day 4
Time to move on. We drive 1 hour and stop in Alba Iulia where we’ll have a relaxed walk where you will learn about our history and why Alba Iulia is so special for us: in 1918 here was the “birthplace” of modern Romania we have today. We drive another 1 hour and reach a superb small village: Rimetea where we spend the night. Rimetea is one of the most beautiful villages from Romania with the majority of the houses painted in white and with red flowers at the windows. We choose here a small penion. OVERNIGHT IN RIMETEA VILLAGE
 

Day 5
Today, we discover Maramures, the northern part of Transylvania. After 3 hours drive, we stop at the first Wooden Church in Surdesti Village. This wooden church is one of the tallest wooden churches in the world, 300 years old. It is included in Unesco World Heritage and belong to the Greek catholic Church. After visiting the church, we can stop at a nice local restaurant on the way to the village. At 3pm, we reach superb Breb Village, our location for the next 3 nights. It is a more remote village and we’ll have a traditional accommodation in an old small wooden house. Rest a bit and enjoy a traditional dinner in the evening prepared by a local lady. OVERNIGHT IN BREB VILLAGE
 

Day 6
Today, we explore Maramures. We visit Merry Cemetery from Sapanta which gives you a different way to think about death as not something final and tragic, but as a passage to a better life after. On our route today, we stop at Barsana Monastery and at Desesti Wooden Church, the best preserved wooden church from Maramures. Day will not be complete if we don’t interact with locals. We visit a nice family who still uses old machines for daily work. We get back to Breb Village. Of course, a nice dinner in the evening 😊 OVERNIGHT IN BREB VILLAGE – MARAMURES
 

Day 7
After one week of driving and visiting, today is time for a more relaxed day. You can wonder in the village or we can have a nice horse cart ride for few hours. Great experience! OVERNIGHT IN BREB VILLAGE – MARAMURES
 

Day 8
After 3 beautiful days in Maramures is time to go back to Transylvania. 3 hours driving and we reach Cluj City, a vibrant city, unofficial Capital of Transylvania. We have a walking tour in Cluj Old Town. OVERNIGHT IN CLUJ
 

Day 9
We drive 2.5 hours and stop in Valea Viilor Saxon Village. Today you will learn about the saxon heritage from Transylvania. German colonists came in Transylvania 900 years ago and built pretty much all we see today. In Valea Viilor we visit the 700 years old Fortified Church, listed in Unesco World Heritage. We move on and stop for nice traditional lunch in Malancrav Village. It is a remote village with a superb Fortified Church. After visiting the church and lunch, we drive 30 minutes and reach a Transylvanian treasure: Sighisoara Citadelle where we have a nice walking tour. OVERNIGHT IN SIGHISOARA
 

Day 10
Drive 1 hour and stop in Viscri Saxon Village, the favorite village of Charles, Price of Wales who comes almost every year here. We visit the Fortress and continue for 2 hours to Brasov. On the way, we stop and admire FROM THE OUTSIDE Bran Castle. We know you’ll want to go inside, but almost every day it is very crowded. Seeing it from the outside is a great photo opportunity ! Drive 45 minutes and reach Brasov Medieval City where we’ll have a walking tour in the Old Town. OVERNIGHT IN BRASOV 
 

Day 11
After leaving from Brasov we stop after 1 hour and see Peles Palace from the outside, from the gardens. We try to avoid crowds ! After seeing Peles Palace, we drive 2 hours and reach Bucharest. Free time in Bucharest. OVERNIGHT IN BUCHAREST
 

Day 12
Today is time to say goodbye. We transfer you to the Airport. END OF OUR SERVICES