Transylvania Photo Tour – 12 days

Day 1
BUCHAREST

Arrival in Bucharest – the capital of Romania. Pick-up from the airport and transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is free. In the evening you meet your tour guide and the fellow travelers.

Overnight in Bucharest.

Day 2
BUCHAREST – HOREZU

The day starts very early in the morning with a photo walk. During the 3-hour sightseeing tour of Bucharest you’ll take pictures of the famous Parliament Palace, the Village Museum and the Square of the Revolution.

Bucharest is a city of contrasts, it’s historical layers being mixed everywhere. An old shabby house, once with a beautiful Art Nouveau architecture, lies right next to a shiny sleek glass tower or sometimes, the glass tower juts out right through the roof of once a stunning house. A huge communist neighborhood guards a green quiet park, narrow cobblestone streets go parallel with large Parisian-like boulevards, expensive limousines pass by 30 years old tramways jam-packed with people and a beautiful Romanian young woman passes by a dirty beggar. Observe all these daily usual moments of Bucharest and capture them with your camera.

You’ll also visit the Revolution Square where thousands of people put an end to a 45-year long vicious regime. Get to understand the communist horrors and sufferings an entire nation had to endure. Around the Revolution Square there are many impressive buildings such as The National Art Museum, the Kretzulescu Church, the Central Library University and several others. You’ll be given explanation about each and every one. You won’t leave this area before admiring the Romanian Athenaeum, the symbol of Bucharest.

The tour of Bucharest continues with the famous Parliament, also known as the House of People. Built at the request of Ceausescu, the former communist leader, the building became the largest administrative construction of Europe. You’ll admire the building from outside and try to capture its huge size.

The Village Museum is the last stop of the day. Inaugurated in 1936, this outdoor museum boasts old traditional houses representative for the whole country. With it’s little adobe houses, wooden churches, watermills and beautiful park, the museum is a wonderful place for a photographer.

After lunch you’ll be taken to the countryside. The world changes dramatically as you enter the village where you’ll stay for one night. You’ll take a stroll on the roads of the village, you’ll observe the cows coming back home by themselves, you’ll take pictures of the horse-wooden carts and in the evening you’ll enjoy a tasty dinner in a stunning guest house.

Overnight in Horezu

Day 3
HOREZU – SIBIU

Early in the morning, before breakfast, when the light is just perfect for photography and when the local farmers get out on the narrow roads, when the dust adds a little bit of magic to the entire rural landscape, you’ll take a photo walk. To these villages add some 200 years old fortified houses built in a traditional style. They will make a perfect setting for morning pictures.

In Horezu, the most important ceramic center in Romania, you’ll take pictures of the pot makers and you’ll find out more things about the history of ceramic in these places.

The photo tour continues and you’ll set off to Sibiu. After lunch you’ll take a rest and in the afternoon you’ll enjoy a walking guided tour of Sibiu. This city is perhaps the most beautiful city in Romania, and perhaps the reason it was chosen as the European Cultural Capital in 2007. Built by German colonists who had been brought to Transylvania by the Hungarian kings, Sibiu is a stunning medieval city. It boasts wonderful architecture: towers, old churches, cobblestone streets and alleys, passages, staircases and cast-iron bridges. Therefore, the afternoon should be a wonderful occasion for some street photography. In the evening you’ll have the chance of shooting the medieval square of Sibiu during the blue hour.

Overnight in Sibiu

Day 4
SIBIU

Early in the morning, before the sunrise, you’ll set off to the rural area around Sibiu. You’ll get to roam on dirt roads, to capture interesting rural scenes, and to admire a very different way of living. You’ll be taken to several mountain villages, you’ll capture a beautiful sunrise above the Transylvanian plateau and then you’ll continue towards upper villages and sheepfolds. You’ll meet the shepherds and you’ll take pictures of them. Before lunch you’ll arrive back in Sibiu, in time for a good meal and a rest.

In the second part of the day you’ll be taken to the former German villages. Because of the World War and communist regime most of the former German colonists either died in the Soviet gulags or they left Romania in the years after. Now, their former villages are inhabited by few Germans, several Romanians and a large Gypsy population. You’ll be visiting these poor forgotten villages and you’ll take pictures of this very interesting minority.

Overnight in Sibiu

Day 5
SIBIU – HUNEDOARA – ALBA IULIA – TURDA

Today you’ll enjoy some of the most important tourist destinations from Romania. First, you’ll take a detour for the Corvin Castle located in Hunedoara. Named by Lonely Planet the spookiest building in Europe, the castle impresses through its size and Gothic architecture. Definitely, it is a great site for any photographer. You’ll take a tour of the Corvin Castle and you’ll visit even the former dungeons and you’ll get to know the legend of the well.

Alba Iulia is known for its fortress built in the first part of the 18th century and is one of the best preserved Vauban fortifications in Romania. You’ll enjoy a walking tour of the citadel and you’ll visit buildings such as the Orthodox Cathedral and the Roman Catholic Church.

In the afternoon you’ll reach a remote rural area located in the Carpathian Mountains. You’ll take advantage of the afternoon light and you’ll enjoy a photo walk in these forgotten villages. You’ll take pictures of the locals, gorgeous landscape and architecture.

Overnight in Transylvanian village

Day 6
TURDA – TARGU MURES

Early in the morning you’ll be enjoying a hiking tour in order to reach a panoramic point from where you’ll be able to take some great sunrise shots. Depending on how fit you are for this kind of adventure, several hiking trails can be taken, from easy and short to longer and a little bit more difficult.

The tour continues with a very different kind of tourist attraction. The salt mine of Turda is an outstanding landmark on the map of the Romanian tourism. The salt mine was renovated in 2009 and represents a great opportunity for any photographer to take very interesting pictures. Don’t forget your tripod.

After the salt mine you’ll be driven to to a small village near the city of Targu Mures where a castle lies for centuries. You’ll be taking pictures of the village and the castle and then you’ll enjoy a dinner like a noble.

Overnight in a Transylvanian village

Day 7

TARGU MURES – BIERTAN – SIGHISOARA

In Targu Mures you’ll encounter a new type of architecture, the Secession style. Developed for the first time in Germany and Austria, the style spread out into many other parts of the Western world. In Transylvania it was introduced by the local Hungarian authorities in cities such as Targu Mures, Medias, and Cluj Napoca. One of the most impressive Secession buildings is the Culture Palace in Targu Mures – you’ll get to admire the building’s Concert Hall and visit other museums including the Art Museum.

On the way you’ll make a detour for the UNESCO site of Biertan. Located in a beautiful rural area of Transylvania, the castle-church of Biertan is perched on a hill surrounded by old Saxon houses which preserve the medieval atmosphere. You’ll enjoy a tour of the fortress and church, where you’ll learn the history of this place as well as hear some funny stories. Not far away lies a village where you’ll be able to photograph a genuine gypsy family.

In the afternoon, we will come to Sighisoara, one of the best medieval citadels of Europe, a top UNESCO heritage site. Founded by the Germans in the 12th and 13th centuries, Sighisoara is a major tourist attraction. In the afternoon you’ll get a short walking tour of Sighisoara, where you will admire the cobblestone alleys, the medieval buildings, and the watch-towers. The Clock Tower itself is the perfect spot for an amazing panorama.

Sighisoara is surrounded by many remote German villages, real time capsules where it is very normal of seeing cows walking freely on dirt roads, plenty of horse-drawn carts, old houses, and stunning medieval fortified churches, several of them UNESCO sites. During this photo tour you’ll have the chance of spending two nights in one of these villages. You’ll stay in a renovated house, full of history and character.

Overnight in Transylvanian village

Day 8
SIGHISOARA – VISCRI

Very early in the morning you’ll see the cows of the villages being gathered by the herdsmen in one place. You’ll follow them while slowly go towards the pastures. The dirt roads will be crossed by wooden carts, gypsy children and other animals. A perfect occasion to take pictures of a world which slowly vanishes.

Continue the photo tour through the rolling hills of Transylvania and after a while you’ll reach the famous village of Viscri. There is no asphalt in Viscri, just 2-3 dirt roads, the main one being quite wide. This road is lined on both sides with beautiful and unique houses, of Saxon-like style. They stand proud of their heritage, like immortal soldiers of the past, almost telling a medieval history. To these, add one of the oldest fortified churches of Transylvania, another UNESCO site. In the same site you’ll visit the blacksmith.

After lunch you’ll go back to your place and in the afternoon you’ll be ready to head back to Sighisoara for a night shooting and a dinner at Dracul’s House.

Overnight in a Transylvanian village

Day 9
SIGHISOARA – BRASOV – BRAN

Today you’ll leave behind the remote villages of Transylvania and you’ll discover some of the most famous tourist sites in Romania.

You’ll start with Brasov. Its medieval atmosphere, with old and stunning buildings, its cobblestone streets, its quiet and hidden alleys are among the most important reasons that make Braşov so desirable. The famous Black Church, the largest church between Vienna and Istanbul, as it is described by many travel guides, can be considered another reason. If you take into consideration the fact that Braşov is surrounded by the green and steep slopes of the Postavaru Mountain which offers great views over the entire city and beyond, then you can see why this city entices its travelers.

Bran Castle is by far one of the most famous tourist attractions of Romania, therefore we can’t miss it. Originally built by the Teutonic nights some 800 years ago, Bran Castle became famous especially after Bram Stoker wrote his famous novel “Dracula.”

Overnight in Bran

Day 10
BRAN – RASNOV – PREJMER – BRAN

Very early in the morning, before lunch, you’ll be taken up in the mountains to discover one of the most beautiful little and forgotten villages in Romania. Small wooden houses are scattered over the green hills guarded by tall menacing mountain peaks.

Romania is known for its large brown bear population. About 6000 of them, half of Europe’s total bear population, are located in the Carpathian Mountains. Not far away from Bran lies a bear reservation and here you’ll be able to shot some of them, of course, just with your photo camera.

After lunch we’ll take a detour to the most impressive fortified church in Transylvania. Built 800 years ago, the fortified church of Prejmer is another UNESCO site, and also extremely well- preserved. On the way back to Bran you’ll take a detour for the most famous mountain resort in Romania and then you’ll continue the photo tour with the peasant fortress of Rasnov. Built more than 800 years ago, perched on the top of a high hill, the fortress of Rasnov was conquered only once. Today, it offers a great panoramic view over Transylvania.

Overnight in Bran

Day 11
BRAN – SINAIA – BUCHAREST

On the way back to Bucharest, we’ll pass through the Carpathian Mountains for the last time. You are going to take some mountain roads and you’ll capture beautiful rivers, tall mountains or green hills.. Sinaia is another famous mountain resort of Romania, and it is here that Prince Carol decided to build his summer residence. many say it might be the most beautiful castle in the whole world. After the visit of the interiors you’ll roam around the royal property for some gorgeous pictures.

The monastery of Sinaia is a fine example of Byzantine art, and is the oldest building of Sinaia.

In the afternoon we’ll reach Bucharest, and in the evening, you’ll enjoy a final dinner (and maybe some more plum brandy).

Overnight in Bucharest

Day 12
BUCHAREST – OTOPENI AIRPORT

You’ll be transferred to the airport according to your flight time.

End of the tour

pictures by Daniel Gheorghita
© Covinnus Travel Ltd.