Canis aureus

Over 160 individuals of Canis Aureus were identified recently in Buzau mountains. Canis aureus is one of protected species in Romania.

Brown Bear Photo Safari

Recently Skyscanner, the known ticketing site, ranked Zarnesti as the first place to go for a photo-safari in Europe.

Imagine a World Without Romania

...or without Romanians, like:

Petrache Poenaru - inventor of the ink pen (fountain pen)

Ştefan Odobleja - the father of cybernetics

Nicolae Paulescu - the true inventor of insulin

Henri Coanda - creator of the jet plane

Nadia Comăneci - who got the first perfect 10 in gymnastics, at the Olympic Games in Montreal, 1976. She won three Olympic gold medals in Montreal and two gold medals in 1980 Olympics

Vlad Dracula - the legend that probably inspired Bram Stoker for his novel "Dracula"

Mircea Eliade - Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago

Constantin Brâncuşi - world renowned sculpto, precursor of modernism. 

Helmut Duckadam - the first man to defend four penalty strikes in a row, in Champion's Cup final in 1986, won by Steaua Bucharest

or places like the merry cemetery in Săpânţa, the wooden gates in Maramureş area, Voroneţ monastery famous for it's unique blue, the Brâncovenesc architecture. 

Well, this clip doesn't mention the rich wildlife or natural beauties of Romania, like the Danube Delta, Apuseni Mountains, Făgăraş Mountains. For for this, you have to come to Romania and admire them live.

HRH the Prince of Wales, endorsing Transylvania

HRH, Prince Charles of Wales promotes Transylvania considering it "a place of extraordinary natural beauty and cultural richness". He mentions the efforts that The Mihai Eminescu Trust puts in conserving the natural beauty and the villages of Transylvania. the main focus is preserving the Saxon villages and the ancient way of life, where people is tightly linked to the nature and the landscape

Narrow gauge railroad Sighisoara - Sibiu

Few weeks ago a handful of enthusiasts managed to fix the locomotive and narrow gauge railway connecting Sibiu to Sighişoara, via Agnita. It'll run between 11.00 and 15.00 and for children there will be a cyclo-trolley on a secondary lane. 

Mihai Blotor , a web-designer from Agnita set up the foundation "Friends of the narrow gauge railway" and manage to obtain the money for the project, celebrating 100 years of Sibiu, Agnita şi Sighişoara narrow gauge. He tells the story explaining that , in 2007, when the renovation project started, there was nothing more than the railway and the stations. More people (engineers, architects, historians or MDs) joined the project in time. They started with an inventary of the 50 km railway left. A list of things to do has been put together and more volunteers joined over time.

View Larger Map

In 2007 Mihai managed to obtain the narrow gauge classification on the list of Romania's national monuments and in 2008 with the help of the town hall of Agnita they obtained the concession of the railway to a group of town halls

Rebuilding stations and water towers, weed cutting and vegetation removing, saving from scrap and fixing carriages, and three and a half years later we have, for the beginning, two km or railway and the train working again.  

The narrow-gauge railway is running on one of Romania's most beautiful places, central and  south Transylvania and among some of the  most interesting castles and fortifications in Romania.

Congratulations to the entire team and we're looking forward to get in touch and help the narrow gauge railway !

Marginimea Sibiului

Mărginimea Sibiului cannot be translated in English. We could translate as Sibiu's Outskirts or Sibiu County or Sibiu Area. But none of them is exactly correct either from the geographical point of view or from what we feel about the area. Who spent some time strolling on the streets of Sibiu or just admiring the endless hills rolling towards the horizon at sunset knows what I mean.

So, sorry my friends but I'll use "Mărginimea Sibiului" as for the beautiful area around the city of Sibiu, full of magnificent landscapes and middle-age fortified churches. But let's see what one can visit in that area.

1. First, I would refer to the fortified churches. During the 13th century Transylvania was not a peaceful piece of land. Villagers from this area had to build strongholds and to fortify the most important buildings which were the churches. I already mentioned Cisnădioara, my favorite fortification, with thick walls and a very simple architecture. The church in Valea Viilor or the fortified church in Biertan are part of UNESCO World heritage.

2. the icons museum in Sibiel is the only one of it's kind in the world, shelters over 700 glass icons. The Museum was founded by the priest Zosim Oancea, with the help of the inhabitants of Sibiel and other donors. The entry ticket is 4 lei (1 Euro)

3. Răşinari is the village that gave Romania 7 members of the Academy. Emil Cioran, Octavian Goga were born here.

4. Astra Museum of traditional civilization is a must stop when visiting the area. Households from allover Romania are brought together in Europe's largest open air museum.

5. Ocna Sibiului spa was recently renovated and is prepared to offer quality services.

6. Cindrel National Park is pretty easy to hike and unspoilt, a little bit in the shade of big Făgăraş mountains.

10 Reasons to Visit Romania in Low Season

I was thinking about the holidays in low season and I came up with the idea of writing a post about visiting Romania in low season. While you can find out about the advantages of traveling in low tourist season on other websites, this post is focus on Romania.

To start, I should probably define what low-season means here in Romania. Well, is the period between February or march until the beginning of June and then the fall, from September to late November.

1. Definitely fewer tourists. While I do like tourists, there are moments when I look for a more peaceful environment. Take Sighişoara, for example. Our last tour going to Sighişoara took place in September and it was already much less crowded than it'd have been in July or August
   
   
   
   

   

   Sighişoara - the clock tower
2. Migration of birds in Danube Delta. The spring and fall migrations take place in May and September-October. For birds lovers this is a spectacle that shouldn't be missed

3. More pleasant temperatures, both in the mountains and in the towns. While some mountains, like Făgăraş Mountains can be too cold or too dangerous for the non-experimented tourist (in which case I strongly recommend the services of a specialized mountain guide), other mountains are just as fine in the extra-season. Examples of such mountains are Baiului, Ciucas, Apuseni Mts.
   
   
   
   

   

   Mountain biking in Baiului Mountains
4. Better prices for accommodation, that many times translate in better rates for tours of adventure travel companies.
5. While there is a less requested period, you have better chances to find places in your tours at the active travel companies. Not only to find availabilities, but also to choose the desired date of departure.
6. Better traffic. Traffic in Romania can be quite a problem. Going to the seaside or to Prahova Valley during the week-end can be a real challenge. Well, if you travel in a time-frame outside of children's holidays, the traffic already gets better. And with it possibilities for cycling increase. Of course, many of the organized cycling tours, at least the ones arranged by Outdoor Holidays, take place in remote areas, not on the main streets, but there are situations where few kilometers on a bigger road are necessary, in order to cross from one side to the other.

   

   Cycling in Romania countryside
7. Some activities are definitely better. Take river-rafting for example. during the spring and autumn, there are better chances to find good water conditions.
   
   

   

   River rafting in North of Romania

8. Foliage - the Carpathians might not be as high as the Alps, but they definitely offer nice forests. Unlike the Alps, where many times you start hiking at or above 2000 meters above sea level, in Romania's Carpathians you hike many times between 800 m and 2000 m. That's the area where the alpine forests lies, and the colors of a deciduous forest are just great.
   
   

   

   Colors of autumn in Romania
9. Better chances to find accommodation without booking in advance. Well, Romania has many guest-houses spread throughout the country (mainly in the tourist areas, is true) and sometimes if you like an area you can just drop-in to some of those, asking for accommodation. During summer months, they are most of the times full, but you have better chances outside the season. 
10. Last, but not least, if you like spooky experiences you can spend a Halloween in Transylvania. Go to Dracula related places at the end of October, for the real deal :).

Transylvania top 10

I noticed many people ask about things to see in Transylvania. While Transylvania is a rich piece of land, both from historic point of view and from that of the natural landscape, I will try to shortly describe the most interesting places in Transylvania. Here would be my top 10 :

1) Sighişoara - first attested in documents in 1291, Castrum Seg or Castrum Sex how it was called at that time (meaning the town on the hill) is Europe's only medieval fortress continuously inhabited until now. At the same time it is, in my opinion, Romania's most representative place to go if you're keen about middle-ages. OK, and it is Vlad III Dracula's birth place, but not only for this it deserves a visit. Did I mention that the Historic Centre of Sighişoara is part of UNESCO World heritage ?

2) Apuseni Mountains - a world apart. A world of caves and rocky formations, of glaciers in caves and unique plants. Here we can find the "Arnica montana", medicinal plant frequently used by professional athletes.

The natural park of Apuseni shelters Romania's biggest glacier, Scărişoara, but also an ancient lifestyle. Interesting places in Apuseni include Cetăţile Ponorului, Galbena Gorge, Glavoi, Râmeţi Gorge.

3) Sibiu old town - Sibiu was one of the important towns even since the middle ages, due to it's position in the center of Transylvania. Nowadays the tows was heavily restored for being European Capital of Culture in 2007.

4) Astra Museum in Sibiu - the museum of traditional civilization is, according to my knowledge, Europe's biggest open air museum. It shelters traditional households from all parts of the country and people is very polite, explaining the tools and the lifestyle of the inhabitants. Allow one full day to visit it.

5) Wooden churches in Maramureş. Included in UNESCO world heritage as outstanding example of vernacular architecture the churches are not only a worth visit for themselves but also for admiring Maramureş county, with its lifestyle, costumes and traditions.

6) Râşnov Fortress. Build on top of a heavily accessible hill, Râşnov is one of the best preserved medieval fortifications in central Europe. By the time I took this picture (April 2010) the fortress was not open to public due to a conflict between the Italian guy who took it under concession and the municipality of Râşnov, upon some restoration work done. Now the fortress is again open for visits. Although in a top of castles and fortifications in Romania I placed it second after Cisnădioara, I must admit that Cisnădioara is just a

7) Făgăraş Mountains. They offer impressive views and a real alpine landscape. Hiking Făgăraş mountains is an experience that takes place most of the time higher than 2000 m above sea level, and is an experience that can include moody weather, so I recommend caution. During winter it becomes really tough and dangerous, go during summer time for a relaxing holiday. The effort is fully rewarded by the landscapes encountered.

8) Bran Castle. Strongly perceived as Dracula Castle, Bran is just a border castle erected in XIII-th century. It belonged to inhabitants of Braşov and used for defending. Vlad III Dracula eventually only spent one night here, while attacking the people of Braşov for sheltering a political rival.

9) Braşov old town.Braşov is now a modern city in center of Romania, but it used to play an important role in Transylvania, since late middle ages.

10) Hunedoara Castle. Very well preserved and very impressive, Corvin Castle (as it is also known) was first belonging Voice of Hunedoara, as a donation from Hungarian King. Than it was the castle of Iancu of Hunedoara (a.k.a. John Huniady) (between 1419 and 1456).