Last Updated on April 6, 2023 by PowersToTravel
My Romania Travel Blog describes the thrill of our visit to Romania on an eleven day tour in September 2018, as the lead-in and most anticipated part of our extended thirty-three day trip around Eastern Europe. Of all the countries in Eastern Europe, Romania attracted me the most, and we spent the largest part of our time there.
Itinerary
I have written about many of the experiences below. Just click on the links to the articles.
- Day 1 – Arrival in Bucharest by plane from Boston via Frankfurt. Walking/sightseeing to the old part of the city: Stavropoleos Monastery Church, Biserica Sfantul Anton, old inn Hanul lui Manuc. Dinner at traditional restaurant Caru Cu Bere.
- Day 2 – Sightseeing with guide: Village open-air museum, Ceausescu’s mansion, the Cotroceni Quarter, Parliament tour. Long drive to Sibui.
- Day 3 – Sightseeing in historic city center of Sibui, Drive to Alba Iulia multi-era Vaubon fort, Turda Salt Mines (not to be missed!). Drive to Cluj Napoca.
- Day 4 – Sightseeing a little in Cluj Napoca, drive through town of Baia Mara to Sighetu Marmatiei in Maramures. On the way visit Surdesti and Desesti Wooden Churches (UNESCO World Heritage sites)
- Day 5 – Around Marmures – Sapinta Church, Barsana Nunnery, Anti-Communism Museum, visit to local farm, dinner with local family with a folk show
- Day 6 – Drive to Bucovina via Prislop Pass. Local museum Muzeul Țărăncii Române in Dragomiresti, Egg Museum at Vama. Night at Gura Humorului
- Day 7 – Drive around Bucovina – see the UNESCO World Heritage sites: Voronet, Moldovita, Sucevita and Humor painted churches. Visit local traditions museum in Gura Humorolui
- Day 8 – Drive to Sighisoara, on the way visiting Neamt Citadel, evening walk in Sighisoara
- Day 9 – Around Sighisoara – town walk, visit to Biertan Fortified Church and visit with local gypsy family
- Day 10 – Drive to Brasov, visiting Citadel Rupea, and Dracula’s Bran Castle on the way. Sightseeing in Brasov.
- Day 11 – Stopping for a visit to Peles Castle on the way past Bucharest to the Bulgarian border at Giurgiu,
I have so many positive thoughts about our trip to Romania. Click here to see all my Romania Travel Blog articles about it.
Planning a trip to Romania
When planning a trip to anywhere I am not familiar, I go through several consistent steps and answer several questions:
- Can I afford this? I prefer to travel in less expensive locations – as long as I get more “bang for my buck” I’ll search for local travel agencies and try estimate costs before I even contact them.
- Is the location beautiful, or present unique cultural differences? I’ll start with the itineraries written by agencies, then start to google the images for those locations, and consult Trip Advisor too.
- Does it have enough of interest to match my planned trip duration? Should I combine that location with others to make a complete trip, or should I break that country in pieces and focus only on a smaller area for the entire trip? How long are the trips offered by agencies generally last?
- Do I want to travel independently or be escorted by a private driver/guide? We don’t go on group trips, so it can be a challenge trying to fund private trips, and so mix trips up, alternating independent travel w/guided travel. Do I need the services of a driver/guide due to language barriers or lack of reliable/comfortable public transport?
As I planned Romania, the answer kept being “Go with a guide!” I bumped into Compass Travel early on, and they kept being the easy answer to every one of the subsequent questions.
They published prices and the prices were acceptable to us. They provided a private driver/guide. That was good. Rural Romania is a key goal, and public transport is very unreliable and sparse – we would clearly need a car. We worried about our lack of Romanian language skills, and because Romania is not as high on the radar for tourism, worried about everyone’s English skills. A guide would be critical to getting us around and helping us understand what we were seeing. We want enjoyment, not stress, when we travel!
In sum, we trusted their interesting itinerary and were not disappointed! Click here to read my review.
Diabetic Travel Tips
Click here for my Diabetic Travel Tips for International Travel.
However, for Romania in particular I have happily little to add.
Water
The water is safe to drink in Romania. Many prefer bottled water for the taste, but there aren’t little microbes running around! I ate salad throughout the country and was so happy to do so!
Disease
The mosquitoes don’t carry tropic diseases.
Meal Bolusing
The food is very meat and potato-based. which meant my learning curve for managing meal boluses was not steep.
Sleeping
One travel tip I do want to impart is not related to diabetes at all – it is related to SLEEP. The beds in the hotels in Romania are particularly hard. Because we would be traveling for 33 days in Eastern Europe, and about half of the time we would be on our own and managing train connections, I chose not to bring my “bed” with me.
This bed to which I refer is a twin-sized “egg-crate” foam mattress, such as the ones typically bought at Walmart or Target. We lay the egg-crate mattress horizontally across the bed, so that gives me the extra cushioning I need for my shoulders, and also supports our hips so that our backs don’t hurt. It would be nice to bring along a queen-sized foam, however that just won’t fit as a carry-on, and that’s how I generally bring my egg-crate. (I purchased a very light-weight, rather flimsy duffle from Walmart, roll up the egg-crate, fold in a twin flat sheet, and I’m ready to go.)
As I said, I didn’t bring my egg-crate and boy, did I wish I had. See my review of Compass Travel for the efforts that Iulian expended trying to get me some sort of softness.
Bottom Line, Lesson-Learned: If we go to Europe, we bring the egg-crate, no matter what!
Motion Sickness
Another travel risk surprised me – motion sickness. I easily get ill and generally depend on the little “Sea Bands” bracelets, however they failed me on this trip. Read my post “Citadel Neamt, along the long road from Guru Humorului to Sighisoara” for my complete lesson-learned.
Summary
Eleven days were not enough to experience Romania. I want more!
Click here for all my Romania travel blog articles
Click here for all the travel blog articles for our entire 33-day Eastern Europe Trip.
Click here for all the video-slide shows for our entire 33-day Eastern Europe Trip.
