Day 3: Monday 10th October 2022

Start: Bucharest, Romania

Finish: Brasov, Romania

Currency: Romanian Leu

Temperature: (10-24 degrees) Sunny

Hello my literary friends! This morning we were up for breakfast by 7.15am before boarding the bus for an 8am departure, leaving the Inter Business Hotel and Bucharest behind. Today we are on the way to one of the highlights of Romania; Bran Castle AKA Dracula’s Castle.

Hues of orange and yellow smattered the landscape as we drove higher and higher into the Carpatian mountains. Leaves fall from every direction, carpeting the streets and walkways. Our first stop was a cute service station for a quick bathroom break before making our way up to Peles Castle. This trip only took about two and a half hours from the hotel. Sadly, being a Monday, the castle itself is closed, but the gardens were open which allowed us the opportunity to walk through the exterior and take photos and a few shameless selfies in an hour long stop. For a while, Kings used Peles palace as a winter palace for entertaining, but for approximately 40 years, local Romanians weren’t allowed to enter the Peles forest because it was prohibited. The villages up the mountains feel very reminiscent of the Austrian or Swiss Alps. Peles felt somewhat similar to Engelberg, Switzerland. We have seen our first ‘warning bears sighted’ signs for the brown bears up in these mountains.

The next stop today is only 30-60 minutes away at Bran Castle (45Leu pp entry fee) where we have 2 hours for visiting. Home of Vlad the ‘Impaler’. The castle towers over the valley below, nestled into the mountainside beneath a radiant sun. Our guide Kaan was kind enough to buy us all tickets in one lump (bring cash!) which allowed us a chance to skip the queue and walk straight into the castle. Inside, a series of paths and narrow walkways flow through the floors, leading guests further into the depths of the castle. We found a handful of windows and vistas for selfies and snaps amongst the twisting stairwells. Several holographic videos play inside themed rooms for dramatic effect, including a short clip explaining the history of Dracula and the theme of vampires in Transylvania. The village of Bran is picturesque, with rolling green hills and terracotta roofs scattering the countryside.

Outside, the castle had a few beautiful photo opportunities from the garden, before wandering the small markets at the base of the hill. Here we found the cutest themed gingerbread cookies and picked up an interesting traditional dish, Langos from the Mexiros stall. The fried (almost doughnut) dough sat topped with spicy sausage, sour cream, fresh red onion and lashings of cheese.

Back on the bus, we head for our stop tonight, only approximately 30 minutes from Bran; The Hotel Cubix is clean and tidy, located very centrally and only a five minute walk from an enormous supermarket and shopping mall.

After checking in, many of our group walked to the supermarket and bought snacks and alcoholic beverages to take with us for the rest of the journey.

 Tips:

Have cash available for the castle today, it made it so fast that our entire group was able to pay in one go and walk in together.

Accommodation: Hotel Cubix, Brasov