Arrival at Bucharest airport. Meet your English speaking guide and transfer to Sinaia, named the Pearl of the Carpathians. Visit one of the oldest monasteries in the country, Sinaia Monastery. With a history that goes back 300 years, marked by a special relationship with the royal family, this venerable monastery is a must-see attraction thanks to its two churches built 150 years apart. The monastery and the Old Church were built in 1695 by Prince Mihai Cantacuzino after his trip to the holy grounds of Nazareth and Jerusalem. Profoundly impressed by the image of Saint Catherine Monastery, he decided to dedicate a place of worship to Virgin Mary back home. Located in the dense forests of the Carpathians, the small monastery was named Sinaia, in the memory of Mount Sinai where Moses allegedly received the Ten Commandments. Overnight in Sinaia.

Visit the summer residence of the first royal couple, King Carol I and Queen Elisabeth, Peles Castle, one of the most beautiful palaces in Europe. Drive to Bran to visit the famous medieval castle built as a fortress – The „Dracula’s” Castle – for the citizens of Brașov with view to defence the city. Prince Vlad used the Castle as a general headquarters during his incursions in Transylvania. For many years, it has been an interesting medieval art museum. Surrounded by an aura of mystery and legend and perched high atop a 200-foot-high rock, Bran Castle was built on the site of a Teutonic Knights stronghold dating from 1212 and it was first documented in an act issued by Louis I of Hungary on November 19, 1377, giving the Saxons of Kronstadt (Brasov) the privilege to build the Citadel. Arrival in Brasov. Fringed by the peaks of the Southern Carpathian Mountains and resplendent with gothic, baroque and renaissance archit ecture, as well as a wealth of historical attractions, Brașov is one of the most visited places in Romania. Walking tour in Brașov and visit the Black Church, the largest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul. Overnight in Brașov.

Drive to Corund, passing by impressive landscapes in the Carpathains Mountains. Arrival in Corund. Corund lies in a place of a rare beauty, in a picturesque landscape, and it is one of the oldest settlements of the region. Once it was the home of fairies between the Firtos and Tartod mountains. The settlement is situated in a captivating ambience among creeks, mineral waters, forests, farms, etc. The name of Corund is inseparable of popular ceramics, being one of the popular pottery centre from Transylvania (from 1600). The artisan articles exposed in the front of the houses attract many tourists. They can choose from among beautiful ceramics, objects made of straw or cornhusk, wool, timber and wood. Drive to Red Lake and Bicaz Gorges, where the surroundings are dramatic. Stop at Red Lake, formed by a mountain sliding in the 1830s. Overnight in Piatra Neamț.

Drive to the north of the country, passing by traditional Moldavian villages. Visit Agapia monastery – the greatest monastic complex. Neamț County is an area blessed with many touristic sites: Century-old monasteries, fascinating museums, fortresses and strongholds as well as many natural parks ideal for hiking and wild-life watching. Visit Neamț monastery, the oldest in Romania, dating from the 14th century, which was an important cultural centre and an example for all Moldavian churches, located in Ceahlău Mountain – also known as The Athos of Romanian Orthodoxy. Overnight in Gura Humorului  in the heart of Bucovina.

Full day in Bucovina to discover the most important treasures that this area can offer to you, visitors: the painted monasteries. Begin your day with Voroneț, the most famous out of all, known as the Sistine Chapel of the East and featuring one the best Last Judgment fresco in this part of the World. Next is Moldovița Monastery where the UNESCO Golden Apple Award given to the painted churches in 1975, is kept. As a cultural connection, enjoy a traditional Bucovina lunch in the picturesque village of Sucevița. Later continue to the nearby Sucevița Monastery, which is the largest of all, looking more like a mighty fortress than a monastery. The Ladder of John of Sinai is considered one of the best of the frescoes of Sucevița, rarely present in medieval Romanian art. In the village of Marginea visit the black pottery workshop – they use a technique called „oxygen reduction”, there is the same technique in Mexico only! Return to the hotel. Overnight in Gura Humorului.

Drive to Maramureș, the land of wooden churches. Due to the relative isolation of their land, the people of Maramureș developed a particularly strong community with a unique personality, traditions, culture and lifestyle unspoiled for centuries. Start exploring Maramureș along the picturesque Iza River Valley – an excellent opportunity to witness daily life in this corner of Europe and also meet locals. Visit Bogdan Vodă wooden church (UNESCO Site). Next is the exquisite Bârsana Nunnery, an example of Maramureș wooden church architecture at its best. Stop in the village of Rozavlea for a visit to a famous master carver in his own workshop. He represented Romania at the 1999 Smithsonian World Folk Festival in Washington, DC. Overnight in Sighetu Marmației.

Early departure to Vișeu. Embark in a fabulous adventure – Mocănița train. CFF Vişeu de Sus is located in the East side of Maramureş county. Also known as „Mocăniţa” or Vaser Valley railway, the steam train track leads along the River Vaser and is the only mean of transport to the heart of Maramureş Mountains (protected area). Built in 1932, the Vaser Valley railway is still working, primarily aimed as logging wood from the forest for the wood processing factories from Vişeu de Sus. CFF Vişeu de Sus is today the last remaining functional forestry train in Europe still used for wood transportation. At Paltin, tourists are invited to discover the wild, unaltered nature of the valley, to make a picnic and admire the view from the rock platform located nearby. Drive back to Sighetu Marmației. Overnight.

Drive along Tisa River (very close to the Ukrainian border) and reach the village of Săpânța world famous for its „Merry Cemetery”. Here each wooden cross carries a funny epitaph about the person’s life. Drive to Breb, onsidered one of the last pockets of traditional rural life left in Europe, and many describe it as a snapshot of the continent as it was two centuries ago. Walking in the village to discover the local traditions and the peasants’ lifestyle. Drive to Cluj-Napoca. Walking tour in the city centre. Overnight in Cluj-Napoca.

Drive to Turda and visit the salt mine. Turda Salt Mine is a very old, being mentioned by Hungarian chancellery for the first time in Middle Ages (1075 AD). In 1932 after more than 900 years of constant Salt mining, the salt extraction was stopped due to low productivity and the mine closed. Sixty years later, the mine has been reopened, this time for tourism (It has a bizarre Amusement park including ping pong tables, bowling, boat renting and a Ferris wheel! a Museum of salt mining and as a place for Halotherapy – Salt therapy for respiratory ailments, skin irritations). One can visit three old mines: Iosif – the Echo Room, Terezia – with a depth of 120 m (a small lake and a salt cascade) and Rudolf – the largest of them all (42 meters deep, 50 meters wide and 80 meters long). Arrival in Sighișoara, World Heritage Site and the only still inhabited medieval citadel in Europe. Before starting your walking tour of old Sighișoara attend an informal talk on Vlad the Impaler – Dracula, what is truth and what is fiction. Sighișoara is one of a kind. It was developed by the German settlers as of late 12th century. It stands on a network of tunnels and catacombs and, according to one version of the myth; this is where the Pied Piper brought the children of Hamelin after their ungrateful parents refused to pay him his due. The walking tour includes the two squares of the Citadel (Upper Town), the Scholars’ Staircase, the House with Antler, the Clock Tower (climb up for a great view). Sighișoara is the place where the Vlad the Impaler Dracula was born in 1431. Overnight in Sighișoara.

Morning drive to the heart of Transilvanya. The Saxon villages display a remarkable, unspoiled harmony between people and landscape. Drive to Valea Viilor to visit the impressive fortified church – UNESCO world heritage. Arrival in Sibiu. Visit to Sibiu is a „must” as this was the European Cultural Capital in 2007. We suggest you take an incursion in the medieval center who has been very well preserved: the Big Square, where in past times big reunions and executions took place, the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, the fortifications, etc. Overnight in Sibiu.

Drive to Hunedoara and visit Corvin Castle, the largest castle in all East Europe and the only Gothic castle entirely preserved in Romania. Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles meet here to create a unique 14th century castle. This picturesque medieval castle stands grand with tall walls and towers next to a river over which a long entrance bridge was built to protect it from invaders. As legend has it Vlad Țepeș (the main character who inspired the story of Dracula) was imprisoned here for 7 years before he married the daughter of the castle owner and took back his reign of Wallachia. The castle also boasts the legend of the raven that held the golden ring in its beak and of the well that took 15 years to dig by Turkish prisoners. Drive to Alba Iulia – considered the spiritual capital of Romania. Alba Iulia was the Residence of the Transylvanian princes and of the Catholic bishops. From 1599 to 1601, Alba Iulia was the capital of the united principalities of Walachia, Transylvania and Moldavia. It was the site of the proclamation of Transylvania’s unification with Romania (1 December 1918) and of the coronation of King Ferdinand in 1922. The Alba Carolina fortress was built between 1714 and 1738 and it is considered to be the most representative baroque, Vauban-type star fortress in Romania and one of the largest of this kind in Eastern Europe. Drive back to Sibiu. Overnight in Sibiu.

Drive on Olt Valley and stop to visit Cozia Monastery, edified by Mircea the Elder, the grandfather of Vlad Tepes (Count Dracula). Departure to Curtea de Argeș, the former capital of Wallachia. Visit the Episcopal Church (built 1512-1517) where the Romanian Kings are buried. Inside are the royal tombs of Romania’s kings Carol I and Ferdinand, and their wives Queens Elizabeth and Mary, as well as tombs of Prince Neagoe Basarab, Prince Radu de la Afumați, and the remains of Saint Philophthea. It is currently the home of the Episcopal Palace of Argeșului. A city with a great past, Curtea de Argeș succeeded Câmpulung as capital of feudal Wallachia. Overnight in Bucharest.

After breakfast, start discovering the Romanian capital. Visit the Parliament Palace, former house of Ceaușescu (built between 1984 and 1989) which is impressive at first only by figures: 270 meters by 240, 86 meters high, 1100 pieces and 12 floors. Ceaușescu wiped a big portion of the surrounding district in order to build this palace. It’s without a doubt that the interior surprises more than the outside: the Transylvanian marble that covers kms of walls, each and every piece is adorned. Big stairways, sophisticated floors and alive colours make the palace a perfect place for shooting a movie. The ceiling is at 8 meters high; everything is at double the size from any palace. The effective surface is actually a small part in comparison to the built surface. Visit Village Museum, one of the biggest open air museums in Europe. Pleasing a virtually central location in Bucharest, the museum is definitely an oasis of tranquility, a perfect place that reflects rural life since immemorial times. Besides the houses, the heritage museum is completed by churches, by annexes and mills, to offer visitors a thorough picture of the life of the Romanian traditional villages. In the afternoon, walking tour in the old city centre in Bucharest. The tangle of cobbled streets and alleys of this district reminds undoubtedly Paris. It is nice to walk through the little streets if you want to soak up the old Bucharest life. Overnight in Bucharest.

Transfer to Bucharest airport. End of our services.