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I haven't heard of anything like that, but I'll leave it to Carpathian.
Remember, though--where there are bears, there are also wolves. o.0
Indeed. I mean there's always a risk, but i mean attacks are still rare. Just probably would want to see em from a car or something in case they do give chase haha. Although it'll still be awesome to camp out there.
Indeed. I mean there's always a risk, but i mean attacks are still rare. Just probably would want to see em from a car or something in case they do give chase haha. Although it'll still be awesome to camp out there.
You can't camp out in a place like that, unless you don't mind becoming bear or wolf food in the middle of the night. Seriously. It's been known to happen. Don't mess with wildlife. Don't tempt the bears/wolves.
Wolves usually don't attack people, unless driven to it by circumstances.
It can happen when they feel they, or their offspring, are in danger. Or when they're extremely hungry. Their reputation as maneaters is based mostly on fairytales.
Most wolves will just run away when they encounter people; they're afraid of anything unknown to them that can potentially pose a threat, and like to keep their distance.
Bears can be very dangerous and unpredictable, though. Especially in the period before they go into hibernation or when they have cubs.
But it's possible to use bear protection gear, or bear security system, if you're brave enough. Just Google it
I can't recommend Romania enough. We went there in the summer of 2012, without expecting much and only because another couple we travel with frequently were going there, so we decided, why not?
Transylvania is simply lovely. Brasov, Sibiu and Sighisoara are all worth visiting. Brasov and Sibiu are bigger and Sighisoara is probably only worth one night. But the real beauty is out in the countryside, especially the small villages with their fortified churches. You will see farms where men harvest the fields with the aid of horse drawn wagons! The Saxon villages are literally unchanged and you can forgive yourself for thinking you'd stumbled into a corner of pre-WWI Europe.
The Carpathians between Bucharest and Brasov are also scenic places to visit. We saw the main Victorian castle/palace, which was interesting, but the mountain peaks around the castle were more attractive to us and we did several short treks up into the mountains.m
Northern Romania, around Suceava, has the painted monasteries and some lovely countryside. We even saw several storks and large stork nests on top of houses.
Bucharest is a mixed bag. My favorite sight in Bucharest was the large park with an open air museum showcasing traditional peasant cottages and barns brought from all over Romania. There's another similar museum outside Sibiu.
All in all, transportation around Romania was good and reliable and cheap. Food was excellent and cheap. It's a "secret" for the moment but not for much longer.
Wolves usually don't attack people, unless driven to it by circumstances.
It can happen when they feel they, or their offspring, are in danger. Or when they're extremely hungry. Their reputation as maneaters is based mostly on fairytales.
Tell this to the people who live on the outskirts of their village, behind a stockade designed to keep the wolves out. I took a tent and sleeping bag once, planning to sleep out in nature, and I was told in no uncertain terms by village people who knew what they were talking about that that was too dangerous.
Transylvania is simply lovely. Brasov, Sibiu and Sighisoara are all worth visiting. Brasov and Sibiu are bigger and Sighisoara is probably only worth one night. But the real beauty is out in the countryside, especially the small villages with their fortified churches. You will see farms where men harvest the fields with the aid of horse drawn wagons! The Saxon villages are literally unchanged and you can forgive yourself for thinking you'd stumbled into a corner of pre-WWI Europe.
I thought I'd gone back in time to the 1800's, or earlier! Not long after crossing the border from Hungary by train, I started seeing people out and about in the countryside, dressed in traditional peasant costumes! (I don't think that's so common any more, except on festival days.) And the horsedrawn carts, even in the city of Cluj! I kept asking myself what century I was in! Weird sensation! Kind of disorienting.
"Victorian" palace? Do you mean the Bavarian-style one in Sinaia? The architects where brought from Germany, as the royal family is of the Hohenzollern lineage.
I think the OP is reffering to Zarnesti Bear Sanctuary. Google it to get an idea what it is. Hiking in the summer there is a good chance you will spot a bear. In Brasov you will always have the random bear who is foraging tough the garbage bins.
In both cases do not approach the bears as they can be dangerous. You will have much less chances to spot a wolf.
Romania is not very expensive and relatively easy to travel around.
Yes, that's Peles Castle in Sinaia. I couldn't remember the name when I posted yesterday. It was built for the royal family and has been handed back to their ownership.
When we were there they offered a three tiered ticket. General ticket got you into the ground floor, the second tier ticket took you upstairs to the main bedrooms as well and the third tier took you up to the attics too.
The general ticket for the ground floor is probably all you need. The Victorian craftsmanship is impressive. The bedrooms were fine but not overly remarkable.
On our trip in 2012 we still saw people in traditional peasant outfits working the fields. Perhaps not as many as you did they're still out there. The other charming farming practice we saw was stacking up hay in small haystacks, so a field would be covered with parallel rows of tidy little haystacks, a practice that disappeared from American farms long ago but reminded me of old photographs I saw of the Pennsylvania countryside circa 1900.
I liked how Transylvania and northern Romania felt quite different from each other. Transylvania was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire so the Austro-Hungarian-Germanic influence is quite strong. Northern Romania feels much more slavic, more "eastern" Europe as you're moving towards Ukraine.
The one part of Romania that we didn't see would be the areas straddling the Hungarian borders near Cluj Napoca. The mountains around there are supposed to be quite wild and there's a strong Hungarian folk culture.
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Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
"Victorian" palace? Do you mean the Bavarian-style one in Sinaia? The architects where brought from Germany, as the royal family is of the Hohenzollern lineage.
I liked how Transylvania and northern Romania felt quite different from each other. Transylvania was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire so the Austro-Hungarian-Germanic influence is quite strong. Northern Romania feels much more slavic, more "eastern" Europe as you're moving towards Ukraine.
This is very interesting. I didn't notice this, myself. But it makes perfect sense. A part of Romania got gobbled up by Ukraine, as well: northern Bukovina.
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Originally Posted by Tallybalt;
The one part of Romania that we didn't see would be the areas straddling the Hungarian borders near Cluj Napoca. The mountains around there are supposed to be quite wild and there's a strong Hungarian folk culture.
This is the area I've recommended to him for hiking, in a national park or preserve, though the Hungarian culture is in small pockets, and also farther away, along the border. Also, just south of there is a big folk festival each July, that's purely Romanian culture.
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Originally Posted by kent2780;
I think the OP is reffering to Zarnesti Bear Sanctuary.
Cool! OP, it's near Brasov! It sounds like your visit may revolve around Sibiu and Brasov. There's Bran, Vlad Tepes's castle (Dracula), there's Sinaia nearby, and the King's palace, and the bear sanctuary. That should keep you busy for a week! You'll have to come back another time, for Cluj and hiking.
What are the must see sights if I only have a week?
There are too many and too different, some are considered interesting and very visited but not worth in my opinion, others the other way around. Depending if you seek touristy places or lesser visited but more genuine, or panoramic roads to drive or bike, or mountains to climb etc I can make you some variants for an itinerary. Romania is the only place in Europe where you can have a real safari, either in the wilderness of the Carpathian jungle or in the waterland of Danube Delta.
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I'm interested in Romania for it's scenery, history, architecture and it's quaint villages which are still sort of stuck in another era (in a good way), and the fact it just is more mysterious (yes even the name 'Transylvania' is so evocative, vampires aside) compared to Western Europe.
Romania is not a homogenous entity. Is more difference between regions than is between countries of Europe, in respect of architecture, culture, mentality, language sometimes, natural scenery, climate etc.
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I've never been to Eastern Europe before, so am wondering about general things like cost but also transport and ease of travelling. Firstly, would you recommend a tour or is it pretty easy to travel free and easy?
I definitely NOT recommend a tour as are very few objectives and you spend most of the time in bus when the most pleasantful thing in Romania is the countryside, the air, the smells, the tastes. For the same money you pay on a tour you'll have your own trip, seeing more things, being more free to go where you want when you want. The tours for foreigners are exagerately expensive.
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I'm mostly thinking about how to get to the main sights, especially if they're in small towns/rural areas, are there frequent/cheap buses to these areas? And once there is it easy to get around using transport/foot/bicycle?
If you get into a village by bus, you won't be able to rent a bicycle and the distances to the objectives might be long. From each county capital goes like 4-5 buses / day to the communes (communes are villages that are capital for a group of other villages from the area), sometime more, sometime lesser. To more isolated villages, the (mini)buses are fewer, might be only one or two, or none /day. The buses are very cheap and while not new or shinny, are not dirty but in summer you might fall over one without or with bad air conditioning. In fact, minibuses are far more used than buses and they are quite new and modern. The buses are often old, maybe even from communist period. If your destination is on a national or other important road, you'll have plenty of minibuses, like from hour to hour.
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Would you say the people are friendly? How many people know basic English there? How much would I be looking at spending if I stayed in budget accommodation, took local transport, ate at medium priced restaurants.inc entrance fees?
In cities, most young people know basic English, in villages, nobody. The same young people will be friendly but the older one might not be.
In last years the prices for accommodation dropped dramatically. Most pensions (that have the confort of a hotel and are very clean) have now prices bellow 100 RON (30 US $), in fact, 100 RON are pensions in cities or resorts but in villages and isolated places the common price is 50-60 RON, at the same confort. But if they see you're a foreigner they may rise the price. Ask them to show their printed price tables before asking any price, they must have one, according to law or make a phone call previously.
Here one of the best sites for finding pensions in a place, you type the name of locality. For many, the prices are available on this site, as well as photos, customers opinions etc: TURIST INFO .ro - cazare, hoteluri, pensiuni.
This is one of the most visited villages and for that reason, the prices are high, around 100 RON.
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