Transylvania and the Moldavian Monasteries

Arrival at the Bucharest airport where you will be welcomed by the guide who will accompany you along the tour followed by transfer to the hotel. Dinner and overnight in Bucharest.

Drive along the Valley of the Olt River, through the Red Tower Pass the former borderbetween Transylvania and Wallachia. Stop at the Cozia monastery, the oldest monasteryin Romania. In the afternoon, arrival in Sibiu, the former European Capital of Culture in2007. During the city tour, you will visit the most important sights such as The Grand andLesser Squares, Huet Square, the Liars Bridge, and the Orthodox Cathedral. Continue to Bazna.

This day is dedicated to the culture of the Transylvanian Saxons. The fortified churches of Transylvania are among the best–known historical monuments of the Transylvanian Saxons and being better preserved than in other parts of Europe are valuable architectural monuments. After breakfast, we will proceed to Biertan, where we will visit the largest fortified church from Transylvania also known as the residence of the evangelical bishops. The next stop on our visit list is Sighisoara, which has the most beautiful and best-preserved medieval buildings in the Gothic-Renaissance and Baroque styles from this part of Europe. The high density of the architectural monuments, the public buildings, the fortified walls, the towers, and the dwellings give the citadel the view of a unique, well-arranged building complex of invaluable historical value. The Church upon the Hill, Dracula's birthplace, and the former monastery church can be visited here. In the afternoon return to Bazna.

Today you will leave Transylvania and pass in Bucovina through the Tihuta pass. You will stop along the way in Targu Mures, where you can see the Orthodox Cathedral and the Culture Palace. You will also make a short stop in Bistrita to admire the church with the largest tower from Romania. During the afternoon visit to the Moldovita monastery.

During the morning you will visit the Voronet monastery. Drive through the breathtaking 5 km long Bicaz Canyon until reaching the Red Lake, which was formed in 1838 after an entire wooded slope collapsed into the water. You will further continue through the Eastern part of Transylvania. In the late afternoon, arrival in Predeal.

During the morning you will visit Brasov. The city was founded in the 13th century by the Knights of the Teutonic Order and for centuries it was an economic and intellectual center of the Saxons, who represented most of the population until the 19th century. The most interesting sights are the Black Church famous for its pipe organ, the medieval city wall around the historical old town with stylish late medieval houses, the town hall square, the unique Rope Street, the citadel gate, and the small, hidden Orthodox church from the center. Visit the fortified church from Harman. In addition to the religious practice, this place was also used by the locals as a retreat and defense building. Then return to Predeal.

In the morning drive to Bran (Dracula Castle). The castle was built in the 14th century and served the inhabitants of nearby Brasov as a defense system against the Ottomans. The romantic castle, nowadays a museum, was during the interbellic period the residence of the Romanian Queen Maria. Visit of Peles Castle (exterior visit), the summer residence of the royal family. In 1866, the first king of the Hohenzollern family came to Romania and decided to build a castle in Sinaia on the banks of the Peles river, in the German Renaissance style, so that it would remind him of his home country. In the late afternoon arrival in Bucharest. In the evening, festive dinner with folklore program in R. "Hanul lui Manuc".

In the morning city tour in the Romanian capital, Bucharest. Visit the Patriarchal church, the seat of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarch, the Village Museum exhibiting traditional houses from all parts of Romania and stop at the Palace of Parliament (for pictures), the second-largest building in the world after the Pentagon. The wide boulevards and monuments like the Triumphal arch are demonstrative of why Bucharest is notorious as "little Paris of the East". Transfer to the airport and flight back home.