Romania

Transylvania, Dracula, Ceausescu; the maximum the average person knows about Romania. But located on the western coast of the Black Sea and surrounded by Hungary, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria, and Serbia, Romania is a large and diverse country that has experienced a traumatic history, not just in the last century, but since its initial mention in 440 B.C.E. Two thousand five hundred years of being conquered has influenced the culture and mentality of Romanians, giving them, and their country, a rich, if not tragic air.

Unified in 1918, Romania’s three regions, Wallachia (Valakia), Moldova, and Transylvania, create three unique experiences for visitors. The southern region of Romania boasts the capital of Bucharest, along with the country’s claim to both the Black Sea Coast and the Danube River. The eastern Moldova region holds the beauty of Stefan Cel Mare’s greatness, shown through monasteries, set back in the Carpathians and intricately painted exteriors. While sometimes overshadowed by the myth of Dracula, Transylvania, with Maramures’ wooden churches in the north and southern Saxon fortified churches, takes you back into foreign worlds, left behind long after borders dissolved.

And still, with all its cultural and historical significance and enchantment, Romania’s greatest attributes are those given by nature. The Carpathians surround Romania providing some of the best hiking, backpacking, climbing, and caving in Europe. Bird watchers have the pristine Danube Delta to explore while skiers and snowboarders can ride the mountains at incredibly low prices. Whether they are between tall peaks or rolling hills, Romanian villages are perfectly placed to provide stopping points for trekkers who want a welcoming homestay for a night. Romania is a country where you can be a tourist but are never treated like one, which few other European countries can boast. Without an enormous tourism industry, the country, while not always equipped to deal with them, doesn’t pretend to be something different for visitors. So when in Romania, you have no option but to be as the Romanians.

Grab your hiking and disco boots, and get ready to see the real Romania. The Romania that sports BMW’s and horse drawn carts, satellite dishes and out-houses. Experience Saxony, Hungary, Turkey, and Ukraine melting together in one country. See for yourself, a land of choice only 20 years after the fall of communism. Find out what everyone else has been missing.

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