Romania, which is next to Bulgaria

I can't help with a guide, but in case you are not aware, Sighehtu Marmatiei is the location of the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and the Resistance in a former political prison from the Communist era. When I visited it in 2015, none of the posted explanatory material had been translated into English, but there was a little notebook you could borrow with English translations.

The city had a very large Jewish population prior to WWII. There's now a Holocaust Museum in the home of Elie Wiesel (which I have not seen).

I hope you can arrange a tour of rural Maramures. The wooden churches are stunning, and in the course of seeing some of them you'll encounter carved gateways to some houses. The Merry Cemetery is also worth seeking out. It's a very interesting area where folk traditions persist. We saw some folks wearing traditional clothing heading to church on Sunday.

If you can't connect with a guide in some other way, you might try contacting the Retro Hostel in Cluj-Napoca. It arranges a wide slate of tours in Romania, not limited to the area immediately around Cluj. I took a two-day tour of Maramures. Here's the hostel's tour web page. The main page is here: https://www.retro.ro/

The first name of the guide on my Maramures tour was Florin. He was excellent; his regular job was as a history teacher. I see that there's a Florin D. listed on Get Your Guide; I imagine it's the same person but cannot say for sure. The Retro Hostel might be able to give you Florin's direct contact information or arrange something for you for a modest fee.

Thanks! We’re looking into that and some other options. We will be joining the Rick Steves tour in Bulgaria on May 21.

Bulgaria

Pavlina Docheva
Guide & Tour Designer
Easy Bulgaria Travel
+359 87 895 6414
www.easybulgariatravel.com
[email protected]

Romania

Diana Simpetru
Guide & Tour Designer
Escape Romania
+40 745 410 763
[email protected]