Romania- End of Sept thru 13 Oct, or 2nd week into last of Oct for Fall Color?

My husband and I traveled in Romania this past spring and really enjoyed the trip. The countryside is lovely.

We rented a car in Bucharest and liked the cities of Sibiu, Sighisoara, and Brasov. Even Bucharest has lots of trees and parks.

Here's an article about fall colors near Sibiu.

I posted about our trip in the Trip Report section of this Forum. While I didn't write about fall colors, it might give you some suggestions for places to stay and things to see.

Enjoy your travels in Romania!

I am Romanian and live there, up in the North (Maramures). Here, in the last years we have seen the peak autumn color after October 20.

Thank you both for your replies!

Marsle, I did indeed read your trip report. Thank you for posting it, and the article you linked is one that did not appear in my searches, so I'm glad to read it.

Teo, also thank you. It is very helpful to have knowledge from a local! If you are a hiker/backpacker, do you think we might be able to do some day hiking in the Retezat or Fagaras Mountains? I realize it is dependent on the season, but 'norms' are helpful too. We are well-seasoned, well-equipped long-time backpackers who are not afraid of cold or snow, although we do not wish to do any winter backpacking at this time there.

We decided on 11 Oct through 25 Oct. We arrive in the late afternoon in Bucharest, so our plan is to spend a couple nights there to catch up and see the city, then pick up our car and head out. (We initially wanted to do some backpacking in the mountains, but we have decided to wait until early summer; so this will be a tour of small villages mixed with a couple larger towns/cities. )

We would like to drive both the transalpina and the transfagarasan but we also want to spend a couple/three nights up in Maramures area. I think we are going to have our list of towns and sites at the ready and then we are going to play it by ear. I have been reading a ton, looking at lodging, (other than Bucharest which is already booked and our car rental as well) and think we will be ok waiting to book until we are there.

We are getting VERY excited!

ETA thanks to Mister E also, for encouraging me to move Bucharest to the front, instead of the end. I initially wanted to wait until the end of the trip but we fly out super early on our last day, so will likely stay at an airport hotel anyway, so we're just doing it first.

Oh also- one more question: taxi or bus to the city from the airport?

This sounds like a wonderful adventure. I hope you will post a trip report.

Thank you, Mary! I hope so too!

Yes, if the weather permits, you can do some hiking, maybe in Fagaras or Bucegi mountains.

taxi or bus to the city from the airport?

If you mean taxi or bus from the airport to the Bucharest city center, we'd suggest downloading the Bolt rideshare app and taking that. It's very affordable and easy. We used it for several trips around the city as well.

I may have mentioned this in my Trip Report but here are a couple of things we found really interesting or useful:

*The village of Cris has the Renaissance-style Bethen Castle. Worth a visit!

*The village of Sibiel to see Father Zosim Oancea Museum of Icons on Glass and Church of the Holy Trinity. Both are really unique and very interesting.

*I'd suggest getting a copy of the Brandt Guidebook for Transylvania - it's really helpful for finding smaller towns/cities in the area.

You shouldn't have any problem finding accommodations along the way - it's nice to stay flexible!

Enjoy your travels!

Marsle, the Brandt book is arriving tomorrow!

I remember you mentioning the Bolt option, thank you, I’ll look into it. I’d read somewhere that there were taxi screens at the airport you ordered from, but a rideshare sounds good.

Thank you again!