We have just returned from spending the month of September in Europe: London, Cracow, Vienna and last 11 days touring Romania. Our highlight was Romania - if you are considering a visit to this country do not hestitate - GO!!! It has so much to offer; beautiful scenery, friendly people,lots of history and exceptional food/accommodation at very cheap prices. Picked up car at Bucharest airport (easiest pick-up and drop-off we have ever had) then headed up to Bucovina to visit painted monasteries; a "must see" on any visit!! UNESCO heritage sites. Found main roads good but side roads to villages pretty poor. Numerous interesting stops during journey including 3 nights stay at Rhein wineries that produced "bubbly" for Romania's Royal household! Favourite accommodation was at Hilde's Residence(boutique hotel), family-run,in Gura Humorului, ideal base for visiting monasteries. Lovely place, great restaurant,spa, B & B 165 Euros double for 3 nights. One issue - still lots of smoking - Romania needs to work on this. Will be happy to provide further info upon request. So get with it, Rick, we need your input on this country!
John and Rosalind Calder
Hi John - thanks for this report! I can't wait to get to Romania - my maternal grandmother was Romanian, from the town of Iasi. Which towns and UNESCO sites did you visit?
I see that we have a Lonely Planet Romania, the best one of the bunch.
What guidebook or website did you find most helpful in researching Romania? And is there much English spoken? It seems Romania is getting more popular ... guess we need to get there before it gets overrun!
Charlene,if I may butt in here and offer a few research suggestions. We were there two years ago mostly to do some geneological looking around. Our research items were Rough Guide to Romania and Moldova, and a DK guide to Romania. The Bradt guides are good for that part of Europe but the only one they have is for Transylvania. Lonely Planet guides are very good for eastern Europe also. What I would suggest is to go to Amazon and look under Romania guidebooks. You will find some interresting things. You will also find that some out of print items are worth a lot of money. Our looking around experience there was in Bucuresti and the Constanta area.
I've been to Romania on a couple of occasions and I cant wait to go back again. This whole region of the world; Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary are spectacular. For Romania you might want to contact:
Daniel Gheorghita
[email protected]
covinnus.com
felixromania.com
I have known him for a number of years and i recommend him often and every time I do I get positive feedback.