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On the Trail of Dracula - Short Break Tour to Transylvania
Tour ID:
1058
Tour Theme:
Historic and Cultural Tours
Regions:
Transylvania, Bucharest
Duration:
3 Days / 2 Nights |
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Day by Day Itinerary:
Day 1:
ROUTING: BUCHAREST - CURTEA DE ARGES
- POIENARI - BRAN - BRASOV
- Depart from Bucharest in the morning. First stop will be at Curtea de Arges, the former second capital of Wallachia. The strongholds rebuilt in the 14th century. See its Princely Church and its frescoed interior which is one of the first examples of Romanian paintings. The Episcopal Church (the monastery) which is a recreation of the original built in 1512 -1517 by prince Neagoe Basarab (rebuilt in 1875 â“ 1885).
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Then we continue our route to Poienari Castle. Standing on a cliff but now in ruins this is known as the real castle of Vlad the Impaler. To get to the top you must climb up its 1400 steps (takes approx. 1 hour). Once you arrive to the top of the Citadel you will find that the citadel is surprisingly small, one third has collapsed down the mountainside in 1888. Entering through a narrow wooden bridge, you come across the crumbling remains of two towers within; the prism shaped one was Vlad's (Dracula's) residential quarters, from here, according to the legend , The Impaler's wife flung herself out from the window, declaring that better this way than be captured by the Turks, who were besieging the castle. Legend has it that Vlad himself escaped over the mountains on horseback.
- After we go to Bran and visit the famous Bran Castle. Also called
Dracula's Castle, situated not far from Brasov (25 kilometres) at the entrance in the Bran - Rucar passage. The castle got its fame from Dracula's legend written in 1897 by Bram Stoker and later on made into a film by Francis Ford Coppola. The first documents about the Bran Castle appeared in 1377. Along the history, the Castle had a strategic mission being the border between Transylvania and Wallachia. First it was under the rule of the King of Hungary Sigismund of Luxemburg, of the Romanian voievodes Mircea cel Batran and Vlad Tepes and later on it came under the jurisdiction of the City of Brasov. In the XX century the castle was donated to the royal family and became a royal residence. The museum preserve the furniture and objects from that period.
- We end the day in the medieval Saxon city
of Brasov
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Evening at your leisure
ACCOMMODATION:
Casa Wagner *** or similar
Day 2:
ROUTING: BRASOV - SIGHISOARA - BRASOV
- Breakfast.
- Brasov is one of the most important cities from Romania and a very powerful medieval citadel during the history. Short tour of the medieval center of Brasov (2 hours) â“ Concil Square, Black Church, White and Black Towers, Weaverâ™s Bastion and Ecaterina's Gate.
- Then we cross the beautiful Saxon villages and hills of Transylvania. One can admire the fortified churches from Rotbav, Feldioara, Saschiz and the citadels from Rupea and Saschiz.
- Arrive at Sighisoara, Also called "The Pearl of Transylvania" the old medieval city is include on UNESCO's Word Heritage. The Old Town or the Citadel is the only one still inhabited in Europe - a lost world and still so at the present!
- In 1431, the storey house at Museum Square 6, within the shadow of the old town's Clock Tower, a women whose name is lost to posterity gave birth to a son called Vlad, who in later life earned the title of The Impaler , abroad better known as Dracula, derived from Dracul or the Devil â“ referring to his father Vlad Dracul, whom the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Hungary made a knight of the order of The Dargon in 1431.
- The Clock Tower, the Church on the Hill, the Scholarâ™s Stairs, The Monastery Church, the towers of the citadel (originally fourteen), The Shoemakers Town, the Tailorâ™s Tower, the Tinsmiths Tower are only a few of the marvels of this place called Sighisoara
- Return to Brasov
- Evening at your leisure
- Overnight in Brasov
ACCOMMODATION:
Casa Wagner *** or similar
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Day 3:
ROUTING: BRASOV - SINAIA - SNAGOV - BUCHAREST
- Breakfast.
- First stop at Sinaia to visit the Peles Castle, former summer residence of the kings of Romania, the Peles Castle is 44 kilometres far from Brasov, in Sinaia, a well-known mountain resort as well. Nowadays the Castle is one of the most important museums in Transylvania where one can admire furniture and ornamental objects, carpets, tapestry, sculptures, paintings, collections of weapons from the 15th up to the19th centuries.
- On the route to Bucharest weâ™ll go to Snagov, a small village 40 km north of Bucharest, with its beautiful sixteen kilometer long lake; In the centre of the lake is an island occupied by a monastery, built in 1519. The Snagov monastery is situated on the island of the lake with the same name, we have to reach the monastery by crossing the lake by boat (If time and weather permit).
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Visitors come here to see the tomb of Dracula sitting in the front of the church altar. Vlad's murder is believed to have occurred in the forests nearby, where the monks took his body, since both Vlad and his father had both given money to the monastery.
- In the evening arriving at Bucharest and the final good-bye from your local
guideor continue this tour to Bulgaria
with our partners, for more details
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End of tour services
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