Places to Visit in Romania

There are many cool things to do and cool places to visit in Romania. It’s a shame that so many people don’t know about them! Romania is a beautiful and interesting holiday or vacation destination with some warm, friendly people, plenty of tourist attractions, good food, adventure and cultural activities making for cool days out …

Brasov, or Braşov is a beautiful ancient city in central Romania. It is at the heart of the most famous region of Romania, Transylvania. Is Brasov a Good Place to Visit? Brasov is a great place to visit or to base yourself in Central Romania. From here you can explore many places of interest nearby, …

I miss it so much, our village in the far north of Romania. We spent 3 wonderful Christmases there surrounded by winter and Christmas festivities and traditions. We were tourists or expats, barely able to speak the language and with no grasp at all of Romanian Christmas traditions, but we were there to take photos …

A few days ago I woke up with feet so itchy I just couldn’t stand still. A Romanian road trip, a voyage of discovery, was on my mind and I knew just the place. The amusement park in a salt mine that I’d seen pictures of online, an amazing James-Bondesque underground cavern turned tourist attraction, …

Before approaching the sheep station we had to take precautions, the Romanian sheepdogs (AKA Romanian Shepherds) would be loose so we had to call the shepherd (human) to meet us and make sure the dogs didn’t see us as a threat to their family or flock. These dogs can take down bears and wolves, and …

Every May, the Tânjaua the spring ploughing festival, is held in the village of Hoteni, Romania. In 2018 was held on 17 th May 2018.  (see video below)  I’ll find out the date for 2024 as soon as I can. The villagers, all in traditional summer costume, process and leap through the village to glorify the …

We’ve had a fantastic time skiing here in Romania, the kids took a few private 1 on 1 lessons while Chef and I were free to head up the mountain. Being child-free is a pretty new experience for us, as full time child-wranglers and educators, it kinda rocked! After a short time the kids were …

We’ve been waiting for this. When we first had the idea of basing ourselves in Romania, locals told us winter temperatures can easily drop to -25C. We checked online, we couldn’t find any records of temperatures that low, so we kind of didn’t believe it but wanted to find out what winter weather in Maramures …

We mention “our village in Romania” all over this website, well our village has a name, it is Breb. It is in the very far north, in the County of Maramures, directly above Transylvania and below Ukraine. We’ve been coming and going from Breb for over 2 years now and to us it is home. …

Tuica (Romanian Țuică) in Maramures is big news. Our village, Breb, is full of fruit trees. The hills roll on for mile after mile, each a patchwork of narrow strips owned by individual families. Some grow grass for winter hay, some potatoes, cabbages, carrots, tomatoes and beans, but most grow fruit. In the harsh winters …

Romania has plenty of bears. Half of the European brown bear population lives on the forested hills of this beautiful country. When we talk about saving bears, we’re not talking so much about the wild Romanian bears, as the ones who have had a terrible existence, held captive by private owners and in small Eastern …

Haystacks are an unmistakable icon of Maramures. You will see them here all year round, punctuating the landscape on white, brown or green fields. For haystack lovers, and I count myself as such, you want to be in Maramures at this time of year to watch just one of the annual traditional processes going on. …

Homeschooling, doesn’t officially exist in Romania. As far as I know it’s not actually illegal, it just doesn’t exist, all children must go to school. My research is hampered by the language barrier, so please correct me if I’m wrong, I’d love to hear about families homeschooling in Romania and I know that some do …

In the far north of Romania, nestled in a valley below a long-extinct volcano, lies the little village of Breb Maramures County. We first came to Romania, Maramures and Breb in May 2015 and fell in love. Today, we are still unable to fully call it home due to visas and officialdom, but to us, …

We just got back from a 2 day roadtrip in Northern Transylvania, Romania. It was a lovely couple of days and totally impromptu, that’s how we roll. I published a post about Dracula in Romania a day or so ago and we got inspired to go visit one of Romania’s Dracula themed hotels, around 3-4 …

Irishman, Bram Stoker, published his classic Gothic horror novel “Dracula” back in 1897. The cursed count, based in Castle Dracula, Transylvania, was on a mission to reach British shores in search of fresh blood. Van Helsing and a group of upstanding citizens who knew all about vampires, garlic and stakes, did battle with the Count, …

Living in Breb, Maramures County Romania, we visited the monthly animal and horse market at Sighetu Marmatiei more than once. It was quite a thing to see but not without drawbacks. This isn’t a post for vegans. Animals and livestock are vital for human survival in this part of the world and market day can …

Sighisoara is a stunning, and surprisingly tiny, medieval citadel in Transylvania, central Romania. Its story-book looks alone will blow you away with picture postcards buildings, both grand and humble. Add history and cultural appeal to the visual and you’ve got a must-visit global destination. Unsurprisingly, Sighisoara is a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the best preserved …

Winter has done its worst and the mercury is starting to hit positive numbers during the short days here in the remote mountains of Romania. This area is beautiful, harsh, inspiring and difficult and it’s where we choose to be. Why, when we could live anywhere in the world, do we choose to spend winter …

Romania was the country that captured our hearts. It came as a total magical surprise, inspiring us to spend 3 years trying to buy a house in Romania and basing ourselves, on and off, in a beautiful, remote peasant village of Breb, Maramures County. It was 100 years in the past. It’s been an incredible …

I’m going to introduce you to our neighbours and share a book, Somewhere Different, with you. I want to let you now about a family with an incredible survival story and an interesting outcome. It’s a story that has now become entwined with ours. We met them over the internet and we’ve ended up neighbours  in Breb …

Yes, you can drive from the UK to Romania by car. It’s very easy to just drive onto a ferry from the UK and cross to France, or you can take the tunnel. Every year we drove from London to Romania and back. It’s a long drive, around 1,500 Km if you take the shortest …

Our lifestyle isn’t conventional. We travel and have done for over 2 years now, we do unusual things like falling in love with Romanian village life and buying houses in rural Romania, some people think we’re crazy, but that’s cool. Sometimes I think we’re crazy too. Yesterday I reshared an old post, a reader had …

What do you imagine Romania is like? I’ll stake cash that you wouldn’t imagine the rural paradise we’ve found ourselves in. Fate has brought us to a village in rural Romania, Breb, in Maramures. It’s quite possibly the most beautiful, unspoiled place I’ve ever been. Maramures is the county in the north of Transylvania tight on …

Romania isn’t a common travel destination and it’s one that we ended up visiting by happy chance before living there for 3 years. This Central European country gets a strong grip on your heart. Travel to Bucharest wasn’t top of our hit list and we had no real idea what to expect of the city …