Romanian castles and fortresses are truly impressive beautiful wonders of medieval art, which you most certainly can't miss adding on your itinerary of things to do and see in Romania. Five of these most famous landmarks are actually located in the area around Brasov and include Rasnov Fortress, Dracula’s Castle (Bran Castle), Fagaras Fortress, Peles Castle, and Hunyad Castle in Hunedoara (around 40 mins drive from Brasov).
All of these places are really worth seeing but if you want to save time and money it’s good idea to approach a tour operator such as “Adventure Transylvania” or “Go Romania Tours” to arrange a castle sightseeing tour.
If you prefer to go independently, make sure you do get to see Rasnov Fortress and Dracula’s Castle because they offer spectacular views from their hilltop vantage point.
Hop on the Vieu de Sus steam train
There is nothing like taking a ride on a steam-powered locomotive on a narrow gauge railway to experience bygone days. In Romania, the Vieu de Sus steam train is the last remaining 1930’s logging train in the country running along the “Vaser Valley forestry railway”.
The Viseu de Sus train departs from the town of Viseu de Sus in northern Romania (near the border with Ukraine) towards Paltin. The train ride costs roughly $15 (~50 Romanian leu) for a round trip ticket and takes around 2 hours from start to finish.
Explore the historic region of Transylvania on horseback
Riding a horse or taking a horse-drawn carriage tour while touring Romania's famous Transylvania region is definitely, one of the must-do things in Romania.
Transylvania is a beautiful and wild place that is home to cute medieval towns, folk villages, fortified churches, monasteries, and ancient Roman remnants such as the main gate (Porta Praetoria) of a Roman legionary camp in the town of Moigrad (east of Zalau). If you do plan to visit the Porta Praetoria ruins, be sure you do it during the "Roman Days festival" in August to see the cool live reenactments of gladiator fights.
As far as tour operators offering horse riding tours of Transylvania, you can book horse riding trips with companies such as “Hidden Trails”, “Calimani Equestrian Centre”, or “Adventure Transylvania”.
By the way, another way to go about booking riding tours of Romania's countryside is by spending a few nights in a guest house in villages such as Viscri and Zalanpatak (this last one is where the famous guest house of the Prince Of Wales is located).
Take a hiking excursion through the Carpathian Mountains
If you’re looking for more cools things to do and see in Romania, why not go for a hiking trip through the Carpathian Mountains? Exploring the Carpathian Mountains on foot is definitely one thing you really can’t miss experiencing in Romania because there’s no better way to take in the region’s pristine landscapes and spot cool wildlife (i.e. bears, deer, wolves, lynx, etc).
With a typical organized hiking tour, you can expect to hike trough national parks (i.e. Bucegi and Hasmas), visit tourist sights such as Dracula’s castle and the famous painted monasteries of Bucovina, and even spend the night in a charming little village where you’ll have a chance to sample rural Romanian cuisine.
There are a few operators offering hiking tours of the Brasov area and the Carpathians, which include “Visit Transylvania”, “Penguin Travel”, and “Outdoor Holiday Romania”.
Enjoy a ski vacation in one of Romania's ski resorts
Skiing is without a doubt, one of the top things to do in Romania, especially since ski vacations in Romania are very inexpensive when compared to other popular ski areas in Western Europe such as Chamonix.
Not only it's cheap to ski in Romania but many of Romania’s ski resorts are world-class and boast fantastic facilities for families, snowboarders, and novices who want to learn quickly the art of skiing. In the following order, the top 5 ski resorts in Romania are Poiana Brasov, Sinaia, Runcu, Predeal, and Paltinis.
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