7-Day Rural Maramures and Transylvania Tour with UNESCO Churches

• We'll meet at the airport in Bucharest and start our tour by car through the scenic Olt River’s Valley. 
• Our first stop is Cozia Monastery, founded in 1388 by the grandfather of the notorious Vlad the Impaler. 
• We arrive in Sibiu by noon. 
• After lunch, we have a guided tour of the old town: the Council Tower, the Bridge of Liars, the most famous Sibiu plazas: the Grand Square, the Small Square, the Albert Huet Square, the Orthodox Cathedral, and the impressive Evangelical Church.
• You could enjoy a lovely Transylvanian evening at one of the numerous restaurants and bars of the Old City.
• Overnight in Sibiu

• The second day of our tour takes us on the traces of a great medieval hero John Hunyadi (Corvin), regent of Hungary, and his son, King Matthias Corvinus. John Hunyadi, a brilliant Hungarian military commander of Romanian ancestry, stopped in Belgrade in 1456, the offensive of the Ottomans emboldened by their takeover of  Constantinople three years earlier. We visit the Alba Iulia fortress (Alba Carolina), where John Hunyadi rests in the impressive, ancient Saint Michael Cathedral (the construction started in 1004). We also visit the Orthodox Coronation Cathedral and the ruins of the Roman castrum of the elite 13th Gemina Roman Legion.
• Then, we visit then the spectacular Turda salt mine.
• Next stop is Cluj-Napoca. A short tour of the city always ends at one of the restaurants or bars near the house where one of the most fabulous kings of Hungary was born - Matthias Rex, the son of John Hunyadi.

Overnight in Cluj-Napoca

• From Cluj-Napoca, we are heading north towards Maramures, one of the last remaining bastions of traditional peasant culture in Europe. 
• We stop in the village of Surdesti, amazed by the local wooden church (UNESCO World Heritage monument). 
• Built in 1766, the Greek-Catholic church of Surdesti has been, until recently, the tallest wooden church in the world. 
• In the afternoon, we check in at a traditional cottage in the village of Breb which will host us for the following couple of days. We take our time to enjoy a pleasant afternoon and the traditional home-cooked food by our hosts.

Overnight in Breb

• We dedicate this day to discovering the Romanian peasant culture of Maramures – this corner of Europe that miraculously preserved centuries-old customs and traditions. We have the opportunity to see a watermill at work and to visit the Desesti wooden church (UNESCO monuments) and the famous Merry Cemetery of Sapânta. 
• We can visit the Memorial to the Victims of and the Resistance against Communist Dictatorship, organized in the dreaded Communist prison of Sighet. We return to Breb for a traditional Romanian evening, with home-cooked food and a famous local brandy called palinca or horinca.

Second overnight in Breb

• From the core of the Romanian rural Maramures, we head south to the Saxon heartland of Transylvania. It is a long drive. We have a short stop at Ieud village, with two traditional wooden churches.
• The ”Church on the hill” (Orthodox, XVII century) is a UNESCO World Heritage monument. As for the ” Church in the valley” (Greek-Catholic), its slenderness and well-balanced proportions earned it the fame of the "The Wooden Cathedral of Maramures". The fame of the "The Wooden Cathedral". 
• We visit Biertan's fortified church on the UNESCO World Heritage list in the afternoon. Biertan village was, for centuries, the seat of the Lutheran bishops, and that is why the local Cimpressive fortifications protect the local Churchr day at the medieval citadel of Sighisoara – a UNESCO monument – and spend the late afternoon and evening visiting the citadel: the Clock Tower, the Church on the Hill, the Stairs, the fortifications, and their towers. Sighisoara is the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler.

Overnight in Sighisoara

• This day is mainly dedicated to discovering rural Transylvania. On our way from Sighisoara to Brasov, we enjoy our lunchtime and traditional, organic food at a household in Viscri, the remote village Prince Charles fell in love with. 
• We will visit Viscri fortified church - a UNESCO World Heritage monument- and catch a glimpse of another such monument - the Saschiz fortified Church and of Rupea and Rasnov fortresses. 
• Once in Brasov, we go for a short walk at the foot of Mount Tâmpa: the fortifications, bastions and towers of the medieval fortress, the curious Rope Street (one of the narrowest in Europe), and, of course, the impressive Black Church – a 14th-century Gothic monument and symbol of the city. In the evening, you could enjoy dinner and one of the best Romanian ice creams at the restaurants bordering Brasov’s City Council Square.

Overnight in Brasov

• We leave Brasov for the Bran Castle, identified with Count Dracula legend, and enjoy the breathtaking scenery at Bran Pass over Piatra Craiului and Bucegi mountains. 
• At Sinaia mountain resort, we visit the flamboyant Peles Castle, built at the end of the 19th century by the first king of Romania – Charles I. In the late afternoon, we arrive in Bucharest. After check-in, you can take your time to allow your Transylvanian impressions to settle down. In the evening we have a guided tour of Bucharest. 
• We would not miss the elegant Stavropoleos Church – a monastery in the heart of the city.

Overnight in Bucharest

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