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9 days from Budapest to Bucharest and Sofia

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Duration

clock9 days

Overview

    Enjoy a 9 day tour of magical Transylvania with departure from Budapest throught Bucharest and arrival in Sofia. In this tour you will see the capital of Romania, called also “Little Paris” , the Royal Castle of Peles in Sinaia, the Bran Castle called als

What's Included

  • Accommodation included: 8 nights
  • Live commentary on board
  • Breakfast
  • Professional tour director that will be also the driver
  • 2x Dinner
  • Hotel/port pickup and drop-off
  • Local guide for the entire tour in Romania
  • Local taxes
  • Driver/guide
  • 8x Breakfast
  • 2 special dinners (one in Sibiel at the peasents and one in Caru cu Bere restaurant in Bucharest)
  • Transport for the entire tour with modern air-conditioned minivan
  • Entry/Admission - Biserica Sfanta Treime
  • 8 nights accommodation in 3/4* hotels (1 night in 3* hotel and 7 nights in 4* hotels)

What to Expect

    Itinerary

    Day 1: Budapest – Arad – Timisoara (320 km) HUNGARY + ROMANIA

    Stop At: City Hall, Bulevardul Revoluției 75, Arad 310130, Romania
    After crossing the border in Romania you will enjoy a walking tour of Arad, during wich we will see the impressive Neo-Gothic Palace of Culture, the City Hall Palace and the Red Church built in secessionist style, the great Catholic Cathedral and the State Theater in neoclassical style.
    Duration: 2 hours

    Stop At: Timisoara Historical Center, Timisoara 300003 Romania
    Timisoara, a very charming city for its architectural features for many Turkish, Serbian, Austrian and German elements, which will become the European Capital of Culture in 2021
    Duration: 3 hours

    No meals included on this day.
    Accommodation included: Overnight in a 4* hotel in Timisoara.

    Day 2: Timisoara – The Corvini Castle – Alba Iulia – Sibiu (320 km)

    Stop At: Castelul Corvinilor, Strada Castelului 1-3, Hunedoara 331141 Romania
    In the morning we will visit the most fascinating gothic castle in Eastern Europe and one of the most beautiful and greatest of our continent, the famous Corvin Castle
    Duration: 2 hours

    Stop At: Cetatea Alba Iulia, Calea Motilor, nr. 5A, Alba Iulia 510134 Romania
    Visit Alba Iulia, an important city from a historical point of view, because the Great United Romania was made here on December 1st, 1918, so immediately after the First World War
    Duration: 2 hours

    Stop At: Medieval city of Sibiu, Piata Mare 12, Sibiu 550163 Romania
    Visit Sibiu, a beautiful medieval city where Romanians and Saxons have been living peacefully for centuries and where the various religious monuments (Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants) demonstrate this peaceful coexistence. Sibiu was named European Capital of Culture in 2007 and hosts an extraordinary theater festival every year. The city fascinates thanks to its three squares (Big Square, Small and Huet Square ) that transport tourists in a real medieval atmosphere. Its towers and its 15th century bastions, but also its beautiful museums and the famous “houses with the eyes” give the visitor lovely moments. Also in Sibiu you will see one of the largest gothic evangelical churches in Transylvania.
    Duration: 3 hours

    Stop At: Biserica Sfanta Treime, Dj106e, Sibiel 557234 Romania
    Dinner will be the perfect time to better live the life of the farmers as you will be guests of the inhabitants of the village of Sibiel, inside a typical Romanian house, where you will savor traditional dishes and drinks (water, wine and local alcoholic drinks included).
    Duration: 1 hour

    Meals included:
    • Breakfast: Buffet breakfast included.
    • Dinner: Dinner in the village of Sibiel,where you will savor traditional dishes(water, wine and local alcoholic drinks included)
    Accommodation included: Overnight in a 4* hotel in Sibiu.

    Day 3: Sibiu – Sighisoara – Targu Mures – Bistrita (260 km)

    Stop At: Centrul Istoric Sighisoara, Piata Cetatii Nr.1 Center of Sighisoara, Sighisoara 545400 Romania
    Visit Sighisoara, with its imposing Clock Tower. This citadel is the best preserved in Europe and, extraordinary, it is still inhabited. Since 1999 the historic center of Sighisoara is a UNESCO heritage site. Here we will admire the church on the hill, reachable after a wooden staircase called the schoolchildren’s ladder. We will also see the statue of the famous Hungarian national poet Petofi Sandor, testifying to the fact that in Sighisoara the Magyar community was in the past numerically important. Next to the statue is the beautiful Catholic church, reserved for the Hungarian community, and the tower of the shoemakers. You can have lunch at the house where Vlad the Impaler was born (not included)
    Duration: 2 hours

    Stop At: National Theatre of Targu-Mures, Targu Mures Romania
    Visit Targu Mures, a city in which the baroque style predominates. Targu Mures is dominated by the beautiful Palace of Culture, symbol of the locality, an extraordinary baroque palace. In this transylvanian city, the Hungarian community is still numerous and the architects who have worked on the design of historic buildings are all Hungarians
    Duration: 1 hour

    Stop At: Evangelical Church, Piata Centrala, Bistrita 420001 Romania
    Walking tour in Bistrita, whose main monument is the Lutheran church, built in the fourteenth century in Gothic style but remodeled with Renaissance elements in the second half of the sixteenth century.
    Duration: 30 minutes

    Meals included:
    • Breakfast: Buffet breakfast included.
    Accommodation included: Overnight in a 4* hotel in Bistrita.


    Day 4: Bistrita – Voronet – Moldovita – Sucevita – Marginea – Radauti (250 km)

    Stop At: Manastirea Voronet, Strada Voronet 166, Voronet 725301 Romania
    Visit the monastery of Voronet, nicknamed the Sistine Chapel of the Carpathians, founded by the great prince Stephen the Great and characterized by a beautiful blue color, inimitable and unique in the world
    Duration: 2 hours

    Stop At: Moldovita Monastery, Vatra Moldovitei 727595 Romania
    Visit to the Moldovita monastery, another famous religious monument, founded by Pietro Rares in the 16th century and whose interior and exterior frescoes enchant the visitor.
    Duration: 1 hour

    Stop At: Sucevita Monastery, Dn17a 169, Sucevita 727510 Romania
    The last of the painted monasteries that you will have the pleasure of admiring is the Sucevita monastery, founded by the Movila brothers in the seventeenth century. Like the previous two, too, it presents Gothic and Byzantine elements, which merge to form the fascinating Moldovan architectural style. The frescoes on the northern façade of this monastery have remained visible thanks to the protective walls that have never been demolished here.
    Duration: 1 hour

    Stop At: Ceramica neagra Marginea, Nearby Suceava Plateau and Bucovina's Obcini Marginea Village, Suceava Romania
    We continue with a visit to the local artisans of Marginea, who perform excellent work with the famous black ceramic, here you will have the opportunity to enter the workshop to closely observe the various working phases of ceramic pots, but you can also buy items typical of Bucovina. At Marginea you can buy not only ceramic vases, but also beautiful painted eggs and decorated with the traditional Romanian technique.
    Duration: 30 minutes

    Stop At: The Gerald's Hotel, Strada Piața Unirii nr 3, Rădăuți 725400, Romania
    Overnight at Gerald’s 4 * hotel in Radauti or Best Western Bucovina 4 * in Gura Humorului.
    Duration: 30 minutes

    Meals included:
    • Breakfast: Buffet breakfast included.
    Accommodation included: Overnight at Gerald’s 4 * hotel in Radauti or Best Western Bucovina 4 * in Gura Humorului.

    Day 5: Radauti – Piatra Neamt – Bicaz Gorges – Miercurea Ciuc (290 km)

    Stop At: Cucuteni Neolithic Art Museum, Strada Stefan cel Mare no. 3, Piatra Neamt 610101 Romania
    Short stop in Piatra Neamt, a famous ski resort that preserves a beautiful citadel founded at the time of Stephen the Great, in the fifteenth century and an 18th century synagogue. The city has a wonderful geographical position being surrounded by mountains that guard beautiful lush vegetation
    Duration: 30 minutes

    Stop At: Bicaz Canyon, Dn12c, Lacu Rosu 535502 Romania
    We will head towards the Bicaz Gorges and then admire a breathtaking landscape. The Bicaz gorges are crossed by a road flanked by a stream and constitute a landscape of strong emotional impact with thrilling cliffs. Along the gorges there is a market with typical handicrafts and souvenirs that make the attraction even more lively.
    Duration: 30 minutes

    Stop At: Red Lake, Lacu Rosu 535502 Romania
    Visit of the Red Lake, a natural barrier lake, which was formed following the landslide of a part of a mountain, in fact the trunks of the trees are still present in the lake and this gives a particularly evocative atmosphere. The place is interesting especially for the legends that were born and have spread in reference to the name of the lake. During the visit you will become aware of these legends.
    Duration: 1 hour

    Stop At: Hunguest Hotel Fenyő, Strada Nicolae Bălcescu 11, Miercurea Ciuc 530132, Romania
    You then continue through a scenic road that offers a spectacular view of the Carpathian chain to get to Miercurea Ciuc. This area is also called the Siberia of Romania for the low temperatures and the landscape that characterize this area
    Duration: 30 minutes

    Meals included:
    • Breakfast: Buffet breakfast included.
    Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Miercurea Ciuc.


    Day 6: Miercurea Ciuc – Brasov – Bran – Sinaia (180 km)

    Stop At: Brasov Historical Center, Piazza Sfatului, Brasov Romania
    Visit Brasov, a wonderful Transylvanian town, once entirely fortified, an important cultural, tourist and commercial center. Brasov impresses with its typically German architecture, where the Gothic, the Baroque and the Renaissance intersect to give life to an interesting and culturally very lively city. Visit of the First Romanian School, which is located in the oldest district of the city, and which was inhabited exclusively by Romanians, the Schei district, interesting for the entrances into the city that were carried out in medieval times through the Caatherine’s and Schei Gate, quest last of the nineteenth century. In Brasov we will also visit the impressive Black Church, the largest evangelical Gothic church in Eastern Europe, with a 65 meter high bell tower and a length of 90 meters, the church houses the most beautiful nineteenth-century mechanical organ of Romania. We will then admire the palaces and houses of the historic center, recently restored, with the Council Square which now houses a beautiful museum, and the pedestrian Avenue of the Republic.
    Duration: 3 hours

    Stop At: Bran Castle (Dracula's Castle), Str. General Traian Mosoiu nr. 24, Bran 507025 Romania
    Later we proceed to Bran where we will visit the famous Bran Castle, better known as Dracula’s Castle. In the Middle Ages, Bran was exactly on the border between Wallachia and Transylvania, so it was essential for the inhabitants of Brasov to build and preserve a defensive stronghold
    Duration: 2 hours

    Meals included:
    • Breakfast: Buffet breakfast included.
    Accommodation included: Overnight in a 4* hotel in Sinaia.


    Day 7: Sinaia – Bucharest (130 km)

    Stop At: Peles Castle, Str. Pelesului 2, Sinaia 106100 Romania
    Visit to the fabulous Peles Castle, the summer residence of the first king of Romania, the King Charles 1 of Hohenzollern, of German origins. The castle was beautifully designed by a Czech architect, and is famous for being one of the most modern castles in Europe at the time of its construction, between the 19th and 20th centuries. Each room is characterized by a unique style, different from the styles of the other rooms. We will also admire the Florentine room, where we will breathe a typically Italian and Renaissance atmosphere.
    Duration: 2 hours

    Stop At: Muzeul National al Satului "Dimitrie Gusti", Kiseleff Road 28-30 In King Michael I Park, Bucharest 011347 Romania
    Visit the Village Museum, founded by a Romanian sociologist and built in 1936 with the collaboration of construction experts, anthropologists, ethnographers and sociologists from all over Romania. This wonderful open-air museum offers the opportunity to learn about the lifestyle of the romanian farmers of the 19th century, their houses, their water mills and their churches entirely made of wood. Here everything is authentic. We will also admire a wooden Maramures church, which was dismantled and then taken to the museum. In this regard, remember that many wooden churches of Maramures are UNESCO heritage
    Duration: 2 hours

    Stop At: Palace of Parliament, Strada Izvor 2-4, Bucharest 050711 Romania
    Visit the Parliament Building, a majestic monument, second only in size to the Pentagon, built at the behest of the dictator in the 80s of the 900 and for whose creation an entire neighborhood was razed
    Duration: 2 hours

    Stop At: Monumentul Constantin Brancoveanu, Unnamed Road, București 030167, Romania
    Enjoy a walking tour of the hystorical Center of Bucharest, a completely pedestrian area, with the remains of the princely fortress of Vlad the Impaler, the 16th century palatine church in Byzantine style, and the Stavropoleos church, an architectural jewel of the 18th century, in typical Wallachian style, with important oriental influences in external decoration.

    Dinner in the most famous restaurant in the capital, Caru cu Bere, which means the beer wagon, where you will have a great time thanks to the folklore show that will take place during dinner and where you will taste excellent traditional Romanian food. The beer produced here is original and the recipe is secret. Caru cu Bere has a fabulous neogothic facade and the restaurant was born as a brewery. The building is magnificently decorated inside in Art Deco style and with paintings representing scenes of bucolic and German life. In each painting you will see represented mugs of beer. As soon as you enter Caru cu Bere, you feel like you’re in a beautiful Bavarian brewery.
    Duration: 1 hour

    Meals included:
    • Breakfast: Buffet breakfast included.
    • Dinner: Dinner in the most famous restaurant in the capital, Caru cu Bere, with folklore show that will take place during dinner
    Accommodation included: Overnight in a 4* hotel in Bucharest.


    Day 8: Ivanovo Monastery – Arbanassi – Veliko (200 km) ROMANIA + BULGARIA

    Stop At: Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo, Ivanovo 7088 Bulgaria
    We will leave Bucharest in the morning and head to Bulgaria. After crossing the bridge over the Danube River we will enter in Bulgaria and our first visit will be at Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo ( Unesco World Heritage Site ) and noted for its magnificent medieval age frescoes still preserved
    Duration: 1 hour

    Stop At: Хотел Арбанаси, Хотел, ul. "Zagorie" № 7, 5029 Arbanasi, Bulgaria
    Continue with the picturesque Arbanasi village . In the walking tour of the village , we will discover houses that preserves an unique medieval bulgarian architecture and a hidden 16th century Church of Nativity with beautiful and richly inside painted fresco
    Duration: 1 hour

    Stop At: Tsarevets, Tsar Asen Square, Veliko Tarnovo 5000 Bulgaria
    Early evening arrival in Veliko Tarnovo , “City of Tsars” , the former capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. Tsarevets Fortress , Monument of the Asenevtsi kings , Samovodska charshia are the main attractions of the city.
    Duration: 2 hours

    Meals included:
    • Breakfast: Buffet breakfast included.
    Accommodation included: Overnight in Veliko Tarnovo in a 4* Hotel.


    Day 9: Veliko – Shipka – Kazanluk – Sofia (320 km) BULGARIA

    Stop At: Shipka Monument, Stoletov Peak, Shipka 6150 Bulgaria
    Crossing the Stara Planina mountains , we will stop to visit Shipka Monument (aka “Monument of The Liberty“) . The memorial complex was erected in memory of the fallen bulgarian volunteers and Russian soldiers during the Shipka battles in the summer of 1877. Shipka battle plays a crucial role in the Russo-Turkish War and for the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule.
    Duration: 1 hour

    Stop At: Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, General Radetski St. Parc Tubelto, Kazanlak 6100 Bulgaria
    Continue to drive south to the town of Kazanlak located in the pretty Valley of roses at the foot of the Balkan mountains. The natural geographical center of Bulgaria is just here where the roads of home and international tourist routes cross each other. Visit the most important touristic attractions : Thracian Tomb ( Unesco World Heritage Site , the only monument, completely preserved from the Early Hellenistic Period , 4-3 century B.C.) and Rose oil Museum .
    Duration: 2 hours

    Stop At: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St NW, Washington, DC 20566, USA
    In the early evening we will arrive in Sofia . The walking tour of city center will include the gold-domed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Saint (Sveta) Sofia Church , Banya Bashi Mosque, the Sofia Synagogue and the main shopping street Vitosha
    Duration: 2 hours

    Meals included:
    • Breakfast: Buffet breakfast included.
    No accommodation included on this day.

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