- Duration: 10 Days
- Location: Departure from Cluj-Napoca
- Available Seat: Please contact us!
- Price: 810 €/person
Even now, at the beginning of the third millennium, Romania impresses its tourists with the ancient sounding of the wooden plank, a ritual that is still calling the people to church.
The traveler who reaches Romania encounters an atmosphere that has endured for centuries: ceremonies in which the strange sound of the wooden wick mixes with the smell of frankincense, the priests’ clothes and the tables laden with ritual breads and knot-shaped bread, the litanies and the church songs, the bells sounding, of the pictures with biblical legends that deck the inside walls but also even the outside walls…They can be seen in dwellings carved in the mountain rock or in the cave churches, in the cathedrals of the big cities, in monasteries as well as in the humble country churches. Irrespective of the modesty or greatness of the establishment, the churches are the place that Romanians have dedicated their most beautiful and best assets to: landscape, art of building, valuable objects from gold and silver to refined and woven materials.
Day 1
Cluj-Napoca
Arrival at the international airport of Cluj-Napoca. Depending on the arrival time, free time for city tour: The Botanical Garden (with over 10 000 species of plants throughout the world), Saint Michael’s Church (built in the 14th century in a Gothic style), The Orthodox Cathedral, The National Theatre, Iuliu Maniu street (also known as The Street in the Mirror), the Central Park.
Welcome dinner and overnight in a 3* hotel.
Day 2
Cluj-Napoca – Baia Mare – Baia Sprie
Breakfast. Departure to Maramures, region of very well preserved traditions and rituals and with a rich religious inheritance. Stop in Baia Mare town and visit Stephen Tower of 40 m high built in the 15th century as part of St. Stephen Cathedral, the historical centre, the wooden church of Chechis built in 1630 and moved in the Village Museum of Baia Mare, Holy Trinity church from the 18th century and the Assumption of Virgin Mary Cathedral with an extraordinary artistic value. Lunch in a restaurant.
Departure to Baia Sprie for a pottery demonstration made by the pension owner. Short walk to the Blue Lake, situated close to the pension famous for its green-blue color, depending on season.
Dinner and overnight in the 3* pension.
Day 3
Baia Sprie – Desesti – Sapanta – Peri – Sighetu Marmatiei
Breakfast. Departure to Sapanta. Stop in Desesti and visit the wooden church included in the UNESCO Patrimony.
Continue to Sapanta in order to visit the Merry Cemetery, famous for its colorful tombstones with naïve paintings, describing the buried persons’ life in an original and poetic manner. Close to the cemetery is the Peri Monastery, the tallest wooden structure in the world – 75 m. Lunch in restaurant.
In Sighetu Marmatiei visit the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and Resistance founded in 1993 on the base of the former Sighet prison. The Memorial presents the atrocities of the totalitarian system in communism; each prison cell became a museum room.
If the time allows, visit the Village Museum, with ancient installations and objects, some of them still used in the traditional households.
Dinner and overnight in a 3* hotel in Sighetu Marmatiei.
Day 4
Sighetu Marmatiei – Barsana – Ieud – Sucevita
Breakfast. Departure to Bucovina, another region where the tradition and the culture are very well preserved. Short stop in Barsana in order to visit the wooden monastic complex. In Ieud visit the oldest of 8 wooden churches in Maramures included in the UNESCO Patrimony.
The road passes on the Prislop Pass situated at 1416 m and offers a great view over the Rodna Mountains. Lunch. In Ciocanesti village admire the outside wall of the houses, painted with traditional models and colors, the same models that appear on the traditional costumes.
Arrival in Sucevita. Dinner and overnight in a 4* pension.
Day 5
Sucevita – Marginea – Arbore – Manastirea Humorului – Voronet – Moldovita – Sucevita
Breakfast. Visit Bucovina: the black pottery center Marginea with traditions from the ancient times, the monasteries Sucevita, Arbore, Manastirea Humorului, Voronet and Moldovita, each one painted in a different color, Voronet being the most well-known by its blue. All these monasteries are included in the UNESCO Patrimony. Lunch. In Moldovita short visit to an Easter eggs decorator, who will make a demonstration and give you the opportunity to try yourself to get hold of this art.
Dinner and overnight in the same pension in Sucevita.
Day 6
Sucevita – Dragomirna – Suceava – Varatec – Agapia
Breakfast. Departure to Neamt region. Close to Suceava visit the tallest medieval monastery in Bucovina, Dragomirna. Carved in stone and lied among forested hills of fir and oak, the monastic complex offer a great relaxation place.
Stop in Suceava and visit the Seat Fortress in Suceava, built in the 14th century against the Ottoman invasion and princely residence until 1565. Visit the Saint John the New Monastery built at the beginning of the 16th century and served as metropolitan cathedral until 1564, when the capital was moved to Iasi by Alexandru Lapusneanu voivode. Lunch.
The next visits are at the monasteries Agapia and Varatec, with unique architecture and frescoes. The most representative is Agapia, with mural painting made by Nicolae Grigorescu between 1858 and 1861.
Dinner and overnight in a 3* pension in Agapia.
Day 7
Agapia – Lacu Rosu – Bicaz Gorges – Sighisoara
Breakfast. Departure toward Sighisoara. The road passes nearby Lacu Rosu (Red Lake) formed in 1837 after a landslide which blocked the Bicaz river. Its color of red is caused to the reddish alluvia deposited in the lake. Lunch.
Continue through Bicaz Gorges along the 8 km of ravines, often in serpentines between the narrow walls. It is one of the most spectacular drives in the country. Lunch in a Hungarian restaurant in Gheorgheni.
Continue to the medieval town Sighisoara (to its “Saxon” founders, “Schassburg”), an imposing fortified hilltop town dominating the valley below. Visit the former Dominican monastery founded in the 13th century, the Venetian House, the House of Vlad Dracul (known as Dracula) and the Stag House. Step up on the School Street and afterwards the 175 steps of the Scholar’s Stairs towards the highest point of the citadel. Visit here the Church on the Hill, an impressive monument of Gothic architecture built in the 14th century.
Dinner and overnight in a 3* hotel situated in the medieval centre. Free time to visit the citadel in the moon light.
Day 8
Sighisoara – Biertan – Valea Viilor – Slimnic – Sibiu
Breakfast. Visit the citadel: the Clock Tower, The German Church and the Church on the Hill, the Jewish Cemetery.
Departure to Sibiu. Stop in Biertan, Valea Viilor and Slimnic and visit the fortified churches dating from the 13th century. Lunch in restaurant.
Arrival in Sibiu. Visit the medieval city founded in 1191 by the Saxons: Grand Square, Brukenthal Palace (one of the oldest museums in the world), the Jesuit Church, the Council Tower, the Evangelical Church, Lesser Square and Liar’s Bridge. Sibiu was the European Capital of Culture in 2007 and in every week-end there are festivals, fairs or cultural events.
Dinner and overnight in a 3* hotel in the historical centre.
Day 9
Sibiu – Alba Iulia – Turda – Cluj-Napoca
Breakfast. Departure to Cluj-Napoca. In Alba Iulia, visit the Citadel Alba Carolina, built in 1716-1735, extremely impressive through its massive size. Between the 18th and the 19th centuries, the fortress was used as Transylvania’s military headquarters and as the general arsenal for weaponry. Made up of seven bastions, the fortress is laid out in a star-shaped configuration, typical of Vauban fortresses. It can be entered through six statue and bas-relief decorated gates. The decorations for the gated were created under the supervision of Johann Koenig.
Visit the Orthodox Cathedral and the Roman –Catholic Cathedral. Lunch in a restaurant.
Continue to Turda and visit the salt mine, where the salt extractions were made even from antiquity. Since 2008, when it entered in a modernization and improvement process, the salt mine is a great touristic attraction through the galleries, big rooms (each one with its specific) and especially through the salt lake from the bottom.
Arrival in Cluj-Napoca. Farewell dinner and overnight in a 3* hotel.
Day 10
Cluj-Napoca
Breakfast. Last visits and shopping. Departure.
HIGHLIGHTS
* Cluj-Napoca city
* Baia Mare town
* Pottery session in Baia Sprie
* Blue Lake in Baia Sprie
* Desesti wooden church
* Merry Cemerety in Sapanta
* Peri wooden church
* The Memorial of Victims of Communism in Sighetu Marmatiei
* Barsana wooden complex
* Ieud wooden church
* Ciocanesti village
* Marginea pottery centre
* Sucevita, Arbore, Humor, Voronet and Moldovita painted monasteries
* Egg decoration session
* Dragomirna monastery
* Seat Fortress in Suceava
* St John the New Monastery in Suceava
* Agapia and Varatec Monasteries
* Red Lake
* Bicaz Gorges
* Sighisoara Citadel
* Biertan, Valea Viilor & Slimnic fortified churches
* Sibiu city
* Alba Iulia fortress and cathedrals
* Turda Salt Mine
PRICE:
Organized groups: 810 €/person
Special! Private tour: 1467 €/person
*209 €/person SGL Supplement
Included:
- Accommodation: 5 nights in 3* hotels 2 nights in 4* pension and 2 nights in 3* pension
- Full board (check-in with dinner and check-out with breakfast)
- All transport and round transfers
- Fuel, road and parking taxes
- Entry tickets for the visits in the program
- English speaking attested guide
- Telephonic emergency call and support 24/7
Not included:
- Air tickets
- Taxes for cameras and filming
- Driver for private tour
- Drinks off the boarding
- Tips
NOTE:
- The program in the present form is available if Day 1 is Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday according to the opening hours of some visits or activities in the tour. If Day 1 differs, they will be replaced or cancel.
- Rates do not apply during the main holidays (Easter, Christmas and New Year) and during great events (festivals, concerts, fairs).
