Transylvania and the monasteries of Moldova 2024

Arrive at the airport in Bucharest, meet the guide and transfer to the hotel.

Dinner and overnight stay in Bucharest, 4-star Hotel Ramada Parc.

Travel along the Olt Valley from the Red Tower Pass, the former border between Transylvania and Wallachia. Stop at Cozia Monastery, one of the oldest monasteries in Romania. In the afternoon, arrival in Sibiu, European Capital of Culture in 2007. City tour with visit to the Big and Small Squares, the Bridge of Lies and the Evangelical Church. Continuation to Bazna.

Dinner and overnight stay in 3-star Hotel Casa Bazna.

Journey into the culture of the Saxons of Transylvania. Tourists in Transylvania are impressed by the towns that still preserve the old medieval centers, monuments and traces left by the succession of religions and civilizations have given this province a very romantic atmosphere. Saxon settlers fortified their cities to defend themselves against Tatar invasions by building city walls and erecting defense towers and ramparts. This is precisely why Transylvania was called Siebenburgen (the land of seven fortresses) in the Middle Ages. The fortified churches found in Transylvania are also the historical evidences of the Saxons who inhabited this region.

After breakfast drive to Biertan, residence of Protestant bishops until the end of the 19th century, where you visit the largest fortified church. Continue to Sighisoara, the most beautiful and best-preserved medieval town in the rural Gothic and Baroque renaissance style in Eastern Europe. Here you can visit the Church on the Hill, the house where Count Dracula was born, and the Church of St. Mary. In the afternoon return to Bazna. Carriage ride from Bazna to the fortified church in Boian.

Dinner and overnight stay in 3-star Hotel Casa Bazna.

Journey across the Tihuta Pass from Bukovina to Transylvania.

Short stop in Bistrita to visit the church with the tallest tower in Romania. Passage through Targu Mures, where we visit the Orthodox Cathedral (the largest in Romania) and the Palace of Culture. Continue on to Moldavia. In the afternoon, visit the Moldovita Monastery.

Dinner and overnight stay in 3-star Hotel Sandru.

In the morning visit the Voronet monastery. Walk through the Bicaz Gorge, a canyon about 5 km long in the Eastern Carpathians, to view the steep cliff of the pass along Red Lake. At Red Lake an 'entire forested hillside has slipped into the water and even now logs can be seen all over the lake emerging from the water. The journey continues through the eastern part of Transylvania. Late in the evening we arrive in Predeal.

Dinner and overnight stay in 4-star Hotel Piemonte.

Before lunch visit Brasov. The city of Brasov was founded in the 13th century by the Teuton Knights order and was for several centuries the economic and spiritual center of the Saxons from Transylvania. In the historic center we will visit the Black Church, among the most important historical and art monuments in Romania. Architecturally, the church dominates the medieval center of the city of Brasov: it is still considered the largest Gothic-style religious building in southeastern Europe, measuring 89 meters long and 38 meters wide. The church's chancel, supported by external buttresses and decorated with aedicules housing statues of saints, is one of the few examples of its kind in Transylvania. The Black Church's collection of oriental carpets is the richest of its kind in Romania. The Baroque-era organ has survived almost unchanged to the present day.

The mammoth city walls make Brasov one of the most fortified medieval cities in Transylvania. Today Brasov is a modern city that retains traces of the past: the Tailors' Bastion, the White Tower, the Black Tower, the Gothic-style Ecaterina Gate and the Baroque-style Schei Gate, the Town Hall, the Rope Road, and the small Orthodox church hidden in the old town. It continues on to Harman. The 12th-century fortified Harman Church is a Romanesque basilica with Gothic elements. The sinister towers, chapels and moat are still visible today. Inside are paintings from the 13th century. The outer walls are oval-shaped, similar to those of the not-so-distant evangelical church in Prejmer, 12 meters high and topped by seven defense towers some of which have loopholes from which boiling pitch was poured on attackers. Return to Predeal.

Dinner and overnight stay in 4-star Hotel Piemonte.

Before lunch excursion to Bran, where it will be possible to visit the oldest fortress in Transylvania. The intricate walls with many protruding windows (bay windows) and turrets were erected by the Teutonic Knights in 1377 on a cliff-with views of the wooded valley and surrounding Bucegi Mountains-useful for all military purposes. The castle, the residence of Romanian Queen Mary during the interwar period, is now a museum also known as Dracula's Castle. Continue to Sinaia. Visit Peles Castle, summer residence of the royal family. The year 1866 marks the beginning of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty in Romania, the first king of the dynasty decided to build a castle in Sinaia on the banks of Peles during the German Renaissance to feel closer to his homeland. In the evening, arrive in Bucharest, the Romanian capital.

Gala dinner with folkloric program at Pescarus Restaurant or similar

Overnight stay in 4-star Ramada Hotel.

In the morning tour of the city of Bucharest once nicknamed "the little Paris of the East" because of its vibrant artistic life, wide boulevards and fin de siecle architecture. Bucharest is a rich city diluoghi to be discovered by walking along the streets that line the main streets where you will appreciate the true face of the city .Panoramic tour with the following itinerary: the Arc de Triomphe (reminds us of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris) , Kiseleff Avenue and then visit the Herastrau Reservoir and the Free Press Square , Aviators Square and Victoria Square.

Continue to the Church of the Patriarchy, then stop at the Palace of Parliament. The Palace of Parliament (the largest building in Europe and the second largest in the world after the Pentagon with more than 1,000 rooms) is also called the former House of the People (a symbol of communism in Romania). Later we visit the Village Museum, dedicated to Romanian rural life in miniature.

Transfer to the airport, boarding operations and departure for Italy.