As I mentioned before, Brasov is a great base for a day trips. There are a lot of locations relatively close by that you might want to see and visit.
4 best places to go:
Bran Castle
Bran castle is also called the Dracula Castle! Well, technically speaking association with Dracula is nothing more than a myth but it shouldn’t stop your imagination 🙂 It is told that when Vlad got captured by Hungarian king, he spent 2 months in the castle but no sources really mentions him living in it and ruling from it.
It is really nice castle built around XIV century. What is really interesting, is that the castle was built by inhabitants of the Brasov with their own money and workforce. The reason for that is that the castle was also a fortress, that is standing right at the entrance to Rucar-Bran Pass and therefore, was necessary for the protection from Turks and Ottomans. From 1920 it was also a royal residence for Queen Marie until 1947. After that, it became the museum we can visit nowadays.
You could go around on you own, however there were a lot of people – especially a lot of school trips, which sometimes made it hard to move around. It is not huge place so most of the time we were walking one after another. As much as I have enjoyed the audio guide in Hunedoara Castle, I would not recommend it in Bran Castle. It was really long, full of very detailed descriptions with many dates. Every single pice of furniture located in the castle was described in detail. For me, that was way too much information that I wouldn’t remember the next day either way.
For more info about admission fees and other things, check out official website.
Rasnov Fortress
Rasnov fortress is another fortress built against invading Tatars. It was built by Teutonic Knights and is first mentioned in 1331. It is a quite remarkable fortress and probably that is why it is one of the most visited medieval buildings in Romania. It is also another example of “Hollywood style” place (like Brasov), so if you are in doubt where you are, look up and you will see huge letters telling you that you are in the right spot 🙂
You can get there either by foot or take a ride with a tractor. The tractor ride might be tempting but there is really long queue to get it, so you will have to probably wait a while. The road isn’t long either, so if you choose to walk, you will get to the top in the same time as it would take you to wait for it.
When you are finally there, make sure to wander around, check out small shops in the old buildings and see amazing panorama of the surrounding mountains and city.
Valea Cetatii Cave
The cave is located a short drive away from Rasnov. What can I say, I am a little crazy about caves for some reason. When I found out about one close by, I had to get there.
The cave has been discovered in 1949 by an explosion in the area and opened to public recently in 2012. What is unique about this one is that it is really high cave. It is not long and you are allowed to visit only ~300 meters but it still looks really impressive. I have heard there is possibility to see more if a special tour is booked beforehand.
Sometimes there are also some concerts taking place due to awesome acoustics. And it is really great ! When we were there, the guide switched off the light for a moment and we could clearly hear drops of water falling onto ground.
All information – opening hours and prices, can be found on the official website under Info Visitare.
Poiana Brasov
Poiana Brasov is the most popular ski place in Romania, spread across 80 hectares of land with 24 kilometres of skiing tracks. But it is not only a great place to visit during winter! During summer, try biking or hiking on one of many available tracks in the surrounding mountains.
