Planning for Romania

Some of the required literature...ahem
For this fall, we are intending to take a small vacation, a chance to expand the mind and have a good time. This time, it's going to be Romania!

SAS is a good company to travel with. Scandinavian reliability and all that. And they fly direct from Copenhagen to Bucharest. Our intention will be to depart on the 5th of Sep, arriving in Bucharest at around 2300. Since it's a bit late, the plan is to take a room at one of the airport hotels, just overnight, most likely http://www.vi-hotels.com/en/angelo-bucharest/

On the 6th, we will check out a car. www.rentalcars.com seems like a good site to book. The one thing to remember here is to get the sticker for the highways. A small cost of around 3€ for seven days, but it needs to be done as the fines are extensive. Hopefully, the rental company has it arranged. Otherwise, they can be picked up at a local gas station, I think. 
Then we drive. First, the road will carry us towards Brasov, in the north. It's 171 km and the estimated time is 2 h 41m. Looking at the map, however, there are some destinations already enroute that need to be served. I think the champagne manufacturing (sic) of Azuga is something we can skip, but Sinaia and Predeal are both on the way, close to Brasov. Not to mention the extensive amount of things to see, excepting the city itself:
  • Pelisor
  • Peles castle (Castle Dracula)
  • Sinaia monastary
  • Cetatea Rasnov
  • Bran Castle (also Castle Dracula)
  • Biserica Neagra (the Black Church)
  • Canionul Sapte Scari (Seven Ladders Canyon)
  • Parc Aventura
  • Mount Tampa
  • Chiesa Fortificata
  • Fagaras Fortress
If we stop at Sinai, it should be about lunchtime. Hopefully, there will be someplace to eat there. 
At Brasov, the first planned hotel is Kronwell, or www. kronwell.com. It will also the only place that we spend two entire nights! 

My thinking is that we will prooooobably hang around Brasov on the 7th as well, picking up on all the sites we didn't get the day before. The 7th IS a Monday and probably will have a lot of the sights closed, so it will take some planning. 

The 8th is a different thing! From Brasov we chug on down the E574 down to Curtea de Arges. It will be around lunchtime, so we'll chew on something before we complete the 3 h 15m it takes to drive 156 km from Brasov to Cetatea Poienari, the "real" Castle Dracula. If by this time you are disturbed by the third Castle Dracula, relax. Only a couple more :)
From Poienari, we take the Transfagarasan up over the dam and the 2500 m above sea level to the romantic city of Sibui. That's about an extra three hours so in all likelyhood, Sibui should be a place to stop overnight. Haven't really gotten so far as to find a good place though. My planning took us all the way to Turda, but that's about two more hours of driving. Seems a bit steep perhaps, but it WOULD carry us to the Hunter Castle (what do you know, another castle Dracula). To be realistic, we say Sibiu. 

The 9th, however, will be http://www.huntercastle.ro for sure! Except for the castle, there's also the salt mines to see, guaranteed to be exceptional! Sibiu to Turda is only about two hours, so I intend to include a visit to Cluj Napoca as well, if we don't simply decide to chill at the castle. 

The 10th begins with a tour of Cluj, if we missed it. Then 2h 30m up to Baia Mare. The day will be spend in Maramures, the region where time has stood still. And for the night, we will stop not far from Bistrita in another Castle Dracula. Unless I miss my guess, this will be the fifth and final Castle Dracula, but we can still get surprised. http://www.hotelcasteldracula.ro is the link this time. Another 150 km to take us there in about 2h 20m so a lot of time in the car, to be sure. 

When the 11th is sprung on us, we will bounce into our car. Today's trip is 145 km in about 2h 33m down to Sighisoara, another medieval town with loads of sights. Here, the thought is to stay at the Fronius Residence. 

Finally, the 12th will be the last day of our visit. 268 km in about 4 hours of driving to get down to the airport again. The route takes us through Brasov again. The flight is late at night, so even though it's a long drive, we have time to enjoy the trip. I think. Perhaps my butt will be of a different mind at the time. 

If anybody has any hints, tips or tricks for our trip, be sure to let us know! All thoughts are appreciated!

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