HIDDEN
TREASURES OF ROMANIA
9 days cultural tour
Transylvania
is the land “beyond the forests” (from the
latin "Ultra silvam"), a land of beauty and
wonders. Its very name conjures up visions of thickly
forested peaks, sweet waved valleys and sparkling streams,
visions of high-roofed wooden churches, medieval towns,
mysterious castles and a troubled history.
Maramures, abode of culture and civilisation, which
has carved in wood its own history, is the place where
traditions, popular garb and art are preserved like
nowhere else in Romania. Maramures is a huge open-air
museum, and the daily life of the Maramures village
is a real return in time.
A cradle of old civilisation, where history blends with
legend, Bucovina is known for its famous painted monasteries
- UNESCO patrimony: Moldovita, Sucevita, Voronet, Humor.
As to the architectonic and historical aspects, the
monasteries of Putna and Dragomirna are not of less
importance.
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HIGHLIGHTS
*
Merry Cemetery in Sapanta
* Maramures wooden churches
* Painted Monasteries in Bucovina
* Bicaz Gorges
* Medieval town of Sighisoara
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OUR
EVALUATION
Culture*****
Nature***
Comfort***
Human contacts****
Climbing and walking skills*
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Day
1
Arrival
in Cluj and transfer to the 3* hotel - welcome dinner
in a traditional restaurant.
Day
2
Cluj - Beclean - Salva - Sacel
- Botiza (200 km)
Breakfast.
Discover Cluj, the most important cultural center in Transylvania.
Tour of the city - an occasion to appreciate the richness
of the Gothic and Baroque architecture of the old town
center: the Pharmacy Museum, the Orthodox and Catholic
Cathedrals. Lunch in a restaurant and drive to the Maramures,
following the road through the Salauta Valley. Stop and
visit the wooden church in Dragomiresti.
Dinner and overnight in a rural guesthouse in a village
in Iza Valley.
 Day
3
Botiza - Sieu - Sighetu Marmatiei
- Sapanta - Botiza (150 km)
Breakfast.
Visit an artisan's workshop of handmade rugs dyed with
vegetal colors - you may buy them there directly from
the artisan.
Discover the cultural richness of the Maramures: the unique
"Merry Cemetery" of Sapanta, with its wooden
sculpted and painted crosses and the wooden carved gates
from Iza Valley. Lunch in a restaurant in Sighetu Marmatiei,
then visit The Memorial Museum of the Victims of Communism
and of the Resistance, located in a former political prison.
Drive to Barsana and visit the new Monastery Settlement.
 Free
program till evening - discover the countryside life.
Festive dinner with local players "ceterasi"
and overnight in a rural guesthouse.
 Day
4
Botiza - Ieud - Sacel - Borsa
- Iacobeni - Campulung Moldovenesc - Vama (150 km)
Breakfast.
Visit the village of Ieud and the local wooden church,
dating from 1718.
Drive to Borsa. Lunch or picnic lunch in Borsa. Drive
to Prislop Pass, the passage between the Maramures and
Bucovina; here takes place in August every year a great
festival of traditional popular Romanian dances.
 If
in place at that period, visit a local sheepfold. Drive
and stop to visit the village of Ciocanesti, famous for
its exterior walls painted houses - an emblem of Bucovina.
Dinner and overnight in a rural guesthouse in Bucovina.
 Day
5
Vama - Voronet - Sucevita - Marginea
- Moldovita - Vama (100 km)
Breakfast.
Visit of the painted monasteries: Voronet (surnamed the
Sistine Chapel of the East, which is the most famous of
the monasteries of Bucovina) and Sucevita. Each monastery
is painted in a specific colour: blue, green or yellow.
Visit the village of Marginea, famous for its black earthenware
pottery renowned to date back to the ancient Dacian (pre-Roman)
period.
 Lunch
in a rural guesthouse. Drive to Moldovita Monastery. After
visit, meet a craftsman who decorates Easter eggs, with
a chance to try out your own decorating talents.
Back for dinner and overnight in a rural guesthouse.
Day
6
Vama - Falticeni - Targu Neamt
- Izvorul Muntelui - Bicaz - Lazarea (230 km)
Breakfast.
Drive to Lazarea, along the lake Izvorul Muntelui (the
Spring of the Mountain) - 48 km long. Stop for lunch in
a restaurant on the shore of the lake. Continue to Lazarea
passing through the Bicaz Gorges, with spectacular limestone
walls. Occasion to walk along the road, in the thundering
of the Bicaz river. You may also see lots of handcrafters,
selling their products in the gorges. By the evening arrival
to the Sicule's County. Dinner and overnight in a village
near Gheorgheni, in a rural guesthouse - an occasion to
discover the local rich gastronomy.
 Day
7
Lazarea - Joseni - Praid - Corund
- Sighisoara (125 km)
Breakfast.
Visit the village of Lazarea - the Castle of the Counts
Lazar, the Franciscan Monastery and the open-air Modern
Arts Museum. Drive to Praid to explore the historical
salt mine. Lunch in a restaurant in Praid.
On the way to Sighisoara, stop in Corund, one of the most
representative Hungarian pottery centres in Transylvania.
Dominant colours of the pottery are blue, green and yellow,
with lots of stylised flower representations. Visit a
small pottery workshop, where you may purchase items directly
from the producer.
 Continue
to Sighisoara. Dinner and overnight in a 3* hotel in Sighisoara
in the center of the medieval fortress on the hill.
 Day
8
Sighisoara - Biertan - Medias
- Tarnaveni - Targu Mures - Cluj (160 km)
Breakfast.
In the morning, tour medieval Sighisoara (to its Saxon
founders, "Schassburg"), an imposing fortified
hilltop town dominating the valley below. Then drive to
Biertan to visit one of the biggest Saxon fortresses in
Transylvania.
Lunch in a restaurant in Medias. Drive to Cluj, one of
the biggest economic centres of Transylvania, with old
traditions of culture, research and education.
 Farewell
dinner in a traditional restaurant. Overnight in a 3*
hotel in Cluj.
 Day
9
Breakfast.
Free time for city sightseeing and shopping in Cluj-Napoca.
You will have the chance to discover a traditional peasant
market.
Transfer to the airport or railway station for departure.
| Duration
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9
days / 8 nights |
| Lodging
|
rural
guesthouses (ocasionally, bathrooms shared between
tourists) and hotels |
| Notes |
1.
Rates do not apply during Easter, Chrismas and the
New Year period.
2. According to the opening hours for some visited
sites (e.g. museums), this programme can be applied
as it is if Day 1 is Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.
If Day 1 differs, some visits or activities will be
replaced consequently.
3. Price does not include: extra taxes for cameras
and filming (requested in some places - e.g. the monasteries),
personal drinks off the boarding, tips (optional).
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2012
RATES
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NUMBER
OF PARTICIPANTS
|
PERIOD
|
PRICE/
PERS
|
SGLE
SUPPL
|
PRICE
INCLUDES
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2
(private tour)
|
all
year
long
|
1395
EUR
|
155
EUR
|
-
lodging: 5 nights in rural guesthouses, 3 nights
in hotels (on a double room basis occupancy)
- boarding: full board (as specified in the programme)
- entry tickets for the visits included in the
programme
- transport and transfers in Romania by car, minibus
or coach
- all road and parking taxes
- transport of luggage
- English speaking attested tour guide
- all taxes
|
|
8
(constitued
groups)
|
all
year
long
|
785
EUR
|
155
EUR
|
|
|
845
EUR
|
155
EUR
|
| Quotation
on request for other group sizes and discounts for
children under 12 |
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