Romania & Bulgaria Classic Tour (15 Days, Starting In Cluj-napoca)

Itinerary

Day 1: Cluj-Napoca

Pass By: Avram Iancu International Airport Cluj, Strada Traian Vuia 149-151, Cluj-Napoca 400397, Romania
Airport pick-up and drive to your hotel. Depending on the hour of your arrival, you can opt for a guided tour of the city.
Overnight in a 3* hotel in Cluj.
Car transfers: 30 min; ~20 km / 13 mi
(no meals included)

No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Cluj

Day 2: Cluj – Maramures

Stop At: Wooden Churches of Maramures, Romania
Breakfast and departure for Maramures, a remote and for a long time isolated rural region which still preserves, partly, old wooden architecture and traditional ways of life. Stop on the way to visit a first of the eight wooden churches included in the UNESCO heritage list (Rogoz or Surdesti). Take a walk in the best preserved traditional village in Maramures and have lunch with the locals. Continue with the visit of the Merry Cemetery in Sapanta, an unusual colorful spot, unexpectedly reflecting the love for live of the locals, and a traditional dowry room.
Dinner and accommodation in a 3* hotel in Maramures.
Car transfers: approx. 4h00min; ~200 km / 130 mi
(breakfast & lunch, dinner not included)
Duration: 3 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Accommodation in a 3* hotel in Maramures.

Day 3: Maramures – Bucovina

Stop At: Barsana Monastery, Kloster, Barsana 437035 Romania
After breakfast, you’ll start the day with a visit to one or two craftsmen in the area. Transfer to Barsana where you’ll see another UNESCO wooden church with frescoes influenced by urban styles of painting typical to the 18th-19th century. You’ll also visit the new monastery, which gets more tourists than the old UNESCO church.
Lunch in a local restaurant.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Ciocanesti, Suceava Romania
After lunch, transfer across the Eastern Carpathians through Prislop Pass to Bucovina. Stop on the way for a photo sessions and short walk in the village of Ciocanesti.
Duration: 20 minutes

Stop At: Moldovita Monastery, Vatra Moldovitei 727595 Romania
In late afternoon, you’ll visit Moldovita Monastery, UNESCO monument famous for its outer frescoes of the 16th century.
Overnight in a 3* hotel in Gura Humorului.
Car transfers: approx. 4h45min; ~250 km / 155 mi
(breakfast included, lunch & dinner not included)
Duration: 1 hour

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Gura Humorului.

Day 4: Bucovina – Transylvania

Stop At: Manastirea Voronet, Strada Voronet 166, Voronet 725301 Romania
Early in the morning, after breakfast, visit the nearby Voronet monastery - UNESCO monument, most famous of all painted monasteries in Bucovina.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Bicaz Canyon, Dn12c, Lacu Rosu 535502 Romania
A long transfer to Transylvania ensues, which will take you through Bicaz Gorge and by the Red Lake in the Eastern Carpathians.
Lunch in a restaurant.
Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Sighisoara Historic Center, Piata Cetatii Nr.1 Center of Sighisoara, Sighisoara 545400 Romania
After lunch, transfer through one of the biggest depressions of the Eastern Carpathians, the homeland of the Hungarian speaking Szekely Transylvanians.
During late afternoon and early evening you’ll walk through Sighisoara – Transylvania’s best preserved medieval town, also included in the UNESCO world heritage list, world-renowned for being Dracula’s birth place. (All Dracula stories are to be taken with a pinch of salt, of course.)
Overnight in a 3* hotel in Sighisoara.
Car transfers: approx. 6h; ~335 km / 210 mi
(breakfast included, lunch & dinner not included)
Duration: 2 minutes

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Sighișoara.

Day 5: Transylvania: Viscri – Brasov

Stop At: Viscri Fortified Church, Viscri 507039 Romania
After breakfast, transfer to Viscri – the best preserved Saxon village in Transylvania and a UNESCO world heritage site. Discover Viscri and its fortified church, then have lunch at a local restaurant.
Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Brasov Historical Center, Piazza Sfatului, Brasov Romania
Next destination is Brasov, one of the most beautiful medieval towns in Transylvania. Discover the Black Church, easternmost Gothic church in Europe, and enjoy a guided tour of the old town.
Overnight in a 3* hotel in Brasov.
Car transfers: approx. 2h50min; ~145 km / 95 mi
(breakfast & lunch included, dinner not included)
Duration: 2 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Brașov.

Day 6: Transylvania: Brasov – Sinaia – Bran – Brasov

Stop At: Peles Castle, Str. Pelesului 2, Sinaia 106100 Romania
You’ll have an early breakfast in Brasov so that to be able to reach Peles Castle in Sinaia slightly before its opening hour.
Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Bran Castle (Dracula's Castle), Str. General Traian Mosoiu nr. 24, Bran 507025 Romania
After the visit of the castle transfer to Bran village, where we’ll have lunch in a restaurant before entering in Bran Castle.
Free afternoon for shopping or walking.
Overnight in a 3* hotel in Brasov.
Car transfers: approx. 2h30min; ~120 km / 75 mi
(breakfast included, lunch & dinner not included)
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Brașov.

Day 7: Transylvania: Brasov – Transfagarasan Road – Sibiu

Stop At: Le Lac Balea, Fagaras Mountains Romania
In the morning drive on one of the most spectacular roads in the world, the Transfagarasan, up to Balea Lake.
Lunch in a restaurant on the way.
* Disclaimer: Transfagarasan highway is only open between June and October.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Citadel Park of Sibiu, Bulevardul Coposu Corneliu, Sibiu 550245 Romania
Car transfer and, in late afternoon, explore Sibiu. European Capital of Culture in 2007, Sibiu is a bustling city from a cultural and economical point of view. It always used to be like that as, since the Middle Ages, Sibiu was the biggest and most powerful town the Saxon (German speaking) Transylvanians had – it was their capital. No wonder that today Sibiu is one of the most beautiful medieval towns in Transylvania.
Overnight in a 3* hotel in Sibiu.
Car transfers: approx. 3h40min; ~190 km / 120 mi
(breakfast included, lunch & dinner not included)
Duration: 3 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Sibiu.

Day 8: Transylvania – Bucharest

Stop At: Curtea de Arges Monastery, Bulevardul Basarabilor 1, Curtea de Arges 115300 Romania
In the morning cross the Southern Carpathians through Olt Valley to Curtea de Arges, where we visit two Orthodox churches: one of them is the oldest Byzantine-style church in Romania, the other one is one of the most beautiful Orthodox churches in the world.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Stop At: Bucharest, Romania
Lunch in a restaurant and transfer to Bucharest. Explore the oldest part of Bucharest (a nightlife hot-spot) before dinner.
Overnight in a 3* hotel in Bucharest.
Car transfers: approx. 5 h; ~290 km / 180 mi
(breakfast included, lunch & dinner not included)
Duration: 2 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Bucharest.

Day 9: Bucharest

Stop At: Palace of Parliament, Strada Izvor 2-4, Bucharest 050711 Romania
This day you will visit the Palace of Parliament and either Ceausescu’s private house, or the Village Museum (guide’s decision). Panoramic tour of the Romanian capital.
Free afternoon for shopping or walking.
Overnight in a 3* hotel in Bucharest.
Car transfers: approx. 1h30min. through Bucharest; ~ 20 km / 13 mi
(breakfast included, lunch & dinner not included)
Duration: 5 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Bucharest.

Day 10: Bucharest – Bulgaria

Stop At: Rusenski Lom Nature Park, Gara Ivanovo, Ruse 7088 Bulgaria
After an early breakfast, leave Bucharest heading to Bulgaria. Thirty minutes into the Bulgarian leg of your journey you will start exploring a rock-hewn church close to the small village of Ivanovo. This UNESCO monument is to be found in the middle of the beautiful Rusenski Lom Nature Park and you’ll have to hike to the isolated church.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Konstantsalieva House, Ul. Kapitan Pavel Gramadov, Arbanasi 5029 Bulgaria
Lunch in Arbanasi, one of the most beautiful and best preserved villages with traditional houses in Bulgaria. You’ll explore the village after lunch, while in late afternoon and early evening you’ll start discovering the nearby Veliko Tarnovo.
Car transfers: approx. 4h15min; ~215 km / 135 mi
Duration: 1 hour

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Veliko Tarnovo.

Day 11: Veliko Tarnovo - Tryavna - Bozhentsi

Stop At: Tsarevets, Tsar Asen Square, Veliko Tarnovo 5000 Bulgaria
During the most part of the morning you’ll continue to explore Imperial Bulgaria’s capital, Veliko Tarnovo, and its famous fortress, Tsarevets.
Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Museum of the Wood-Carving and Ethnographical Arts, P. R. Slaveykov Street 27 Old Daskalov’s House, Tryavna 5350 Bulgaria
Transfer to Tryavna, just in time to have lunch. Bustling with craftsmen in the 18th and 19th centuries, Tryavna preserved not only its old core, with beautiful National Revival style houses, but also its old skills and know-how: in those old houses you can still see artisans at work.
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Hotel Bozhentsi, ул. Главна 1, 5349 село Черневци, Bulgaria
In late afternoon head to Bozhentsi – a tiny and very quiet, isolated village at the end of a heavily forested valley in the northern part of the Balkan Mountains. It is because of its remoteness and isolation that its old houses have been so well preserved.
Car transfers: approx. 2 h; ~70 km / 45 m
Duration: 1 hour

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Tryavna or in Bozhentsi.

Day 12: Bozhentsi – Kazanlak – Koprivshtitsa

Stop At: Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, General Radetski St. Parc Tubelto, Kazanlak 6100 Bulgaria
Start your day with a drive across the Balkan Mountains through Shipka Pass – a heroic and highly symbolical place for Bulgarians – to the Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak (the original tomb, a UNESCO site in peril, is closed to tourists, but nearby you can visit an exact copy of it).
Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Dimcho Debelyanov House, Dimcho Debelyanov St 6, Koprivshtitsa 2077 Bulgaria
After lunch, transfer to Koprivshtitsa. Much bigger and far more prosperous than Bozhentsi, Koprivshtitsa is a village just as well preserved as the previous one, but bustling with life. An unusually high number of Bulgarian personalities of the Romantic era were born here. Explore the village for the rest of the day and discover one of its museums.
Car transfers: approx. 3h30min; ~190 km / 120 mi
Duration: 3 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight in a guesthouse in Koprivshtitsa.

Day 13: Koprivshtitsa – Bachkovo – Plovdiv

Stop At: Plovdiv Old Town, Plovdiv 4000 Bulgaria
After breakfast, transfer from Koprivshtitsa to Bachkovo.
Arrive in Plovdiv in time for lunch and explore the city during the afternoon and the evening. You have a little bit of everything in this rightfully praised and not enough acclaimed city of Plovdiv: Roman ruins (including one of the best preserved Roman theaters in the world); Byzantine fortifications; a beautiful Turkish mosque; a whole old residential neighborhood which, being built in the times of the Bulgarian National Revival, embodies all the mysteries of the Romantic Orient; and a party corner – another whole neighborhood built in Wester European styles where you have a hard time picking up your favorite bar or restaurant. In 2019 Plovdiv was European Capital of Culture.
Overnight in a 3* hotel in Plovdiv.
Car transfers: approx. 3h15min; ~185 km / 115 mi
(breakfast included, lunch & dinner not included)
Duration: 5 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Plovdiv.

Day 14: Plovdiv – Sofia

Stop At: Boyana Church, 3 Boyansko Ezero Str., Sofia 1616 Bulgaria
Transfer to Sofia after breakfast. Here you have about half a day for Bulgaria’s capital which hides, among Roman ruins and communist concrete-made relics, a number of gems. One of them is St. George Rotunda – a church built in Roman times, oldest building in Sofia. Another one is Saint Sofia Church, built before the 6th century. But it is on the outskirts of Sofia that you’ll find the brightest gem: the small Boyana church, a UNESCO site world famous for its mid 13th century paintings.
Overnight in a 3* hotel in Sofia.
Car transfers: approx. 2 h; ~150 km / 95 mi
(breakfast included, lunch & dinner not included)
Duration: 5 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight in a 3* hotel in Sofia.

Day 15: Sofia

Pass By: Mall of Sofia, 101 A. Stamboliyski Blvd, Sofia 1303 Bulgaria
Free time in Bulgaria’s capital. Take a taxi to the airport for the flight back. End of the tour.


Meals included:
• Breakfast
No accommodation included on this day.