All I want for Christmas is a sneak preview of the itinerary…

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! I’ve been revamping the Romania tour for better covid safety, and in preparation to a formal launch on the affiliated website, and would like to share a preview of the first few days as a little stocking stuffer to pique your traveler interest. Happy holidays, travels, and new year to you all!

Day One

We’ll meet at our centrally located hotel in iconic Bucharest for a quick orientation to the tour and this surprising country, then take a brief walking tour through the historic city center before having dinner together at the legendary Caru cu Bere brewery, which has been a Bucharest landmark since the end of the 1800’s. Stand before the Stavropoleos monastery and understand what it means for Romania to be the cumulative descendent of the Greek, Roman, and Ottoman Empires, then sip a homemade beer among the ghosts of more recent historical eras. (No bus, 2 nights in Bucharest)

Day Two

We’ll tackle this unexpected capital city today, from its “Paris of the East” interbellum years of European elegance (replete with art deco and Bauhaus architecture), through the Communist Period with its striking changes to the city and nation, and into the modern age, as Romania continues to grow into itself. We’ll see aspects of it all, including a tour of the titanic Palace of Parliament, second in size only to the Pentagon, and lunch in an organic, locally-sourced, regional specialty restaurant that borders on being a museum all by itself. (Though in this one, the stag’s head on the wall is made of lego.)

Day Three

This morning we’ll head for the Bucegi Mountains and the royal summer palace that overflows with neo-Renaissance ornamentation, and you can decide for yourself if it exceeds (or merely matches) its more famous Bavarian sister castle, Neuschwanstein. We’ll have lunch together at the castle, and continue on to Sighișoara, where we’ll have dinner together in a half-timbered gasthaus whose Saxon history is present in the walls and on the menu. (Bus 5 hours, 3 nights in Sighișoara)

And it goes from there. I hope today finds you all warm, well fed, and well read. (Or is it just me who finds those three terribly important in the winter?)