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Bucharest
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Turda
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Sinaia

Bran Castle, Bran

The Three Castles

At less than an hour on the train south towards Bucharest, Sinaia is gorgeous mountain town with some specatular hikes and even better castles. Peles, Pelisor, and Foisor Castles are the three major castles in the town and are all in a line about a 35 minute walk away from the train station. Peles and its younger sibling Pelisor, are modeled after hunting lodges rather than fortified castles like Bran or Rasnov, and were built in the early 20th century for the Romanian Royalty.  Peles Castle was a state of the art luxury residence complete with the electricity (the first in Europe to be built with it), a huge arms collection, and a retractable stained glass roof over its main foyer. Decked out in stunning wood trim from around Europe and filled with treasures of the world it is well worth the visit - and expensive entry ticket! Next door is the colourful palace of Pelisor built shortly after Peles castle. Foisor Castle is still owned by the royal family and is private thus you must have an invite for the small number of functions that are heald within the space. On the edge of the town is the Bucegi National Park, which is littered with excellent hiking routes. Follow the royal path up to the Franz Josef Rocks for an awesome overhead view of the city and down the valley.

Bran Castle, Bran, Romania

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 Bran Castle, Bran, Romania

City Walls, Sibiu

Hikes in Sinaia

 

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Churches of Sibiu
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Hike , Bran, Romania

How to get there and around

The city is quite small so it can be explored mostly by foot. After about 10 minutes of walking down the main road from the train station, you hit the historic centre which is lined with shops and restaurants. As long as you are staying around this area, you shouldn’t need any buses or taxi's to get around. There is a city bus system but without a need to head out of the centre, we did not take it. 


Getting to Sibiu is a little more challenging that we would have liked. While it does have a train station, it is not super well connected to the main cities around. Cluj to the north is a anywhere from 5-8 hours with at least one change depending on the trains you take. If time permits, taking the regional trains are about half the cost for only an extra hour or two on the train. The train from Brasov is 3 hours with the IR trains and the regional train is 4 hours with the Regional train being more than half the price. Lastly the train from Bucurest is over 5 hours direct on the IR train and quite a bit longer on the regional trains. You can also take busses between any of these cities, but we found the train system was relaiable and quite comfortable.

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