Visit Romania!

[Basileos Leandros I]

What is the best hotel to stay in?

Depends on your budget. I would recommend renowned hotel chains, for example Hotel Ibis in Constanta is cheap and provides all that you need.

[Armatus]

now I'd like to see pictures of those places!

[Wallachian]

Constanta is really nice during summer, basically all the Black Sea coast with the string of resorts starting with Mamaia (in the photo below)



Not a good time to visit it now though, winter is almost upon it and it lays pretty much dormant. In summer the whole coast is a blast in terms of fun, girls and parties. I live in Australia now which is known for its oceans and amazing beaches but I have to say the beaches out here are nowhere near as fun as back in Romania. Sure the sand may be cleaner and the waves bigger but when it comes to having a good time, its no match to the good old Black Sea Coast. Cheap drinks, great women, too many clubs to chose from, music, bars and restaurants on the beach.

Bucharest is good for clubbing, parties and women but not that good in terms of culture. Don't get me wrong it has a lot of great historical places but you need to know where to go and some people really prefer the province cities much more.

In terms of monasteries nothing beats Bucovina and Northern Moldova where you will find stacks of painted monasteries and fortified monasteries like the one below


Transilvania is another must go place, can't go to Romania without going to Transilvania. Starting up the Prahova Valley, first at the Bran Castle


Then to Brasov and then further stopping by the Peles Castle in Sinaia


When in Transilvania there's many places to chose from, the Saxon fortified churches like the one in Biertan


Or head north-west to Hunedoara to see the Huniad Castle


Another place already mentioned is Sighisioara which is a medieval town which is still mostly intact, people still live in the old medieval buildings. Here's a good blog written by a foregin backpacker about the town


There are many other places to go to, medieval castles, churches, monasteries, roman ruins, dacian ruins, salt mines, health resorts, caves etc. etc. you just have to know where to go because sometimes you may end up in place which aren't that great.

[Basileos Leandros I]

now I'd like to see pictures of those places!

I want to thank Wallachian for his kind contribution.

I also want to direct you to a wonderful Facebook page which can be viewed without an account - www.facebook.com/273.ro - 273 places to visit in Romania before you leave.

[Armatus]

wow Romania is way underrated!

how much is real estate there?

[Wallachian]

Hmm not too sure about that, Basileos would know better.

About it being under-rated, actually you might be surprised but during the Communist regime Romania was a very popular tourist destination for tourists from the northern countries like Norway, Sweden etc due to the nice beaches and much lower prices compared to the mediteranean. Unfortunately after the fall of Communism it has fallen behind on tourism but the government is constantly trying to promote it. There is still a lot of tourism going on in the Danube Delta which is a huge nature reserve with many places accesible only by boat and hence barely touched by mankind. Also, there are quite a lot of tourists going to do bear watching. Occurences like the one below are quite common in Sinaia and Brasov

[Armatus]

There is still a lot of tourism going on in the Danube Delta which is a huge nature reserve with many places accesible only by boat and hence barely touched by mankind. Also, there are quite a lot of tourists going to do bear watching. Occurences like the one below are quite common in Sinaia and Brasov

Interesting, do they have a lot of Bigfoot hunters there?

[Basileos Leandros I]

Suggest you watch this, definitely a beautiful documentary.

[Boustrophedon]

I would love to visit Romania but I'm concerned about the locals' English fluency. Also I'm sure it's not exactly the safest region in Europe, though the countryside would probably be alot safer than the major cities.

[Wallachian]

Pretty much everyone speaks English in the city areas and I would venture to say that more and more people can speak it even in the countryside. About safety, you can be right. Generally it is not a very dangerous place, but people may try and take advantage of you or con you if they know you are a foreigner.

Ah, Basileos. I was going to post that video. I must say Prince Charles is quite a big fan of our country and this documentary is a way for him to show its beauties to the world.

[Armatus]

I was planning to do that, I'm posting gradually so as not to overload the thread with pictures in one single big post.

But since you asked for it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogo%C5%9Foaia_Palace

Entrance of the Mogosoaia Palace



Mogosoaia Palace

these are my dream homes.

The country side seems ideal if you like forest and mountains. I personally love and raise ever greens, do you have cedars?

[Wallachian]

Haha well you wouldn't be able to live in them they are palaces part of the national patrimony, they are museums

And yes indeed, Romania has 65% of Europe's virgin forests outside of Russia. Not quite sure what type of forests they are.

[Armatus]

So should I visit Romania or Russia?

who put germany in the thread tags lol

[Basileos Leandros I]

Armatus, it all depends on your own personal preference.

[Armatus]

You're supposed to say Romania!

[Boustrophedon]

We should have a similar thread like this for Armenia

[Basileos Leandros I]

You're supposed to say Romania!

I believe that was pretty obvious so I chose the diplomatic answer instead

[Wallachian]

I believe that was pretty obvious so I chose the diplomatic answer instead

Agreed, each country has its own beauties.

[Armatus]

So who's going to show me around?

[Wallachian]

We should have a similar thread like this for Armenia

If you're Armenian you should surely start such a thread. To my shame I don't know much about Armenia's beauties, maybe except Mt Ararat (which i think it may be in Turkey now, not sure). I know quite a bit about Georgia and Azerbaidjan due to the many of Stalin's biographies that I have ready but nothing about Armenia which is a pity.

So who's going to show me around?

Unfortunately, I am now living abroad so can't help with that. I myself am actually planning a trip there this summer

Anyway if you're interested in forests here's a few more pics

Dobre Valley


Bicaz Lake



And I think this was posted before but I'll repost it