Posted on Nov 16, 2011 | 10 comments

I wanted this year not to miss the “autumn colors” in the Romanian mountains, but somehow (mainly because we were cold during those days) we managed to miss the trip to the mountains when the colors were at their peak (late October). But, things were not completely lost and when our friend from Madrid announced us of their visit to Romania, we knew that we will get them in the mountains to do the trip we already wanted to do earlier.

Even if we took a well known route to us, we have checked on objectives we didn’t see before, like Pelisor Castle, Rasnov fortress, Magura village, Fagaras Fortress, Transfagaran road which was closed due to winter but we managed to drive on top of it (don’t try this at home 🙂 ) and the last objective was Astra Village Museum from Sibiu.

First on our list was Pelisor Castle, the little brother of Peles Castle which served the royal family for many years. The castle was entirely decorated by Queen Marie and it’s  full of good taste and very modern and cosy inside. Do not miss it, like we did for so long time, it’s a hidden treasure inside.

The misty weather managed somehow to do more good to the pictures than worse (usually is not easy to get good pictures with a fog out there). We saw from the outside also the Peles Castle, much bigger than his neighbor.

After the visit we stop to eat at “Cutitu de argint” (silver knife in translation) in Sinaia which serves you like 8 different types of meat in a fixed menu. The meat comes on big swords and taste delicious, not to miss. You can find it here. Try also the boiled wine if outside is cold like it was for us. We then went to Magura village, a very nice place between two big mountains in Romania: Bucegi and Piatra Craiului.

This was the view that presented to us in the morning

We chose to visit the Rasnov Citadel which was very close and also the Bran Castle, all in the same day, together with the center of Brasov, one of the most beautiful cities in Romania.

The next days we departed for Sibiu and the weather was getting better. The mist was dissipating and we could see Bucegi Mountains like floating mountains in the sky, an impressive view

We stop in Fagarasi to view the city Fortress, and we find a hanging place inside it, very nice 🙂

Next on our list, since we were very close, was Transfagarasanu Road (yes, it’s like a magnet to me). The road closed on 1st of November but because the cable cabin was not taking us up the mountain unless we were 10 people (or we payed for 10), I decided to go up with the car. I was not the only one to do so. I do not encourage you to do so, but we were with our Spanish friends and somehow it was to bad for them to miss this experience. There was no snow on the road at the beginning but when we’ve reached like 1800 m, the snow started to build on the road and it was of maximum 5 cm until the top, at Balea Lake. We reach out of the clouds and the view was fantastic

We then went to eat at the Trout fish farm of Albota, a place not to miss by anyone. Very good trout specialties. It is on the way down from Transfagarasanu, heading Sibiu.

We’ve reached Sibiu late in the night and we decided to go to sleep and in the morning to visit the Village Museum.

Astra Village Museum – Sibiu:

This concluded our new trip inside Romania. Enjoy!