Romania was a country, which we did not know well, but we were amazed on its things to do. Honestly told, Romania was never a country top on our bucket list, but sometimes you have to make compromises in life and this goes true for traveling too. Instead of doing an overland travel to Armenia and Georgia, we headed to Romania.
We did not dare to think we will like Romania as much as we did at the end. We are even thinking to re-visit it again. I guess the main reason to be so impressed over was the fact there are many things to do in Romania. You can enjoy its diverse landscape, nature, history…
Table of Contents
Best 22 things to do in Romania
1. Visit the Count Dracula
One and only – count Dracula. He is the main reason Romania is known all over the world and lots of Romania tourist attractions get the attention because of him.
2. Admire the numerous castles
Romania has numerous castles and fortresses, but there is only one, who steps out – Bran castle or best known as the castle of count Dracula. Visiting the Bran Castle is a must thing to do in Romania.
3. Take a walk around the medieval towns
You cannot travel to Romania and not visiting some of its medieval towns. The most known and beautiful is Sighisoara for sure. Sighisoara and its old city center is under Unesco World Heritage protection and it is also known as the birth place of Vlad Tepes aka Count Dracula. Besides Sighisoara, we would also recommend to visit Brasov and Medias.
4. Drive up to the Transfagarashan highway / mountain pass
It is well known that Transfagarashan highway is one of the most scenic roads in the world. That’s definitely a really good reason, to put it in your schedule, when traveling to Romania. If you’ll be traveling to Romania by a motorbike, you’ll think you are in paradise. Just note the road is close from 1st November to 30th June.
5. Enjoy the wild nature
Whenever we think about Romanian nature, we think of Carpati. The deeper we go more beautiful landscape and scenery we can expect.
6. Be impressed over the Maramures region
We found Maramures region fairytale alike. Picturesque homes are built in traditional Romanian style and there are lots of wooden churches, which are one of the main Romania tourist attractions in Maramures.
7. Visit the Turda salt mine
This salt mine is for sure one of the most unexpected Romania tourist attractions. The huge halls, where once salt was being dug out looks like amusement park now.
8. Get to know the most famous churches
Romania has numerous churches – some are built like fortresses, others are made out of wood. We could even say, the best known Romanian tourist attractions are churches. To see the best ones head up to Maramures region and also pay attention to Biertan, which is under Unesco world heritage protection.
9. Say hello to the horse yokes
As soon as you find yourself in Romania, you’ll be noticing lots of horse yokes on the road, as they are being still used in Romania today. Most of them are seen on the countryside.
10. Relax during the Danube Delta river cruise
The Danube Delta was one of our favorite Romania tourist attractions. If you like diverse flora and fauna, you should not skip it – it is amazing there!
11. Swim in the Black Sea
Our preferred countries for summer traveling are the ones with a sea. Spend a day or two at the Black Sea coast and relax.
12. Get lost in Bucharest
The capital of Romania is Bucharest. Bucharest is not the most popular Romania tourist attraction as travelers mostly stop there only to see its magnificent parliament, which is the second largest administrative building in the world – first place belongs to Pentagon.
13. Say wow to the Bucovina painted monasteries
These outstanding Bucovina painted monasteries are marked as one of the most unique Romania tourist attractions. They are covered with frescos and surely worth your time.
14. Do some off-roading or hikking
Romania has lots of wild nature, what makes it a good place to do some off-roading. Carpati are the number one place for all the 4WD fans. Due to lots of mountains Romania is also ideal for trekking and hiking.
15. Buy some local traditional craft
We loved the fact that most known Romania tourist attractions mainly offered traditionally crafted souvenirs and not »made in China« things. The only disappointment was the Bran Castle, which offered almost everything else, except real Romania craft.
16. Taste the local food
Almost every meal includes polenta (cornmeal boiled into porridge). Polenta is served with meat, stews, fish… We are not big fans of it, but if you are, you will love it here.
17. Enjoy in good coffee
Surprise – Romania has delicious coffee. We blame the Romanians, as lots of them work in Italy and know what good coffee is.
18. Take a ride by the Mocanita steam train
Riding with the famous Mocanita steam train is a true adventure, even more if you are traveling with kids.
19. Make yourself a picnic
We drove around all Romania and where ever we landed, we saw lots of picnic areas. They were all nicely done, what definitely showed us, people in Romania love picnics.
20. Get to know the history in the Holocaust museum
If you are interested in WW2, you should not miss visiting holocaust museum in Sighet.
21. Cheers with the Count Dracula beer
Oh yes, you can even find a special beer »Count Dracula« in Romania. Honestly told, this is nothing else than a splendid marketing trick. The beer is actually a normal beer brand in which few drops of raspberry juice is added. Due to the juice, the beer gets bloody red color.
22. Take a walk through the Merry cemetery
Colorful tombstones, comical drawings and funny inscriptions made a normal cemetery into a merry one.
The many things to do in Romania will definitely not disappoint you and you will soon realize that you should put Romania high on your travel bucket list years before.
Very nice article about Romania Nina, I’m glad you liked visiting. I live here for some years already, yet no managed to visit all those places you’ve written about.
Safe travel,
Jon
Ah I’ve been so desperate to go to Romania for a while now! Thanks for the inspiration!
Hi Roby!
Glad you find this blog post about Romania inspirering! Romania is definitely a great travel destination and we are sure you will not be sorry putting it on your travel bucket list!
Cheers, Nina