Painted
Monasteries & Wooden Churches
Maramures
& Bukovina
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Day
1: Arrival on Bucharest Otopeni Airport. Transfer to Brasov,
via Sinaia. Dinner in the National Restaurant in Sinaia.
Accommodation at 3* hotel in Brasov. Overnight.
Day
2: Breakfast. Departure from Brasov. Sightseeing tour in Sighisoara,
the best-preserved medieval citadel in Europe and the only one which
is still inhabited, including the Tower Museum, the Cover Stairs, the
Church on the Hill.
Lunch in Bistrita (the Golden Crown restaurant).
Accommodation and dinner at 3* hotel in Baia Mare.
Day
3: Breakfast. Sightseeing tour of Baia Mare, including the
Stephen the Great’ Tower, the Mineralogy Museum, the Butcher’s
Guild;
Lunch in Hotel Carpati in Baia Mare. Travel to Surdesti (the wooden
church “Sfintii Arhangheli”, the second tallest wooden construction
in Europe). In Valea Marei you can admire the famous Romanian wooden
carved gates. Drive to Sapanta via Sighetul Marmatiei. Visit the Merry
Cemetery, unique in the world for its happy epitaphs carved on the funerary
monuments by the local craftsman Stan Patras and the open-air handicrafts
exhibition.
Short breaks in Rozavlea, Barsana and Ieud for seeing the famous wooden
churches from Maramures. (The wooden church from Barsana is the tallest
wooden building in Europe, 62 metters).
Other objectives: all around the Historical Maramures, you can admire
one of the eldest European civilization, with a lot of Dacians and pre-Christians
symbols; the area is famous for wooden-carved gates, handicrafts and
woodcrafts. Accommodation and dinner at 3* hotel in Baia Mare.
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Day 4: Breakfast. Departure to Borsa. Optional programme in Viseu de Sus (only for groups): walking by old steam-train, also called “mocanita”, crossing an outstanding natural region, the Vaser Valley (43 km). Crossing the mountains we arrive in Campulung Moldovenesc, where one can see the woodcraft museum. Accommodation and dinner at 3* hotel-villa Bucovina in Sucevita or similar. Free time at your disposal.
Day
5: Breakfast. Visit, in a full-day trip, the most important
UNESCO monuments: the monasteries with outdoor frescoes of Sucevita,
Moldovita, Voronet (the most important, also called “The Sistine
Chapel of the East”, well known for its “blue of Voronet”),
Humor and Arbore. In Campulung Moldovenesc a short break is necessary
for lunch. Visit the Museum of Woodcraft.
Accommodation and dinner at 3* hotel in Piatra Neamt.
Day 6: Breakfast. On the route to Praid, we go through Bicaz Gorges (the most impressive gorges in Romania) and reach the Red Lake Resort (natural lake, unique in Romania). Lunch. In Praid, enter in the salt mine by coach (underground park, church). In Corund an open-air permanent pottery exhibition is waiting for you. Accommodation and festive dinner in Brasov (hotel 3*).
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Day 7: Breakfast. In the last day of the trip, we go from Brasov to Sinaia, where we visit Peles Castle, former summer residence of the King Carol I of Romania, built in neo-renaissance German style between 1875 - 1883. Lunch in Sinaia. Transfer and tourist assistance to the Bucharest Otopeni Airport for your flight home.
Optional: one supplementarry overnight in Bucharest at 3-4* hotels and transfer to the aiport in the following day.
Total distance: ~ 1800 km.
Daily distances: 175 km (day 1); 400 km (day 2); 150 km (day 3); 200 km (day 4); 250 km (day 5); 300 km (day 6); 175 km (day 7)
Included
objectives:
· Sighisoara - the Tower Museum;
· Sighisoara - the mediaeval citadel (the only citadel still
inhabited in Europe; firstly mentioned in 1208 under the name “Castrum
Sex”); Objectives: the Cover Stairs, the Guilds’ Tower (9),
Vlad Dracul House, the Church on the Hill;
· Baia Mare - Stephen the Great’ Tower, the Butchers’
Bastion;
· Baia Mare - the Mineralogy Museum;
· Surdesti - the “Sfintii Arhangheli” wooden church,
second tallest wooden building in Europe;
· Valea Marei - ethnographic zone; wooden-carved gates with pre-Christian
symbols;
· Sapanta - the Merry Cemetery (unique in the world); the Folk
Art open-air Museum
· Sighetul Marmatiei - the former prison for political convicts,
now called “Memorial to Arrested Thought”
· Vadu Izei, Calinesti, Rozavlea, Ieud – wooden churches;
· Barsana - wooden church, the tallest wooden building in Europe;
· The Ethnographic Zone of Maramures;
· Rail-trip with an old steam-train (“mocanita”)
through one of the wildest valley in Romania (Vaser Valley) [optionally,
only for groups];
· Moisei - the Heroes Monument;
· Campulung Moldovenesc - the Museum of Woodcraft;
· UNESCO Monuments: Voronet Monastery (outdoor blue frescoes;
called “the Sistine Chapel of East”); Moldovita Monastery
(outdoor red frescoes); Sucevita Monatery (outdoor green frescoes);
Putna Monastery (the Stephen the Great’ tombstone)
· Outdoor frescoes monasteries: Humor, Arbore;
· Mitocu Dragomirnei - Dragomirna Monastery
· Suceava - The Throne Fortress
· Bicaz Gorges – the most impressive gorges in Romania
· Lacul Rosu - natural lake, unique in Romania
· Praid - arranged salt mine with an underground park, a church
· Corund - open-air permanent pottery exhibition
· Sinaia - Peles Castle, the summer residence of the King Carol
I of Romania, built in neo-renaissance German style in 1875 - 1883.
Included services:
6 nights accommodation in 3* - 4* Hotels, in twin, double or single
rooms;
All meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner);
Festive dinner in Brasov
Transport by deluxe air-conditioned car, coach or mini-bus;
Transfers & tourist assistance from/to the airport;
Professional guidance throughout;
All objectives fees;
All route fees.