As huge Dracula fans, Will and I decided we had to visit Romania before we left Europe. So what if the story of Dracula is fiction? We still wanted to see Dracula’s castle, and perhaps a few haunted places along the way. When I found cheap direct tickets to Bucharest (non-stop from Naples at $150 pp), we decided to finally check out Transylvania before winter started.
We arrived at Bucharest’s Baneassa airport, likely the worst airport we’ve ever visited. It was so small that when you arrive there’s one waiting room of about 30 seats for say 200-300 people. Standing for two hours in a cramped and busy airport is about as delightful as you’d expect.
We decided to spend a day in Bucharest before traveling to Brasov, Transylvania, a town within a mountainous valley, which would be our base for exploring the area. I hate to be negative, but I’m gonna be honest - Bucharest is a bustling central European city with obvious signs of corruption. There can be no other explanation for the devastated look of the city. Projects seem to have started then stopped abruptly – there were hundreds of buildings that looked like they should have been condemned thirty years ago. Although one travel article described it as the new Prague, I found it to be tacky city filled with pollution, American chains and serious problems with transportation. The main streets were flanked with huge, dangerous gaping holes in areas we assume were created for street widening.
Here’s a picture of the historic area. Not kidding. 
We traveled along these “sidewalks” to avoid stepping in large open pits.
However, once we left Bucharest, we were in a fairytale paradise. Our train ride through the Carpathian mountains reminded us of Jonathan Harker’s voyage to Transylvania. Although we were in a train, we were whipping through the mountains past dark valleys and snowcapped cliffs, all while the sun set. It was beautiful. 
Once in Brasov, a hip and beautiful historic city in the mountains, we checked into a guesthouse owned by a German couple. I highly recommend this little gem – the apartment we rented at 90 euro per night was enormous with a full kitchen, huge bathroom, a fireplace, modern furniture and art and a separate bedroom. We ate in a local restaurant feasting as the Romanians do on polenta, steaks, and goulash. This is not a country to visit if you are a vegetarian, as you will starve.
Prior to leaving Naples, we booked a last-minute trip with transylvaniatours.com. I did some research and found that scheduling a day tour to see the fortresses and castles of Transylvania would be much cheaper than renting a car for the day. Our guides – a young couple – picked us up and we visited fortresses, a palace, and of course, Dracula’s castle (see album for more details). Our guides were a lot of fun – they played Romanian house music between sights – and told us all about their country. They spoke fabulous English, which they say they learned watching American cartoons during the communist regime (when programming was limited). We also learned that Romanians like to remake many American TV shows like “Deal or No Deal” and “Who’s Smarter than a 5th grader.” We had dinner with our guides and Will had the house specialty – TRIPE soup, which was sweet and savory. 
As you’ll see from our photos, Transylvania is breathtakingly beautiful. Although, we didn’t meet any vampires (Romanians actually hate their association with Dracula, yet sell Vlad Tepes mugs, t-shirts and other tacky souvenirs at every location possible), we still had an amazing visit. If you’re looking for an enriching and relaxing weekend, skip Bucharest and head to the Romanian countryside.
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