Painted Monasteries, Medieval Castles and Bucharest

Itinerary

1. 

   Travel to Romania - Bucharest panorama tour (D, DR)

   Morning: meet your Tour Leader at Heathrow Airport and check-in for your flight to Bucharest.

   Afternoon: arrive in Bucharest where you will be met by your Local Guide and escorted to your city centre hotel with an introductory panorama of Romania’s capital city, also known in the past as the “Little Paris of the East” founded in the year 1459 on the banks of the Dambovita River by ruler Vlad the Impaler.  Sights include the Arch of Triumph, Kiseleff Boulevard, Victoria Square home of the Romanian parliament. Continue down Victoria Boulevard, through Revolution Square where the Romanian Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was toppled. Other sites include Constitution Square, University Square and Unirii Square with the Patriarchal Church. After, check-in to your hotel for a two-night stay and relax before dinner.

   Evening: a short worship in the hotel followed by a welcome drinks get-together to get to know your fellow pilgrims. After, stroll together to enjoy dinner in an atmospheric local restaurant with water and tea or coffee included.

   Key to symbols: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, DR = Drink

2. 

   Bucharest the Romanian capital (B, D)

   Morning: we commence with a short worship in the city's Anglican Church of the Resurrection. After, we visit the building formerly known as “The House of the People”, the second largest building in the world, after the Pentagon, covering 65.000 m² with over 1000 rooms, two underground parking garages and supposedly also a nuclear bunker. The construction required a million cubic meters of marble, over 700.000 tons of steel and bronze and 3500 tons of crystal. Later, discover the Village Museum, a living museum where you can see many reconstructed farmhouses and churches from all corners of Romania dating up to 300 years old.

   Afternoon: free to wander the old town of Bucharest known as Lipscani which from the Middle Ages to the early 19th century was the most important commercial area of the city and Wallachia. It is located near the ruins of the old Princely Court built by Vlad III the Impaler.

   Evening: dinner in a local restaurant with water and tea or coffee included.

   Key to symbols: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, DR = Drink

3. 

   Curtea de Arges and Cozia monasteries – Sibiu (B, D)

   Morning: depart Bucharest and travel through the Wallachian Plains to Curtea de Arges. Located at the end of a boulevard with hundred of years old linden trees, Curtea de Arges Monastery is the most important pilgrimage and prayer place in the county of Arges, with the “Assumption of the Virgin” as its dedication day.

   Afternoon: continue towards Transylvania through the scenic Carpathian Mountains and make a stop in Cozia to visit the monastery one of the earliest Medieval edifices of great importance in Romania. Some original frescoes are still very well preserved and inside the church you find the tomb of the ruler who built the monastery in the year 1388, Mircea cel Batran. After drive to Sibiu to check-in to your hotel for a two night stay.

   Evening: dinner in the hotel with water and tea or coffee included.

   Key to symbols: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, DR = Drink

4. 

   Sibiu - Alba Iulia – local farmhouse dinner (B, D)

   Morning: walking tour of Sibiu where Noble Saxon history emanates from every art-nouveau facade and gold-embossed church. Renowned composers Strauss, Brahms and Liszt all played here during the 19th century, and Sibiu has stayed at the forefront of Romania’s cultural scene through its festivals of opera, theatre and film, as well as rock, jazz and more. The country's first hospital, school, library and pharmacy were all established here.

   Afternoon: continue to Alba Iulia and tour the Upper Town region, developed by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor in honour of whom the Habsburgs renamed the city Karlsburg. The fortress, with seven bastions in a stellar shape, was constructed between 1716 and 1735 by two Swiss fortification architects. The first was Giovanni Morandi Visconti, who built two old Italian-style bastions. The second was Nicolaus Doxat de Demoret—nicknamed "Austrian Vauban". After 1720, the two architects radically transformed the medieval fortress shaped by the former Roman castrum into a seven-bastion baroque fortress, developing Menno van Coehorn's new Dutch system, of which the fortress of Alba Iulia is the best preserved example. Inside the fortress are The Union Hall with the National Honour Gallery, The National History Museum of Unification, the Princely Palace (Voivodal Palace), the Orthodox cathedral, the Roman Catholic cathedral, the Batthyaneum Library and the Roman Catholic bishop's palace.

   Evening: dinner in a local farmhouse in the village of Sibiel with water and tea or coffee included.

   symbols: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, DR = Drink

5. 

   Biertan – Sighisoara – Targu Mures (B, D)

   Morning: depart Sibiu and head further into the heart of Transylvania visiting Biertan to visit the local fortified church, one of Romania's most important historical and architectural monuments listed by UNESCO. It was built in the place of an old basilica at the end of the 15th century with architectural elements from the late-Gothic and Renaissance style. Between 1572 and 1867 it was the seat of the Lutheran Evangelical Bishop.

   Afternoon: continue to Sighisoara, an inhabited medieval city listed by UNESCO. In the fortress, situated on a hill, there are 14 towers the most impressive and famous is the 64 m high “Clock-Tower”. You will see the Church on the Hill, the Covered Stairs, the Venetian House and the “House with the Deer”, “Casa Vlad Dracul” where the famous Prince Vlad Tepes was allegedly born. After, continue to Targu Mures and check-in to your hotel for an overnight stay.

   Evening: dinner in the hotel with water and tea or coffee included.

   Key to symbols: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, DR = Drink

6. 

   Targu Mures - Tihuta pass - Moldova (B, D)

   Morning: a relaxed tour of Targu Mures, first mentioned in the early 14th century, it was a cattle and crop market town called Agropolis by Greek traders. In the 15th century it had 30 guilds. Târgu Mureş is an important cultural centre in the heart of the Magyar and German minority area and was the administrative capital of the former Mureş Magyar Autonomous Region. There is a state theatre with Magyar and Romanian sections, a Szekler song and dance ensemble, a theatre institute, a technical university, and a university of medicine and pharmaceutics. The Teleki-Bolyai Library, founded at the end of the 18th century by Count Samuel Teleki, chancellor of Transylvania, contains a large collection of first editions and important manuscripts documenting Transylvanian history, as well as mathematical and scientific works. The Palace of Culture has magnificent stained-glass windows depicting historical scenes. It is a very underrated city!

   Afternoon: we continue north through the Tihuta Pass, which inspired Bram Stoker to write the novel Dracula, into the historic region of Bucovina, famous for its outer painted monasteries. As a first example you will discover the Moldovita Monastery, built in 1532 by the illegitimate son of Stephan the Great, Petru Rares. Among the furniture dating back from the Middle Ages here you will also see the throne of the former Moldavian ruler. After, continue to Radauti and check-in to your hotel for a two-night stay.

   Evening: dinner in the hotel with water and tea or coffee included.

   Key to symbols: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, DR = Drink

7. 

   The Painted Monasteries (B, D)

   Morning: spend the day visiting the most picturesque treasures of Romania, the Painted Monasteries of Bucovina. Their painted exterior walls are decorated with elaborate 15th and 16th century frescoes featuring portraits of saints and prophets, scenes from the life of Jesus, images of angels and demons, and heaven and hell. Deemed masterpieces of Byzantine art, these churches are one-of-a-kind architectural sites in Europe. Far from being merely wall decorations, the murals represent complete cycles of religious events. The purpose of the frescoes was to make the story of the Bible and the lives of the most important Orthodox saints known to villagers by the use of images. Their outstanding composition, elegant outline and harmonious colors blend perfectly with the surrounding landscape. This morning visit Sucevita and Humor monasteries both listed by UNESCO.

   Afternoon: after a break for lunch visit the jewel of all the monasteries the Voronet Monastery built at the end of the 15th century in a record time-three months and three weeks. The most important of the frescoes is 'The Judgement Day', painted on the whole western facade, that determined the monument to be called 'The Sistine Chapel of the East'. The scene, the simplest and the most dramatic composition, is processed in a characteristic Moldovan way: the souls carried to heaven are wrapped in Moldovan towels, while the souls doomed to the fire of Ghenna wear the turbans of the Turks, the Moldovan's enemies at the time.

   Evening: dinner in the hotel with water and tea or coffee included.

   Key to symbols: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, DR = Drinkk

8. 

   Suceava - Neamt - Agapia - Piatra Neamt (B, D)

   Morning: depart for a morning stroll through Suceava, visiting the Saint John the New of Suceava monastery was built between 1514-1522, during the ruling of Bogdan III the Blind and Stefanita Voda, both sons of Stephen the Great. The building of the church is imposing and it follows the Moldavian architectural style. Inside of the church there is a shrine with the relics of Saint John the New, brought in 1402 by the king Alexander the Good from the White Fortress.

   Afternoon: continue to the Neamt Monastery, Romania's oldest and largest male monastery. Founded by Petru I Muşat, it doubled as a protective citadel. Ştefan cel Mare built today's large church in the 15th century, though some of the paintings date from Muşat’s time. The fortified compound houses a medieval art museum and a house museum dedicated to novelist Mihail Sadoveanu (1880–1961). The library, with 18,000 rare books, is the largest of any Romanian monastery. The last stop of the day is Agapia an active nunnery, housing 300 to 400 nuns in two locations. The main monastery, Agapia din Vale, stands at the western end of Agapia village. It was built in 1644 by Gavril Coci (Vasile Lupu’s brother). It has relaxing gardens and an impressive facade, but most come to see the interior frescoes painted from 1858-61 by Romanian master Nicolae Grigorescu. After, check-in to your hotel in Piatra Neamt for an overnight stay.

   Evening: dinner in the hotel with water and tea or coffee included and a folklore show.

   Key to symbols: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, DR = Drink

9. 

   Scenic drive through Transylvania - Prejmer and Brasov (B, D)

   Morning: a day of scenic driving starting by crossing the Carpathians back into Transylvania driving through the amazing Bicaz Gorges, along serpentine like roads. Stop at the Red Lake, which is the largest natural mountain lake in the country, its name coming from the reddish alluvia consisting of iron oxides and hydroxides deposited in the lake by the Red Creek.

   Afternoon: cross along the counties of Harghita and Covasna, inhabited by the Szeklers which is a Hungarian ethnic group, hearing about their history and customs, reaching Prejmer  to stop and visit the church, the largest Saxon fortified church in Romania, with it’s imposing 12m high and 5m thick walls, having over 500 rooms where the villagers could retreat in case of an attack. Late afternoon arrival in the city of Brasov founded in 1211 by the Teutonic Knights with a walk through the narrow streets of the old centre seeing the Black Church which is the largest gothic style religious edifice in Eastern Europe and the old city-hall. After, check-in to your hotel for an overnight stay.

   Evening: dinner in a local restaurant with water and tea or coffee included.

   Key to symbols: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, DR = Drink

10. 

    Dracula's Castle - Sinaia - Bucharest (B, D, DR)

    Morning: drive to Bran which is known for its castle made famous by Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula as being the residence of the vampire count Dracula. Continue to Romania's most famous mountain resort of Sinaia, known as the “Pearl of the Carpathians”.  Visit Peles Castle, the former summer residence of King Carol the First of Hohenzollern – Sigmaringen, built in the late 19th century of wood, stone, marble and brick in the German Renaissance style combined with Italian and English Renaissance styles, German Baroque, the Rococo, the Hispano-Moorish and Turkish styles.

    Afternoon: continue crossing the Carpathians back south and along the Prahova Valley to reach Bucharest for an overnight stay with time to wander and relax before dinner.

    Evening: farewell drinks followed by dinner in a local restaurant with water and tea or coffee included.

    Key to symbols: B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, DR = Drink

11. 

    Return to the UK (B)

    Morning: depart for Bucharest Airport, bid farewell to your Romanian Local Guide and trusted driver and then check-in for your flight.

    Afternoon: arrive at Heathrow and bid farewell to your Tour Leader and new-found friends.

Essential Information

Practical information

Dates