Romania

Road Trip Through Transylvania

Key Information

Currency: Romanian Lei (RON) (1 RON = £0.17, 1 GBP = 58 RON)

Emergency Number: 112

Fuel Prices: Approximately 125p per litre for Petrol and 128p per litre for Diesel

Important Note: There are no automatic petrol pumps in Romania, and you should look to use cash wherever possible

Driving Rules:

• Drive on the right-hand side
• Drink driving limit is 0.00%
• Drivers must park their vehicles on the right-hand side of the road in the direction of traffic and as near as possible to the edge of the road or pavement

Speed Limits:

• In built-up areas: 50km/h (unless otherwise stated on local signs)
• Outside built-up areas: 90km/h – 100km/h (unless otherwise stated on local signs)
• Motorways: 130km/h

Summary of Plan

Day	Plan	Accommodation	Location
1	Arrive Cluj Napoca	Cluj Airbnb	Cluj Napoca
2	Cluj City Day	Cluj Airbnb	Cluj Napoca
3	Turda Salt Mine & Drive to Hunedoara	Transylvania Log Cabin	Hunedoara
4	Corvin Castle & Drive to Sibiu	Hotel	Sibiu Old Town
5	Drive to Brasov	Apartment	Brasov
6	Peles Castle, Bran Castle & Rasnov	Apartment	Brasov
7	Bear Sanctuary & Drive to Bucharest	Apartment	Bucharest
8	Drive to Cluj	Cluj Airbnb	Cluj Napoca
9	Return Home	Home	Home

DAY 01 – Arrive Cluj Napoca

Cluj Napoca Airbnb – night 1/2

Weather: 26° Sunny with light cloud coverage

Check in time: 3PM

Approx Driving Time: 19 minutes from airport

Morning: Flying to Cluj

Afternoon: We arrive in Cluj at 1PM. Pick up the luggage and car then head to our first accommodation which is an Airbnb, check in time is 3PM. We will settle in to the Airbnb and there is a Lidl 4 minutes down the road so maybe we could grab some drinks and snacks for the room.

Evening: Once we are well rested the old town is 23 minutes’ walk so maybe we can take a walk into town for some dinner and a mooch around.

Restaurant Recommendations:

• Samsara Foodhouse – Plant based restaurant, good prices, beautiful setting, and nice menu
• Olivo Bistro – Italian restaurant, rococo/renaissance style café décor with a nice menu, looks good value too
• Bunt Bistro – Another vegan restaurant in the old town, unique choices, cool setting, and good prices

DAY 02 – Cluj Napoca

Cluj Napoca Airbnb – night 2/2

Weather: 27° Sunny

Approx Driving Time: Leisure only

Today’s Plan: Today we will have a city day in Cluj, walking around enjoying the sites. We’ll stop for good food and restaurants throughout the day.

There are also a few museums in Cluj that may be worth a visit throughout the day:

• Steampunk Transylvania
• The National Museum of the History of Transylvania

We can also pop to an optician today to see if we want to buy some glasses in Cluj too. Lunet eyewear looks good.

Bar Recommendations:

• Hemingway Bar
• Bardot
• Joben Experience Bar (food looks cool too)

DAY 03 – Cluj Napoca to Hunedoara

Transylvania Log Cabin, Hunedoara – night 1/1

Weather: 27° Sunny

Check out time: 12PM

Check in time: 2PM

Approx Driving Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Morning: It’s a 2 hour 15 minute drive to the next accommodation but the salt mine and animal farm are on the way so we will set off from our Airbnb at approximately 9-10AM after packing up and getting some breakfast. We will then head to the Turda Salt Mine. This unique attraction is located about 45 minutes outside of the city centre. The salt mine has been converted into a museum and leisure park, and it features an underground lake, a Ferris wheel, and a mini golf course. We will then head to Wind Mill, Parc de Agrement „Moara de Vânt”. It costs approximately £4.33 to enter and you can buy a small bucket of food to feed the animals for 50p.

Afternoon: We will continue our drive to the next Airbnb which is the Transylvania log cabin that was featured in the Guardian’s top 20 log cabins to stay in Europe. We should grab some food on the way to take with us, then check in at 2PM. There are some gorgeous views and it’s a lovely place so lets take some vino and chill this afternoon. Maybe have a little drive around the local area too if we want to have a look around.

Evening: Chill in our lovely Airbnb. Maybe we can have a takeaway for dinner or if not we can drive 14 minutes into Hateg the nearby town for dinner where there are a few restaurants such as Bistro Art Grill.

DAY 04 – Hunedoara to Sibiu

Hotel, Sibiu Old Town – night 1/1

Weather: 27° Sunny

Check out time: 12PM

Check in time: 4PM

Approx Driving Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Note: Parking at today’s hotel is street parking for 10 Lei per day

Morning: Our check out time is 12PM so we can have a slow morning, maybe leaving around 10AM – 11AM. On the drive to Sibiu we will stop at Corvin’s Castle, built in 1440’s where Vlad the Impaler was imprisoned for 7 years, the inspiration for Dracula. Commonly known as Dracula’s castle. It’s a 42 minutes drive from our accommodation.

Address: Castelul Corvinilor (Corvins’ Castle), Strada Curtea Corvinilor 1-3, Hunedoara 331141, Romania

Afternoon: After exploring the castle, we will set off for the rest of our 1 hour 30 minute drive to Sibiu. Check in for our hotel is 4PM so depending on time we can get parked and maybe leave our bag at the hotel whilst we have a look around Sibiu. Our hotel is in the middle of the old town so we can head straight out to explore.

Evening: Refresh in the hotel before heading out for dinner.

Restaurant Recommendations:

• Urban Food
• Sia Restaurant

DAY 05 – Sibiu to Brasov

Apartment, Brasov – night 1/2

Weather: 27° Sunny

Check out time: 11AM

Check in time: 4PM

Approx Driving Time: 2 hours 8 minutes

Morning: Today we will grab some breakfast from the old town in Sibiu, then head off for our drive to Brasov. There’s not many attractions on the way but the views are incredible today so we will drive to Brasov enjoying the views.

Afternoon: Arrive in Brasov and check into our apartment.

Evening: Head into Brasov for some dinner and drinks. Highly recommend the Juno Wine Garden and Ograda. We also have the awesome apartment in Brasov, so grab some vino and enjoy the apartment.

DAY 06 – Brasov

Apartment, Brasov – night 2/2

Weather: 26° Sunny

Approx Driving Time: Leisure

Morning: Drive to Sinaia (1 hour), tour the magnificent Peles Castle and then enjoy lunch. There are many good restaurants to choose from, serving dishes such as sarmale (stuffed cabbage leaves), gulaș (meat stew), and polenta.

Afternoon: Drive to Dracula’s castle (Bran) then head on over to Rasnov Citadel on our way back to the accommodation.

Evening: Chill with a takeaway or head into Brasov for some dinner and drinks. Highly recommend the Juno Wine Garden and Ograda. We also have the awesome apartment in Brasov, so grab some vino and enjoy the apartment.

DAY 07 – Brasov to Bucharest

Apartment, Bucharest – night 1/1

Weather: 29° Sunny

Check out time: 10AM

Check in time: 3PM

Approx Driving Time: 2 hours 33 minutes

Morning: This morning we will go to the bear park for our guided tour, the drive to the bear rescue is 35 minutes so we need to leave around 8:30AM.

Address: Libearty Bear Sanctuary Zarnesti, H9VP+74, Zărnești 505800, Romania

Afternoon: Continue our drive to our apartment in Bucharest. Get settled in our room then head straight out into the centre as we don’t have much time in Bucharest.

There is also the swimming place we may want to visit, Therme Bucharest. The swimming place is open until 11PM, 3 hours access is 95 Ron and we can drive there with lots of onsite parking. Or get the Line 442 bus STB to “Therme Bucharest”.

Evening: Get a takeaway in the room and chill ready for a long drive back to Cluj tomorrow.

DAY 08 – Bucharest to Cluj

Cluj Napoca Airbnb – night 1/1

Weather: 30° Sunny

Check out time: 11AM

Check in time: 3PM

Approx Driving Time: 5 hours 32 minutes

Morning: Today we have a long drive back to Cluj so we’ll set off early around 9-10AM. We will stop half way if we see somewhere cool and when we are ready to switch too. Lunch time may be a good time to switch to refuel.

Afternoon: We should arrive around check in time where we will check into our Airbnb then either go back into Cluj and check out some of the vintage clothing places and last bit of nice food.

Evening: Chill and get packed ready to go home ☹

DAY 09 – Cluj to Home

Weather: 27° Sunny

Check out time: 11AM

Approx Driving Time: 15 minutes to airport

Morning: Grab some breakfast then head back to check out at 11AM.

Afternoon: We will have the bags so we’ll find some last places to explore in the car before taking the car back around 4PM. Maybe we could go to Sungarden Spa for a few hours as they can look after our bags too, they are a hotel too 😊

Evening: Fly home to Luton at 7PM then drive home to Derby and see all our wonderful kitty cats.