romania & bulgaria - lonely planet · romania & bulgaria p321 southern mountains plovdiv...

Mark Baker, Steve Fallon, Anita Isalska

Romania & Bulgaria

p321Southern Mountains

Plovdiv & thep359

Central MountainsVeliko Târnovo &

p427The Danube & Northern Plains

Coast p211& Black SeaThe Danube Delta

p183Monasteries

BucovinaMoldavia & the

p166Maramure¢

p76Transylvania

p149Banat

Cri¢ana &

p34Bucharest

p60Wallachia

p296Sofia

p395Black Sea Coast

BULGARIA

ROMANIA

©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

Romania & Bulgaria Map . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Romania & Bulgaria’s Top 17 . . . . . . . . .8

Welcome to Romania . . . .18

Need to Know . . . . . . . . . 22

If You Like… . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Month by Month . . . . . . . 26

Itineraries . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Regions at a Glance . . . . .31

BUCHAREST . . . . . . . 34Around Bucharest . . . . . 58Snagov Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

WALLACHIA . . . . . . . 60Ploieşti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Târgovişte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Piteşti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Curtea de Argeş . . . . . . . . . 68Craiova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Drobeta-Turnu Severin . . . 73

TRANSYLVANIA . . . . 76Prahova Valley . . . . . . . . . 77

Sinaia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Bucegi Mountains . . . . . . . 82Predeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Braşov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Around Braşov . . . . . . . . 92Bran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Poiana Braşov . . . . . . . . . . . 94Zărnesţi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Hărman & Prejmer . . . . . . . 97Saxon Land . . . . . . . . . . . 98Sighişoara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Fortified Saxon Villages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Făgăraş Mountains . . . . . . 106

PLAN YOUR TRIP ON THE ROAD

WOMEN IN ROMANIAN TRADITIONAL DRESS

SA

LAJE

AN

/ SH

UT

TE

RSTO

CK

©

Romania Contents

Sibiu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Around Sibiu . . . . . . . . . . . 116Székely Land . . . . . . . . . .118Sfântu Gheorghe . . . . . . . 118Miercurea Ciuc . . . . . . . . . 120Gheorgheni . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Odorheiu Secuiesc . . . . . . 123Odorheiu Secuiesc to Târgu Mureş . . . . . . . . . 124Târgu Mureş . . . . . . . . . . . 125Southwest Transylvania . . . . . . . . . 129Alba Iulia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Deva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Retezat Mountains . . . . . . 134Northern Transylvania . . . . . . . . . 136Cluj-Napoca . . . . . . . . . . . 136Turda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Huedin Microregion . . . . . 144Apuseni Mountains . . . . . 145Bistriţa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

CRIŞANA & BANAT . . . . . . . . . 149Banat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151Timişoara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Crişana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Oradea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Băile Felix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Arad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

MARAMUREŞ . . . . . 166Baia Mare . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Around Baia Mare . . . . . . .171Ţara Chioarului . . . . . . . . . .171Sighetu Marmaţiei . . . . . . 172Mara Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Săpânţa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Iza Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Vişeu & Vaser Valleys . . . 181Borşa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

MOLDAVIA & THE BUCOVINA MONASTERIES . . . 183Moldavia . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Iaşi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Târgu Neamţ & Around . . 193Piatra Neamţ . . . . . . . . . . . 194Ceahlău National Park . . 198Bucovina . . . . . . . . . . . . 200Suceava . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200Bucovina Monasteries . . .204Rarău Massif . . . . . . . . . . .209

THE DANUBE DELTA & BLACK SEA COAST . . 211Danube Delta . . . . . . . . 213Tulcea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214Sulina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Sfântu Gheorghe . . . . . . . 219Black Sea Coast & Littoral . . . . . . . . . . . . 220Constanţa . . . . . . . . . . . . .220Mamaia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225Vama Veche . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Romania Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

The Dracula Myth . . . . . 242

Outdoor Activities & Wildlife . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Visual Arts & Folk Culture . . . . . . . . 249

The Romanian People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

The Romanian Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Directory A–Z . . . . . . . . 258

Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Language . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496

Map Legend . . . . . . . . . . . 511

SURVIVAL GUIDE

SPECIAL FEATURES

The Dracula Myth . . . . . 242


Visual Arts & Folk Culture . . . . . . . . 249

The Romanian Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

UNDERSTAND

Romania & Bulgaria Map . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Romania & Bulgaria’s Top 17 . . . . . . . . .8

Welcome to Bulgaria . . . 280

Need to Know . . . . . . . . 284

If You Like… . . . . . . . . . 286

Month by Month . . . . . . 288

Itineraries . . . . . . . . . . . .291

Regions at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . 293

SOFIA . . . . . . . . . . . 296Around Sofia . . . . . . . . . 317Boyana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317Vitosha Nature Park . . . . 318

PLOVDIV & THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS . . . . . . 321Rila Mountains . . . . . . . 323Rila Village . . . . . . . . . . . . 323Rila Monastery . . . . . . . . . 324Borovets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327Pirin Mountains . . . . . . 329

Blagoevgrad . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Bansko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332Melnik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337Bulgarian Thrace . . . . . 339

Plovdiv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339Rodopi Mountains . . . . 352

Chepelare . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352Pamporovo . . . . . . . . . . . . 354Smolyan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355Devin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

VELIKO TÂRNOVO & CENTRAL MOUNTAINS . . . . . . 359Shumen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

PLAN YOUR TRIP ON THE ROAD

AR

SE

NIE K

RA

SN

EVS

KY / S

HU

TT

ER

STOC

K©

Bulgaria Contents

Madara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .364Veliko Târnovo . . . . . . . . . . 365Around Veliko Târnovo . . . 374Dryanovo Monastery . . . . 376Tryavna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377Etâr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379Lovech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .380Troyan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382Hisar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383Karlovo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385Kazanlâk . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386Shipka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389Stara Zagora . . . . . . . . . . . 391Sliven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

BLACK SEA COAST . . . . . . . . . . . 395Southern Coast . . . . . . . 397Burgas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397Sozopol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .403Primorsko . . . . . . . . . . . . .408Tsarevo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .409Sinemorets . . . . . . . . . . . . 410Central Coast . . . . . . . . 411Pomorie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411Nesebâr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412Northern Coast . . . . . . . 416Varna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416Sveti Konstantin . . . . . . . 423Balchik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

THE DANUBE & NORTHERN PLAINS . . . . . . . . . . . 427Vratsa & Around . . . . . . .429Chiprovtsi . . . . . . . . . . . . .430Belogradchik . . . . . . . . . . 431Ruse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433Rusenski Lom Nature Park . . . . . . . . . . . .438Lake Srebârna & Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . .440Silistra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Bulgaria Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446


Visual Arts, Craft & Music . . . . . . . . 462

The Bulgarian People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466

Bulgarian Wine . . . . . . . 468

Bulgarian Cuisine . . . . . 470

Directory A–Z . . . . . . . . 474

Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

Language . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496

Map Legend . . . . . . . . . . . 511

VELIKO TÂRNOVO, BULGARIA P365

SURVIVAL GUIDE

UNDERSTAND

SPECIAL FEATURES


Visual Arts, Craft & Music . . . . . . . . 462

Bulgarian Wine . . . . . . . 468

Bulgarian Cuisine . . . . . 470

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Transylvania Castles & Cities

Transylvania is Romania’s best-known region and arguably its most beautiful. It’s filled with rocky mountaintops, haunting castles and lively historic cities. This classic route is designed for travellers for whom this region is the prime focus. The tour starts in Bucha-rest, where most international flights arrive.

Hire a car in Bucharest or hop a train northward toward the mountains, stopping in Sinaia for a couple of nights and checking out Peleş Castle. From here, take a cable car into the Bucegi Mountains for a hike.

Drive or take a bus north to spend a couple of nights in Braşov, a lively hub with a cobbled centre. Use Braşov as a base for a day trip to the infamous Bran Castle.

If you have a car, spend a night in the Saxon village of Viscri before continuing to Sighişoara, where the dramatic citadel offers creature comforts and Dracula’s birthplace.

Head southwest for a night or two in the cultural hub of Sibiu. If you have a car (and it’s summer), drive south along the breathtaking Transfăgărăşan road. South of the pass, stop at the ‘real Dracula’s castle’ of Poienari Citadel, before returning to Bucharest.

10 DAYS

29©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

Eastern Romania receives the fewest number of visitors, yet possesses some of the country’s most important natural and cultural attractions. For the former, look no further than the serene Danube Delta, a sprawling protected wetland that’s per-fect for birders. Northwest of here are the cultural wonders of the Bucovina painted monasteries.

The tour starts in Tulcea, the gateway to the Danube Delta. Stay overnight in Tulcea and enter the delta via boating day trips. If you’ve got more time, skip Tulcea and grab a passenger ferry to deeper, more scenic Sfântu Gheorghe.

After birdwatching and boating, return to Tulcea and take the bus or drive north to Iaşi, Moldavia’s cultural hub and larg-est city. Spend a day taking in the sights. Use Iaşi as a base to explore the Agapia, Văratec and Neamţ monasteries.

From here, it’s a short hop to the re-gional capital of Suceava, which has good hotels and a number of companies offering tours to the nearby painted monaster-ies. Don’t miss the Arbore, Voroneţ and Suceviţa monasteries.

1 WEEK

Danube Delta & Painted Monasteries

Romania is a deceptively large country, with physical barriers (such as high moun-tain passes) that make it difficult to get around easily. This tour highlights the most popular province, Transylvania, but adds neighbouring regions, including capital Bucharest, to make the most of your time.

Spend the first two nights in Bucha-rest, taking in the Palace of Parliament as well as museums and restaurants. Take the train or drive to Braşov, and spend at least a day or two. Use it as a base for visiting Bran Castle and the Saxon town of Viscri.

Head north to Sighişoara and its his-toric citadel. Spend the night before head-ing south to Sibiu, an eye-catching former Saxon stronghold.

From here, head north through Cluj-Napoca, a big university town with an abundance of awesome cafes and clubs.

Push northward to the city of Baia Mare or to Sighetu Marmaţiei, to use as a base for visiting the unspoilt region of Maramureş. Don’t miss the Merry Cem-etery in Săpânţa or the pretty wooden churches in Budeşti, Surdeşti and Ieud.

2 WEEKS

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30

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ShoppingNote: Not all symbols displayed aboveappear on the maps in this book

Map Legend


OUR STORYA beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies. Lonely Planet was born.

Today, Lonely Planet has offices in Franklin, London, Melbourne, Oakland, Dublin, Beijing and Delhi, with more than 600 staff and writers. We share Tony’s belief that ‘a great guidebook should do three things: inform, educate and amuse’.

Published by Lonely Planet Global LimitedCRN 5541537th edition – Jul 2017ISBN 978 1 78657 543 2© Lonely Planet 2017 Photographs © as indicated 201710 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Printed in ChinaAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, and no part of this publication may be sold or hired, without the written permission of the publisher. Lonely Planet and the Lonely Planet logo are trademarks of Lonely Planet and are registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Lonely Planet does not allow its name or logo to be appropriated by commercial establishments, such as retailers, restaurants or hotels. Please let us know of any misuses: lonelyplanet.com/ip.

Although the authors and Lonely Planet have taken all reasona-ble care in preparing this book, we make no warranty about the accuracy or completeness of its content and, to the maximum extent permitted, disclaim all liability arising from its use.

OUR WRITERSMark BakerMark is a freelance travel writer with a penchant for offbeat stories and forgotten places. He’s originally from the United States, but now makes his home in the Czech capital, Prague. He mainly writes travel guides on Eastern and Central Europe for Lonely Planet as well as several other leading travel publishers, but finds real satisfaction in digging up stories in places that are too remote or too quirky for the guides. He also contributes to publications such as the Wall Street

Journal and National Geographic Traveler. Prior to becoming an author, he worked as a journalist for the Economist, Bloomberg News and Radio Free Europe, among other organisations. When he’s not travelling, these days he’s teaching Central European history and journalism at Anglo- American University in Prague or out riding his bike. He has a master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University in New York.

Steve FallonA native of Boston, Massachusetts, Steve graduated from Georgetown Univer-sity with a Bachelor of Science in modern languages. After working for several years for an American daily newspaper and earning a master’s degree in jour-nalism, his fascination with the ‘new’ Asia led him to Hong Kong, where he lived for over a dozen years, working for a variety of media and running his own travel bookshop. Steve lived in Budapest for three years before moving to London in

1994. He has written or contributed to more than 100 Lonely Planet titles. Steve is a qualified Lon-don Blue Badge Tourist Guide.

Anita IsalskaAnita is a travel journalist, editor and copywriter whose work for Lonely Planet has taken her from Greek beach towns to Malaysian jungles, and plenty of plac-es in between. After several merry years as an in-house editor and writer – with a few of them in Lonely Planet’s London office – Anita now works freelance be-tween the UK, Australia and any Balkan guesthouse with a good wi-fi connection. Anita writes about travel, food and culture for a host of websites and magazines.

Read her stuff on www.anitaisalska.com.



© Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. To make it easier for you to use, access to this chapter is not digitally restricted. In return, we think it’s fair to ask you to use it for personal, non-commercial purposes only. In other words, please don’t upload this chapter to a peer-to-peer site, mass email it to everyone you know, or resell it. See the terms and conditions on our site for a longer way of saying the above - ‘Do the right thing with our content.’

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