Day 79 (Braşov, Romania) – Castles of Transylvania

The appeal to Braşov is that it lies in the heart of the Transylvania region of Romania.  There are loads of castles and haunted stories behind each of them.  None of them true, but they still provide an eerie ambience.  I signed up to tour three of the most popular ones around Braşov – Bran Castle, Râşnov Fortress, and Peles Palace.

The first stop on our tour was the 13^th century Râşnov Fortress ruins just outside the city.  The fortress sat on top of a mountain as do most every castle or fortress throughout Europe.  The ride up to it provided a taste on how crazy our bus driver would be for the rest of the tour.  He had no hesitation in speeding through pot holes or any other barrier in the road.  I think it was more of an amusement park ride than a bus tour.

The fortress itself was pretty spectacular.  The outer wall and the towers were still in tack but the inter buildings were mostly ruins.  There was a small museum with a few artifacts found on the site, but the lighting was poor or non-existent so they were tough to see.  This fortress had just recently been purchased by the state and has yet to see any funding to turn it into a proper tourist museum.  You’ll know exactly what I’m talking about just from the road that leads up to it.  I think there were more potholes than actual road.

Next up was Bran Castle, of the three probably the most famous because it is what the Dracula legend is based from.  Because of this fame, it is also heavily surrounded by trinket dealers.  You know the crap that you would never actually buy except when on vacation.  Once you make it through the market and to the castle you are greeted with the masses of tourists.  The castle might be a great place, but there are so many tourists that you’ll be sure to leave with a sour taste in your mouth.

Finally we ended up at Péles Palace, which by far was the most extravagant of the three in my opinion.  It is so extravagant that you hardly believe that people actually still live here.  I guess it is privately owned and they still vacation on the top floors for a few weeks/months out of the year.  The entrance is a massive room that greats you with walls covered in various types of marble that create an incredible sight.  Then each room is filled with various priceless artifacts from all over the world.  And when having artifacts from a specific region is not enough, they chose to create exact copies of rooms from other famous castles or buildings.  It’s really quite a place and is a must see if you ever travel through the Transylvania region.