There are quite a bit of castles in Transylvania but probably the one that everyone thinks of Dracula’s Castle even though its real name is Bran Castle. Most people think of Bran Castle (aka Dracula’s Castle) as a haunted place but it’s not even close. Even the area of Transylvania that was designated as the home location for vampires and Dracula are all entirely false. To me, it’s just purely a marketing ploy to sell the vampire stereotype. It’s all due to the myths and stories created to help design Transylvania as a mythical and strange place out to the rest of the world which is somewhat working. Film producers even filmed a movie (Brad Stoker’s Dracula) at so-called Dracula’s Castle despite the castle’s incredible small size. Luckily the magic of Hollywood was able to make it bigger than it seems.

Built on a hill, Bran Castle aka Dracula Castle is actually quite small for a castle. I have to say that it was kind of disappointing for such “marketing.”

Even the innercourt of Bran Castle is quite small. Not much space for anything really.

If you still want to go to Dracula’s Castle, by all means, take a trip but note that it’s not called that. The actual name is Bran Castle. Despite the name, there’s no connection to Brad Stoker’s Dracula. The book was more connected with Vlad the Impaler, even though the man probably never set foot in Bran Castle. I think the character and Bran Castle were great inspirations for the book and eventual movie as colloquial references to each other in addition to Romania’s attempt to open up the tourist marketing to the rest of the world. The castle is more of a museum than actual castle.

If you want to go to an actual castle, then the better selection would be Peles Castle. This castle was intended to be the summer estate for the Romanian royal family so there was a lot of elaborate construction to make it lavish and grand. I’m assuming that the royals also used it to entertain guests who would visit them there so they also created to impress visitors. Now it’s a popular tourist attraction as the castle is now a museum as the Romanian royal family has been banished by the Romanian Communist Party and after the communist era’s end, there was no big push to bring back the royal family so that was that.

That is the view of Peles Castle as you walk up the road. The Romanian royal family picked a great spot for it stick out well.

And when you finally walk up closer and look at it, that’s what it looks like.

It seems like as you get closer, Peles Castle becomes more and more better looking. Here they installed a fountain so imagine all the guests that came and were wowed at the sight of this place.

Even the inside of Peles Castle is well decorated and heavily detailed to make a great impression on visitors.

And if you happen to be lucky to dine with the Royal Family, imagine what would be served here.

And right nearby Peles Castle is Pelisor Castle. Some even consider the two castles to be part of the same area complex. The castle was intended to be a private residence for the Romanian royal family so it’s not readily accessible for the general public to make visits although you never know…

Another well designed castle/building – Pelisor Castle.

If you want to go a real castle, a fortress, then it would be best to go to Rasnov Citadel. This fortress was built on top of mountain which oversaw the valley so it could maintain defense against invading armies en-route to Brasov. I could see that the locals were concerned that the Ottoman Empire could send troops without warning so this place was a way to observe and stop any intrusions farther inland.

Rasnov Citadel was built on a hill overseeing the pass to ensure enemy troop movements were detected and slowed by this fortress.

You can get some great views from this place. I can see why people back then chose such a spot.

Another interesting fortress is the one in Fagaras, about a 40-50 minute drive from Brasov. It’s very close to the impressive Fagaras Cathedral which is an Orthodox church.

Fagaras Cathedral which was built in the town’s center area that you cannot miss it especially with the golden tops.

This fortress, called Fagaras Citadel, is how most people would imagine a castle, actually has a moat around it! There are no alligators in it despite that some people might imagine a moat having them. Instead, the water is meant to be a barrier so troops cannot just run up with ladders and overrun the fortress. Water in this case is utilized as another form of protection, making it harder for enemies to overcome.

Fagaras Citadel is quite big and they offer tours for a small price.

Tip: Be wary of all those Dracula’s items that the restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, and street peddlers try to sell you such as Dracula’s lemonade, Dracula’s soup, Dracula’s candy, Dracula this, Dracula that, Dracula etc…. It’s all just a marketing ploy. A few Dracula items for purchase shouldn’t kill you in the wallet department but remember it’s all just marketing in making you the sale where your hard-earned money flows from your pockets and into theirs.

Romania has a lot to offer due to the country being basically the legacy of what used to be part of the last vestiges of the Eastern Roman Empire as it slowly became cut up from intrusions from all directions. Even the Romanian language was derived from Latin and is one of the Romance languages despite some inclusion of Slavic words and verbs. But that was to be expected when the country is surrounded by Slavic-speaking countries such as Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine, and at one time, the Soviet Union (when Moldova and Ukraine were both part of it). There is quite a bit of history in Romania but don’t just consider Bucharest, the capital, as the only destination to go to. Instead, a lot of the cities and the countryside outside of Bucharest have far more to offer. That’s why Brasov, also known as Kronstadt, should be one destination.

This is known as Catherine’s Gate which is one of Brasov’s oldest and only remaining gate from the medieval-Brasov.

If you look closely, you can see the Brasov sign up in the forested mountain in an attempt to emulate the famous Hollywood sign.

Compared to the urban jungle of Bucharest where the capital city of Romania is nothing but streets and cars and more streets and more cars, Brasov is neither too small nor too big and rather well located in central north Romania, a great starting point to actually start the Romanian journey. If you’re into the winter sports of skiing and snowboarding then Brasov is pretty well-accommodating to tourists since the locals are also used to the summer traveling tourist hordes (or more like smaller groups moving about in the country). The locals in this part of the country are quite friendly in the sense that their country had suffered greatly under the Soviet iron curtain so any way to advertise the country’s offerings to foreigners is a great thing for them. That’s why the Romanians are looking to invest vast sums into their own infrastructure and their tourism in order to improve the country into the next century so as to not fall behind.

Brasov has quite a bit of neat looking buildings that contain quite a bit of history. The city itself was actually known as Kronstadt which the city and the area of Transylvania was actually part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. It was after World War I when Austria-Hungary disintegrated when Transylvania proclaimed its union with Romania which it is now part of today. However, there is still Austrian, German, Hungarian historical influences, however, scant that might be.

Nestled between mountain ranges and forests, Brasov was established in a nice valley area where it was important to construct some kind of fortification to protect the city and the roads.

One of the biggest attractions in Brasov has to be the famous Black Church. Built back in the 1300s, it was originally a Roman-Catholic church but now it’s a Lutheran church for not just the city but for this part of Transylvania. Tourists now flock there to see it.

Looking up close to it, you can see that it’s quite old and has had extensive repairs over the years. The church is quite amazing at night.

Tip: Most Romanians cannot speak English. Some of the younger generation people in the cities can speak some English but you might benefit even more from knowing French, Spanish, and/or Italian since some of the words are similar due to the Latin foundation. Some Romanians might even know another Romance language because they might have lived and worked there. I met an older lady working in a restaurant who could not speak English but spoke Spanish so we communicated in that language instead.

Tip: Stay away from the panhandling gypsies. I’ve encountered them before in Spain and I usually just walk away from them but there are far more gypsy beggars in Romania, probably a higher concentration of them in Romania (and Bulgaria) than in other parts of Europe since the living standards are lower in this part of the world or they have setup some kind of foundation for themselves there such as a farm. Gypsies for the most part are nothing but trouble and they WILL rob you if you are not careful so heed extreme attention to where you are at and where are your belongings are. That includes your stuff in your vehicles if you rent an automobile. They will be sly by trying to avoid physical one-on-one brute encounters with you and will instead take your stuff when you are not looking unlike the street urchins in Lima, Peru, where they’ll come out to ambush-pummel you.

Tip: Romania has two peak seasons: winter and summer. Winter brings in all the snowboarders and skiers while summer brings in all the warm-weather folks. Since Romania is still relatively undiscovered by the tourist masses as a big-time tourist destination, I would have to say the summer time is a great time to go. You’ll still encounter tourists all over the country regardless of the season but you be prepared for some weird weather at times so bring an umbrella. You just never know when it will RAIN!