Transylvania Day Trip from Bucharest
Are you wondering how to take a Transylvania day trip from Bucharest, Romania?
Here’s everything you need to know! If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably dreamed of visiting Transylvania for a long time, thanks to its iconic Dracula link. It’s always been a bucket list destination for me. And I finally got to make it happen on a day trip from Bucharest, Romania.
Transylvania is one of the prettiest regions in Romania, and it’s also well-known thanks to its connection to Dracula and vampires. The Irish author Bram Stoker’s character Dracula is a Transylvanian count who also happens to be a vampire. This has inspired over a century of curiosity about Transylvania.
However, the real connection is tenuous at best. Bram Stoker never actually visited Transylvania. And while it’s speculated that the character of Dracula was based on the real-life Vlad the Impaler, a brutal 15th-century ruler of Wallachia (now modern-day Romania), there’s no evidence of this connection either.
Still, it’s fun to visit Transylvania and certain places definitely play up the Dracula/vampire connections (much like how Salem, Massachusetts goes overboard with its witch connections.)
So how can you visit Transylvania on a day trip from Bucharest? Here’s what you need to know!
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Best Day Trips to Transylvania from Bucharest:
Getting to Transylvania
The region of Transylvania is about two hours north of Bucharest by car.
You can get to Brasov, a city surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains and filled with medieval and Gothic architecture, by train from Bucharest, which takes just over two hours. The problem with taking the train to Brasov is that it’s then difficult to get around to the famous castles of Transylvania.
It’s definitely better to have a car if you want to explore the countryside of Transylvania more, especially if you want to visit the imposing Bran Castle, which is famously known as Dracula’s Castle.
That’s why I recommend taking an organized tour for a day trip to Transylvania.
This is the exact tour I did and it includes pickup from a central location in Bucharest and transportation to Peles Castle, Brasov, and Bran Castle before returning to Bucharest in the evening.
It’s cheaper than renting a car, and then you don’t have to worry about the logistics yourself. The only thing that’s not included with this tour is admission to Peles Castle and Bran Castle. If you are a solo traveler, this is definitely a great choice, although if you’re traveling in a group, you might find that it’s a better value to rent a car and split the cost. However, I was really glad that I did the tour!
Here’s a look at what I did on my Transylvania day trip, and whether I thought it was worth it.
First Stop: Peles Castles
The first stop on my Transylvania day trip was Peles Castle. After departing from Bucharest, it took a little over two hours to reach this castle, which is one of the most beautiful in Romania.
It was a former residence for Romanian royals, and it looks like something out of a fairytale.
You can only visit this castle on a guided tour, and you’ll have the option of choosing from three different tour options. I chose the cheapest one at 50 lei ($11 USD) which just included the ground floor of the castle, but you can also choose a tour that includes the first floor too, or one that includes all three floors.
Be sure to spend some time appreciating the intricate exterior of Peles Castle too. I found this to be a very impressive place, and the rolling hills and scenery around the castle is also breathtaking.
Second Stop: Brasov
After Peles Castle, the next stop on my tour was Brasov. This city is a little over an hour from Peles Castle, and it’s one of the major hubs in Transylvania, with a population of nearly 250,000 people.
We stopped for an hour in Brasov, which was enough time to walk around and explore the historic center of the city a little. The historic center is very well-preserved, with cobblestone streets and old buildings. The Black Church, a Gothic church in the heart of Brasov, is one of the city’s most popular attractions.
The church does have an entry fee of 20 lei ($4.50 USD) and since I don’t particularly like paying to go inside churches, I decided to settle for admiring it from the outside instead.
Third Stop: Bran Castle
After Brasov, we continued on for half an hour to the stop I was the most excited about, Bran Castle. This castle is nicknamed Dracula’s Castle, although again, there’s no real connection to Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
However, with the castle’s imposing Gothic architecture and dramatic location on top of a steep hill overlooking a valley, it’s easy to imagine this is a place where a vampire count once lived.
Tickets to Bran Castle are 70 lei ($15.50 USD) and you can explore the whole castle at your leisure. There are a few cheesy parts (like I said, they have really embraced the Dracula connection!) but it’s still a lot of fun.
Apparently, Bran Castle hosts an epic Halloween party every year — I would love to attend that!
After the stop at Bran Castle, it was about a three-hour drive back to Bucharest.
Would I Recommend This Tour?
Yes, I would highly recommend the organized group tour I took to Transylvania. The exact tour I booked is Bucharest to Dracula Castle, Peles Castle, and Brasov Guided Tour on Viator.
Since I was traveling alone, I didn’t want to rent a car, and this tour worked out to be much cheaper than a rental car would have cost for the day anyway. And since some of the places in Transylvania are not accessible by public transportation (especially Bran Castle) you really need to have a car to get around.
In the future, I would love to spend more time in Transylvania, because one day is not enough time to do the region justice. But with limited time, a day trip like this is a great way to hit some of the highlights.
Transylvania Day Trip from Bucharest
This guide showed you how to take a Transylvania day trip from Bucharest, Romania.
Transylvania is one of the most beautiful and iconic regions in Romania. If you only have limited time, a day trip is a great way to get a taste of Transylvania and discover two of its coolest castles.
Have a great trip and enjoy your time in Transylvania!
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