Romania 3-Days Trip last part; inside Count Dracula's Bran Castle

3-Days tour to quickly sight-see the best marvels of Bulgaria

June 17-19, 2015

Romania 3-Days Trip 3rd part; short visit to Sighisoara

How to Go to Bran Castle;
There is daily every hour departure from Bucharest Central Station. Travel time is approximately 2.5 hours and fare costs 9 Euro if booked in advance. Old town is around 5 kilometer away from Brasov train station. Bran Castle is around 21km from Brasov Train Station which I navigate as follows. Photography and video taking is allowed.

0553H		ETD Bucuresti Nord			2h42m; IR 1745	train	booked
0830H		ETA Brasov			bound to Autogara 2	walk
0915H		ETA Autogara 2			ice cream		3 leu
1000H		ETA Autogara 2			bound to Bran Castle	bus	7 leu
		Bran Castle			souvenir magnet & shirts		80 leu
1210H		ETD Bran Castle			bound to Autogara 2	bus	7 leu
1240H		ETA Autogara 2			bound to Brasov train station	walk
1348H		ETD Brasov			2h27m; IR 347	train	booked

Dracula character was created in 1897 by Irish writer Bram Stalker. He chose Transylvania as the setting, one of the 3 large regions of Romania. The association between Count Dracula, the vampire imagined by the author, and the historical character Vlad Tepes the Impaler-Dracula, who spent his childhood in Transylvania, is due to the bloodthirsty and punitive character of the voivode. The popular nickname "Tepes" (Impaler) was due to the brutal habit of the Walachian voivode of applying capital punishment by impalement, while the other nickname "Dracula" (meaning Devil's son in Slovanian) was inherited by his father, Vlad Dracul (the Devil).

Romania 3-Days Trip; Dracula's Bran Castle

Romania 3-Days Trip 3rd part; short visit to Sighisoara

3-Days tour to quickly sight-see the best marvels of Bulgaria

June 17-19, 2015

Romania 3-Days Trip 2nd part; Bucharest City Walk

How to Go to Sighisoara;
There is daily every hour departure from Bucharest Central Station. Travel time is approximately 5 hours and fare costs 12 Euro if booked in advance. Old town is just around 1 kilometer away from Sighisoara train station. Photography and video taking is allowed.

Sighişoara is located on the Tarnava River in Mures county, Romania. It is located in the historic region of Transylvania. Central Sighisoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified city and it has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Sighisoara is a popular tourist destination due to its well-preserved walled old town. 
http://wikitravel.org/en/Sighi%C5%9Foara

Transylvania is rich in myth and misty medieval sites: there about 100 castles and fortresses and about 70 fortified churches. Romania's greatest and best preserved castles and fortresses are to be found here. Although some people may only associate the name with tales of bloodthirsty vampires (it is the setting of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula), Transylvania is one of the most beautiful natural regions in Europe dotted with picturesque, medieval fortress towns and monasteries. 
http://wikitravel.org/en/Transylvania

Romania 3-Days Trip; short visit to Sighisoara (Casa Vlad)

Romania 3-Days Trip 2nd part; Bucharest City Walk

3-Days tour to quickly sight-see the best marvels of Bulgaria

June 17-19, 2015

Romania 3-Days Trip 1st part; Morning Bus Ride from Sofia to Bucharest

I roam the city through self-guided walk accompanied by a downloaded map online starting from the hostel where I booked-in (The Funky Chicken Hostel). I passed-by the Botanical Garden, Revolutionary Square Old Town, Court of Appeals, Palace of Parliament, Arch of Triumph and how locals and other tourists hassles on the streets. Photography and video taking is allowed.

Bucharest is a booming city with many large infrastructure projects changing the old face of the city. Known in the past as "The Little Paris," Bucharest has changed a lot lately, and today it has become a very interesting mix of old and new that has little to do with its initial reputation. 
http://wikitravel.org/en/Bucharest

Romania 3-Days Trip; Bucharest City Walk

Romania 3-Days Trip 1st part; Morning Bus Ride from Sofia to Bucharest

3-Days tour to quickly sight-see the best marvels of Bulgaria

June 17-19, 2015

Bulgaria Day Tour last part; Sofia City walk

timezone - +0300H UTC (summer time);   capital - Bucharest;   language - Romanian
currency - Leu; 1 EUR = 4.2 RON
visa - pre-arranged not required per privilege of having valid Schengen visa. Valid Schengen Visa holders regardless of nationality can transit/visit Romania not exceeding 90-days stay in any 180-days period given in the Schengen Visa duration.

Romania is situated in the north of the Balkan Peninsula on the western shores of the Black Sea. It enjoys great natural beauty and diversity and a rich cultural heritage. Romania enchants visitors with its scenic mountain landscapes and unspoiled countryside areas, and also with its historic cities and its busy capital. Over the last decade Romania had undergone a significant development and it is one of the recent members of the European Union. This is a large country which can sometimes be shocking with contrasts: some cities are truly Western Europe; some villages can seem to have been brought back from the past.
http://wikitravel.org/en/Romania

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ROMANIA (",)
1. The archetypal vampire Count Dracula, created by Bram Stoker, was inspired by the Romanian prince Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Impaler because he was fond of impaling his enemies and standing them along the roads.
2. The tallest wooden church in the world, and the second tallest wooden structure in Europe, can be found in Sapanta Peri, Maramures of north-western Romania.
3. The Romanian language is 1,700 years old.
4. Romania is Europe’s richest country in gold resources.

Romania 3-Days Trip; Morning Bus Ride from Sofia to Bucharest

23 Days Solo Summer Adventures in Central, Southern and Northern Europe

Germany - Liechtenstein - Slovenia - Croatia - Serbia - Bulgaria - Romania - Hungary - Slovakia - Poland - Lithuania - Estonia - Latvia - Denmark
June 10 to July 02, 2015

23 Days Solo Autumn Experience in Central Europe (Oct. 2013)

"Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine." - Nikola Tesla

Schengen Area guarantees free movement within territory of 26 countries. As of 19th of December 2011, Schengen Area consist of 26 countries (of which 22 are EU states): Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Being part of the area without controls at internal borders means that these countries no longer carry-out border checks at their internal borders and have stepped-up controls which must meet clearly defined criteria, at the external borders.

As of January 2015, valid Schengen Visa holders regardless of nationality can transit/visit European countries of (1)Albania, (2)Bosnia and Herzegovina, (3)Bulgaria, (4)Croatia, (5)Macedonia, (6)Montenegro, (7)Romania and (8)Serbia. Some of this countries provide maximum 15-days stay in any period given in the Schengen Visa duration.

My 3rd time to visit the European continent (1st visit was last October 2013 and 2nd visit was last June 2014), 43rd solo backpacking trip, total of 55 countries visited so far and of course, usual budget do-it-yourself itinerary from arrival to departure.

3rd Solo Trip in Europe fridge magnet collections