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Transylvania
Tours- Exotic Tours Europe
Visit Transylvania, this remote corner of Europe, a region trapped in time.
There are hardly more destinations in civilized Europe that can be called'
Exotic"
Transylvania is a mythical
land of vampire legends, fairly tales and gypsy bands and bandits with castle
ruins of former kingdoms surrounded by the dark Carpathians.
Don't
miss this last time opportunity! The
region's exotic flavor will be soon disappearing due to the European Union
precipitously extending the benefits of civilization to this remote corner of
Europe in
the upcoming years.
Join us on
this tour to
a remote corner of Central Europe exist a region trapped in time. It is a land known
to the West for its colorful folklore, fairy tales and vampire legends.
Transylvania, Erdely (woded land) in Hungarian is the birthplace of count
Dracula, Vlad Tepes
(Vlad the
Impaler),
later prince of Walachia, a vassal to the Hungarian kings. It is the ancient
land of the 1000 year-old Hungarian Kingdom with numerous castle ruins perched
on imposing hill tops, testaments of bloody battles and scenes of political
schemes. Colorful Saxon villages, fortified churches, great historical
estates are embraced here by the wild Carpathians, the easternmost frontier of
civilized Europe during past centuries. Transylvania was part of the Historical
Hungarian Kingdom established in 1000 and later also became home to the many
Saxons who were brought
mostly
from the Moselle Valley establishing several prosperous cities
during the 12-13
century.
Being a region of several ethnicities, Transylvania came to be
exceptionally progressive in ethnic and religious tolerance. As early as the
16ht century, when most of Europe was still engaged in religious wars, it
introduced religious enlightenment and tolerance. In
1566,
Prince
John Sigismund enacted the Edict of Religious Toleration at the Diet of Torda.
Under the Ottoman Turkish occupation of Hungary during the 16th and 17th
Centuries, Transylvania was a semi-independent principality, ruled by Hungarian
princes who were able to maintain a precarious independence from the Ottoman
Empire through shroud diplomacy.
Transylvania was part of Hungary until the end of World War I,
when this region was awarded to Romania by the Allies under the Treaty of
Trianon. The country of Romania was formed relatively recently, in 1859, with
the unification of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia and
became independent in 1871.
Dine at Dracula's house, meet the proud local Szekelys who still populate their ancient
homeland despite forceful Romanization during communist times. Have dinner with
local families tasting traditional hearty meals, enjoy warm hospitality during
your village stays, marvel alpine peeks, bathe in caves and volcanic
lakes, immerse yourself in Transylvania."
Transylvania Tour with Dracula
1. Day. From the Gate of Transylvania to the “Capital” of Transylvania
15 kilometers east of
the Hungarian/Romanian border, the city of Oradea (Hungarian: Nagyvárad, is the
gateway to Transylvania. The city of St Ladislaw was first mentioned in
chronicles in the 12th century, when its citadel was built. It is the
most Hungarian-looking among all cities of Transylvania with its open spaces,
Art Nuevo buildings and savvy intellectual life. We start our tour with visiting
the Episcopal Palace, a replica of the Belvedere Palace in Vienna, and the
Roman-Catholic Cathedral housing St Ladislaw’s relics. After a short walk
between the famous “Art-nouveau” style buildings we arrive to the Black Eagle
Palace and to the Moon Church Cathedral with the unique mechanism showing the
phases of the moon. Continuing on to Cluj, (Kolozsvar) we cross the
Occidental Carpathians with the biggest damp of the region, the Dragan-lake.
We will have a short brake in Kalotaszentkiraly, a Hungarian region with
colorful folklore and live traditions, arriving at Cluj, capital of
Transylvania late in the afternoon. We will then visit the main attractions in the
city center: the Saint Michael's Roman-Catholic Church as well as the
birth-house and equestrian statue of King Mathias Corvinus, considered Hungary’s
greatest king.
2.Day: A Glance to the Transylvanian History
Visit the city of
Alba Julia,
the medieval
capital and executive center of the region with its 16th century princely
palaces of the former governors of Transylvania. Visit the Roman Catholic
Cathedral with the tombs of Transylvanian rulers and of John Hunyadi, father of
Mathias King; the funeral place of the I. Hungarian prince Zsigmond as well as the Union Hall where
the Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared.
Continue on to the majestic Corvin Castle in Hunedoara
with the beautiful Knights Hall. In the afternoon we arrive in the former
capital of the
Saxon region: Sibiu. The
city of Sibiu was founded on the site of the Roman city of Caedonia, during the
12th century. It is the most important city build by the Transylvanian Saxons.
During the middle ages it rapidly evolved into a powerful economic and political
center. Sibiu housed the "Academia Saxorum", the German Parliament of the seven
Saxon citadels of Transylvania (in fact, the German name for Transylvania -
Siebenbürgen - means "seven cities"). During the communist times, Sibiu has
suffered a major loss when its citizens were sold one by one to Western Germany
by the Romanian dictator, Ceausescu. Despite all this ethnic cleansing and 45
years of communism, much of the historic center has been preserved looking like
a colorful medieval German town from a Grimm fairy-tale. Visit the city's Crafstmen's Square, Huet Square,
the Evangelical Church, Bridge of
Lies, Great Square and the City Hall Tower. Continue on to Bilea Cascade
following the Transfogaras serpentine road (this
serpentine is one of the biggest manifestiations of the communist era, connecting
Transylvania and Wallachia) under the 2500m’s peaks of Fogaras.
Mountain up to the highest glacier lake: Bilea. In the afternoon we
arrive to Cheile Gradistei, the land of special Romanian cheese which we
taste at dinner.
3.Day: The Famous "Dracula Castle"
First in the
morning we visit the “Dracula Castle” built in 1377 and served as a
summer residence to Queen Maria in 1920. After legend back to history: visit the
richest Saxon town,
Brasov,
with its famous Turkish carpet collection of the Black Church, the Old Town Hall
(15th century), and the narrowest street in the town followed by a break in one
of the cafés. Refreshed, drive to the XIII century fortified church of
Prejmer
listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It will be a
unique experience walking inside the fortified walls of the church.
Leaving the Saxon region we arrive to Székelyföld. The Szekelys are Hungarian
speaking people settled at the Eastern end of the Hungarian Kingdom to protect the
lands from foreign invasions. They are a very proud persistent people
considering themselves the descendants of the Attila, the Hun. Székely
traditional costumes are presented by 247 dolls at Kezdivasarhely. We spend our
night in the heart of the mountains in serene mountain surrounding at Best Western Hotel Balvanyos.
4.Day: The Land of Fairies. This day is
dedicated to the delightful nature of the Szekely-land. In the morning we take a
gas-bath in the “stinky-cave” of Torja, a small cave with
sulfuric gas, used as a treatment for rheumatic disorders). After a swimming in
the volcanic Saint Ana-lake we “hunt” for carnivorous plants of the
Mohos peat moss swamp. This area is the
only volcanic formation which preserved its original form in Central Europe.
According to legend there was a high mountain in the place of St Ann’s Lake. Two
wicked brothers lived on the opposite peaks of the mountains. One of them was
count Gáspár the other was count Sándor. Both of them built castles on the peaks;
they were always in competition with each other. One day a rich traveler who had
a beautiful coach with four horses arrived at Sándor’s castle. He wanted to get
accommodation for one night. The greedy count wanted to get the beautiful coach
but he could not persuade the guest to sell his coach so he won the coach from
the rich traveler on a game of dice. After it he boasted about it to his
brother, who offered a bet. The bet was if he had found a more beautiful coach
than his brother’s he would get Sandor's fortune. Gáspár had a
devilish idea and he collected eight beautiful virgins from the neighborhood and
had the girls pull his nicest carriage. The poor girls couldn’t move the
coach, so the count stroke at the first girl with his whip. This girl was called
Anne and she was the most beautiful of the girls. Ann went down on her knees and
begged God. God heard it and passed a terrible judgment. An earthquake
and thunderstorm stroke with heavy rain and the counts’ castles with the
mountains were swallowed by the earth. Next day there was a dark mountain lake
at the place. We spend the
night in the largest Szekely city: Csikszereda.
5.Day:
Mixing with locals, Meet the Real Szekely Peoples
Whole day program with cart-tour, traditional crafts, tasting the
traditional ordas pancake and polenta with soft cheese. After the tasty
dinner we return to Csikszereda.
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6.Day: The Unique Szekely Landscape
This day is also reserved for the beauty of the nature. We’ll visit the
Gyimes region, the former border of Hungary and the 300 m
high walls of the Frog Gorge (Bekas Szoros) and of course the
Red-lake on the river Bicaz, connecting Transylvania and Moldavia. The gorge consists of three main parts: the
’Gate’, the ’Portico’ and the ’Throat’ of Hell. It is one of
Europe’s unique natural phenomena with its 200-300 meters long, vertical cliffs,
a paradise of rock climbers. The gorge with is winding
road attracts many tourist every year. Why they call “Killer” lake or Red Lake? The mountain, when it tumbled down, buried a herd
with its shepherd and it was these creatures’ blood that kept seeping into the
water and colored the lake red. The pine trunks sticking out of the lake
make it mysteriously unique. These trunks are the remains of an old pine
forest that used to occupy the valley. We return to the
Armenian city of Gheorgheni.
7.Day: Pearls of the Szekely Folk Art
In the morning
we will visit the Renaissance castle of
Szarhegy
with its knight hall, the fine art and painted eggs exhibition. It used to be an important military and
administrative center of
Székely land in
the 1600s. The village has been attacked and burnt by Tartars and Turks numerous
times. In 1658 Cosack-Tartar troops broke into the area from Moldova. The
people of Gyergyó fought them and defeated them. According to legends only 15
people from Gyergyó died whereas the enemy lost more than 500 soldiers. The
bodies were buried just outside of the town in a pile which is called ’Tartar
hill’ to this day.
We will stop at the beautiful painted wooden Szekely gates at Marefalva
and at the exhibition of Szejkefurdo. Leaving the Szekely land we are
going to the best preserved living medieval town in Europe: Sighisoara,
birthplace of count Vlad Tepes, Dracula. The most interesting places in town are the Clock Tower, the wooden covered staircase, the Monastery Church and the
Torture Instruments Museum. We will have dinner in Dracula’s birth house
8.Day: The English Connection
Near Sighisoara we will visit the most famous of the fortified Saxon
churches, Biertan. It was the seat of the Lutheran bishops for 300 years
and now is enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage site. At Erdőszentgyörgy
we will discover the Transylvanian relatives of the British Royal family. See
the ancestral home of Claudia Rhedey, the great-great grandmother of Queen
Elisabeth II of England. In the afternoon we will arrive to the famous Bear salt-lake.
9.Day: Farewells to Transylvania
We start our last day in this
unique region with shopping at the most famous folk art market in Korond. You
will find here hand-painted pottery, hand-carved decorations, weaved textiles,
etc. In our way back to Oradea we
will stop at the capital of Szekelyfold: Targu Mures. The legends of the
Szekely people are presented in the Palace of Culture, a building with
remarkable painted stained-glass windows. We arrive back to Oradea in the
evening and here ends our trip of Transylvania. transfer to the train station or
optional overnights. We can also arrange optional transfers to Budapest, Cluj, Bucharest, etc
2006 Prices Per Person in Euros or US$* (rate varies depending the exchange)
Prices per person in Euros or US Dollars*
Based on the number of people in your party |
2 people |
4 people |
6 people |
8 people |
10 people |
12 people |
15 people |
| 1370 |
995 |
788 |
770 |
706 |
665 |
664 |
| Optional Carriage Ride |
100 |
50 |
34 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
| Single Supplement |
196 |
| Transfer to or from Oradea Per Car |
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|
|
|
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| Timisoara |
112 |
125 |
125 |
225 |
225 |
225 |
313 |
| Cluj |
100 |
112 |
112 |
200 |
200 |
200 |
275 |
| Budapest |
125 |
150 |
150 |
313 |
313 |
313 |
400 |
| Itinerary and departure city can be modified
upon request |
Prices Include:
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9 nights accommodation with 2 meals per day
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Transportation in AC private car or minibus depending on number
of passengers
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Services of a private guide throughout the tour
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All entrance fees
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Land taxes and service charges
* US$ rate varies depending the exchange
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