Make a trip to Romania.

Tell us about yourself – where are you from and what do you do?

I am Romanian, and I come from Piatra Neamt, a beautiful North-East region , close to the mountains. I have been living in Bucharest for 15 years now, but my strong roots are up in the “Neamt” region.

When do you recommend travelers visit your location?

The best time to visit Romania is early spring and early autumn but anytime is good.Northern part of the country should definitely be on the agenda. Also theWestern part (so-called Siebenburger The Seven Sites) Brasov, Cluj, Sibiu,Sighisoara, Targu Mures, Bistrita.

How can a traveler avoid tourist traps and instead experience what local people do?

Best way to avoid traps is to plan way ahead using good internet forums.Also a good practice is to ask friends and relatives(locals) about any rticular information that could be useful.For Bucharest I can say one word: beware of apparently good-intentioned people.It’s a fact that 80 per cent of the goodwill help offers become dangeroustraps in which your belongings may get stolen or damaged.

What are several very special  places or things to do which locals love but most travelers don’t know about?

I personally recommend visits that are focused on the Northern culture (Maramures, Oas, Sapanta, Vatra Dornei). I also recommend visits specialized on Old Monasteries from Moldavia (North-Eastern part named Bucovina) .I can offer advice on pilgrimage .Another good area to experiment is Transylvania, with old Saxon villages and the best preserved inhabited medieval citadel: Sighisoara.One should note that around 23rd of August each year a Medieval Festival takes place in Sighisoara,  where  thousands of people gather at the old citadel and experience the  local culture (music concerts, archery, etc.)

How does the traveling experience in your area change throughout the year?

There’s a strong seasonality in the traveling experience in my country. During extremely hot weekends of June/July/August it’s best to avoid the roads that go to the Black Sea Seaside.The 250km motorway between Bucharest capital city and Constanta – at the seaside becomes extremely crowded.You will find what I call bad “weekend” type of tourism and locations are busy and dirty. There’s also an outrageously high price practice especially on foreign tourists that may happen to visit the same area at that time of the year.An alternative way is to go to the mountains, especially in areas more remote and quiet: Apuseni mountains in the West may be a good choice.

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This post involves:

Apuseni mountains, Bistrita., Black Sea, Brasov, Bucharest, Cluj, Moldavia, Piatra Neamt, Romanian, Sibiu, Siebenburger The Seven Sites, Sighisoara, Targu Mures

... and focuses on:

Local Customs, Localyte, Meet the Locals, Places to Go, romania, when to travel

Posted by Localyte.com Team on March 8, 2009