What better way to tell you about our tours than to let clients speak for themselves, in this case 2 nice girls from the USA.

“When I first heard about a photo tour through Romania I was a little apprehensive, I mean what’s in Romania? Well everything, especially from a photographers standpoint. My friend and I spent two days traveling through the countryside following a road that led us to small villages as well as the bigger cities. On the way we passed brightly coloured homes that have been around as far back as the 1800’s, shepherds herding their sheep through vibrant green pastures, farmers with their horse drawn wagons, and villagers going about their daily lives. To top it off the green hills and snow-capped mountains were always in the backdrop of this colorful Romanian culture.

If you love history or at least a good story this is the perfect trip. Not only do you have a chance for great photography opportunities but the tour guide will give you the rhyme to the reason for Romanian traditions and way of life. The stories made me fall in love with the country even more as I learned about the former kingdoms that had ruled, the history of Dracula and so much more.”

“Day 1 or Sibiu. We arrived in the bustling city of Sibiu where the old city parts of the 16th century is intertwined with the 21st. We walked through the city getting our first glimpse of the Romania architecture that we would be seeing throughout the rest of the country. The tour guide engaged our imaginations and gave our pictures more meaning as he explained how life was lived from the time of the Turkish Empire and through the centuries. The main sites we saw were the fortifications- How people protected themselves in the city form the attacks of the armies such as the Turks. The City square- where the hustle and bustle of the people centuries ago, as well as now, still is. Here you can snap pictures as well as enjoy a bite or drink on the terrace and of course people watch 😉

The evangelical church and the Orthodox Cathedral- These churches are hard to miss and have beautiful interiors. We learned what a classic Orthodox looks like and how a service is conducted.

After the city we continued on our way to the village of Fantanele. This village is a wonderful break from the sites and sounds of city life. Fantanele is located in the hills where the cobble stone streets lead you past quaint country homes with wells that the Romanian families use for water, a horse grazing among the blossoming trees, and of course an Orthodox church. The nostalgia of a calmer life is intoxifying.

After a walking through and snapping pictures of Fantanele, we continued our travel to the village we would be staying the night. We were given an amazing photo opportunity when we climbed a hill as night was beginning to fall. We had a view of the entire village and the surrounding country side. The only thing blocking our view were the blossoming trees.”

“Day 2 The villages. In the morning we went downstairs and  had a typical Romanian breakfast of bread, butter, jam, an assortment of breakfast meats and cheeses, and of course coffee or tea. Our next destination was an up and running medieval town. On our way there we stopped along the side of the road to snap a few pictures. We entered the village passing the local Romania’s and Rroma’s dressed in the traditional and colourful clothing. We parked the car on the side and had to wait for a horse drawn wagon to pass before crossing the road (and of course we got a picture;)) we then made our way up to the fortified church where our tour guide explained how the people used the church and how the city operated way back when.

Rroma’s are what we traditionally called gypsies but because the gypsies is a more of a racist term, so to be politically correct they are now recognised as Rromas.

Our next stop was the village of Altana where we met a man named Stephen who tried to keep the traditional Romanian culture alive by restoring Romanian buildings, He also had a museum. His museum was really interesting because he had personally found and collected all the items, some of them dating back to the 17th century. The rooms in the museum were set up according to the main nationalities of Romanian which include German, Hungarian, Romanian, and Rroma.

I ended up really embracing the culture that day by using the outhouse which is the only form of a bathroom the villagers have. I had a beautiful view of the whole yard so it was a great experience.

We wished Stephen luck and went on way to the fortified city of Biertan, it’s famous for its fortified Orthodox church which carries the label of being Unesco. The church is beautiful and it also served another purpose of being a means of escape for the Romanian’s when their village was under attack. The Church also provided great views of the village and countryside.

The church also had a jail but not for prisoners, this jail was for villagers who wanted to get a divorce. The couple was forced to live together in a cell and had to share everything from a bed to just one spoon. In doing this the couple would be forced to work together and hopefully they could resolve their issues.

Our next location was the city of Sighisoara. The tour guide showed us where Dracula was born. We also passed under the clock tower that was built by the Germans to show when the work day would begin and end, the German’s had a mentality to be pretty timely. There is also a fortified church on a hill which you have to pass through a very old grave yard to get through, here there are grave stones that date back to the 17th century.”

“Day 3 Cluj. It is about a two hour drive from Biertan but it goes quickly when you look out the window and watch the scenery fly by. You pass different villages, fields, and herds of sheep. You really get to know the Romanian Country side.

The City of Cluj is the second biggest City of Romanian with a population of 350,000. Here the city life is booming with the modern times while still possessing the Romanian style and of course has a huge Orthodox Church. I would advise walking down to the big square in the evening, you can get a good view of the Catholic Church and the statue of Matthias who was a famous King of Hungary. You can also join in with the locals of relaxing in the square and having a nice dinner on the terrace.”