So here goes – but for those that want some information about visiting Brasov – here are some things to know.
1) Brasov is a very walkable city, but to travel by bus or trolleybus the best way to do this is via the app 24 pay, which also works on all transport in Bucharest, Iasi and Sibiu, amongst other towns and cities in Romania . The link is here but you made need to switch translate on!
2) The old town is probably the best area to see the sights – you can walk to the cable car from there and the Black Church (one of the largest in the country) is nearby.
3) The contemporary Art Gallery and the Museum of the communist era and very close to each other and are probably best seen together as both are small and will not take long to view.
4) It is possible to visit the castles at Brans and Peles under your own steam, but if using public transport, take food and water with you as there will be none on the bus or train. If you can afford to, it might be worth taking a guided tour.
5) The narrowest street, Rope Street, is overhyped (in my opinion) so if short of time I would skip it.
6) Bears DO live in the woods … I didn’t see any but I got a bear alert on my phone and saw some poop – it is possible to take a bear trek, although seeing any is not guaranteed.
I stayed in Brasov for just over a month. When I say IN Brasov, I was in a complex about 20 minutes away from the centre by bus or trolleybus. In that sentence I have mentioned two things that make a traveller different from the typical tourist. Most tourists would not stay for a month in one place and also would not stay so far from the centre of the city. So why did I do this? Cost. Travelling full-time can be an expensive business and so keeping accommodation costs down is key. Staying longer (for Airbnb this typically means over 28 days) and further out from the tourist spots means that more comfortable accommodation can be had for less expense. I had a nice one bed apartment with Air Conditioning and 2 balconies, for about half the price of an Airbnb stay in a bedsit in Sheffield, UK.
I quickly found out that I had everything I needed to stay in the area, without ever really needing to go as far as the city centre. There was a small supermarket in the precinct that was open until Midnight, as well as another family owned grocery store. There were two bars on the precinct which served drinks until around 10pm. Within a 15 minute walk was a Lidl supermarket and a small shopping centre with another supermarket as well as a wider range of shops and a food mall. I could go on.
If I wanted to go into the city, there were 2 bus lines and a trolley bus, all of which took about 20 – 30 minutes to get to the old town, although there were plenty of other places to visit along the way.
In short, I could have a very comfortable life without having to travel too far … but I am a traveller so I planned some trips out which proved interesting.
I had already decided that I wouldn’t go to the biggest tourist attraction in the area, which is Bran Castle, known as the home of Vlad the Impaler who was the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This was mainly because I could see it was a bit of a tourist trap, charging high prices just because of the link and not for any real value as a place to see. I decided instead to visit Peles Castle which was about the same distance away in a different direction, but (I was told) less touristy and had more to see both inside and out.
This turned out to be quite an adventure using public transport, as it involved catching two buses and a train. The train took me as far as the town of Sinaia – and according to Google maps the bus stop is on the opposite side of a road running parallel to the one the station is on. Except there wasn’t one in sight. On the other side of the road was a big hill … no road. I went to the bus stop on the main road outside the station, but there was no information. Other people were waiting, so I decided to wait as well and sure enough after a while a little minibus came to pick up people. I asked the driver as best I could and after some confusion he said – no, no and mentioned a town the train had come through and then said Peles is taxi.
Well not according to Mr Google – there is a number 4 bus that takes you there. So I wondered down to the taxi rank which was on the opposite side of the road, and then I saw it. A small footpath that takes you up to the top of the hill … Surely not – but yes when I got to the top there was the other main road with a bus stop on it. The next challenge was buying a ticket. There was a ticket machine in the shelter with the instructions in Romanian only, but it looked as if I could pay by card. But after about 4 attempts I came to conclusion that the card wouldn’t work. So then I tried coins but they just fell through the machine. An older couple came and used their card okay, and although they didn’t speak any English, I was able to show that my card wouldn’t work … so they bought another ticket with theirs and gave it to me. They wouldn’t take cash for the ticket (around 3 Lei,) either. I had to stand for the journey of about 15 minutes so I didn’t get the best of views, but the scenery there is lovely and when I got off in the town and walked down to the castle I was bowled over.
The castle itself was surrounded in scaffolding (doesn’t this always happen to me) and the queue to get in was huge … so much for it being less touristy than Bran. But I managed to get in and look around and was a little underwhelmed. I think the views outside were nicer and I enjoyed the grounds, but it’s not a patch on Chatsworth House!
I decided not to hang around, but to go back to Sinaia, expecting a long wait for the bus, but it was just pulling in as I got to the stop and so I jumped onto an almost empty bus and bagged the front seat. A much better view this time and probably the highlight of the trip. Back in Sinaia earlier than expected, I had about an hour to kill and spent it in a lovely park by a hotel which dated back to the 1700s. Sinani was Romania’s first spa resort and started off the idea of tourism in much the same way as bathing took off in the Victorian days in England.
It was a gorgeous park with plenty of trees to keep me happy, but also there were fountains and lots of things to do for the kids including some little electric cars they could ride around in.
Another trip I took was out to Rasnov. I had worked out that I could come here on my weekly ticket from Brasov, which I bought via 24pay. I did make a mistake here though. I missed where to get off. So I was following the journey on Google Maps as well as by looking through the window, but somehow missed that the bus only dropped you on the outskirts of town and I waited for it to go nearer the centre not realising that I was actually going further and further away from where I needed to be. So I spent most of my time in the town at the terminus of the bus, a town called Zărnești, where I had a very nice meal of stuffed peppers and potatoes from a self-service café. Oh and a beer in an outside seating area by a stream. I then got the bus back into Rasnov but just walked around the old town and didn’t climb up to the sign which seems to be the main thing to do there.
Another trip was out to a ski-resort … in the summer. I know, but I was hoping to hike in the woods, with the possibility of seeing a bear, but I only managed a very small amount of time doing this as most of the surroundings were grass and lots of people were there. It is a wonderful journey up into the hills from Brasov and the bus has a trailer on the back for mountain bikers who don’t want the strenuous journey up the hills but enjoy the adrenaline rush of coming down them. I enjoyed the bus journey; at least I got a seat on this one.
Within Brasov itself, there are a few must-do activities. The first would be taking the cable car up to the Hollywood style BRASOV sign high up in the hills. It was on this “trip” that I met three English people; a couple from Liverpool and a young traveller from London, all of whom were in the city for just a few days. There is also an old town to explore (with one of the narrowest streets in Europe – supposedly) and the black church, said to be the largest between Istanbul and Vienna.
So there you have it. I DID act like a tourist on some days, but most of the time I was becoming a regular in the local bar and negotiating where to get the best veg and brand of carbonated water I enjoyed drinking. I was sad to leave Brasov – but if I didn’t leave I wouldn’t be travelling any more and that is something I intend to do for a few years yet!
Bonus Link – a walking tour video of some areas (including the old town) of Brasov … filmed around the time I was there. About 40 minutes in total, but you can fast forward or increase the speed of things to shorten it! The link is here!
Bonus Link 2 – a real blog about what to see and do if you are in Brasov without a car: The link is here.
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