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Dracula
Sighisoara
| DAY 1 | “In the Safety of Innocence" Arrival at Bucharest Otopeni airport; transfer to Hotel Lebada (3*) for welcome cocktail and briefing. Evening meal with a senior member of theTransylvanian Society of Dracula. |
| DAY 2 |
"Bucharest and the Royal Resort" City tour of Bucharest in the morning: visit the ruins of the Princely Palace (vaults built by Prince Dracula - Vlad the Impaler) and see the second largest building in the world, the Palace of Parliament - legacy of a modern-age “Dracula”. Head north into the Carpathians after lunch, visiting the weird castle of Hasdeu, said to negociate communications with Beyond. Overnight Hotel Furnica or similar in the Royal resort of Sinaia. |
| DAY 3 |
"The historic fortress Dracula" Visit the Royal palace of Peles, one of the most beautiful in Europe, resembling a Bavarian Schloss, set amidst landscaped gardens and against a magnificent mountain backdrop. Drive to Târgoviste, the capital of Wallachia during Prince Dracula’s rule, for lunch and the opportunity to visit the ruins of the Royal court which shelters many dramatic stories of greed, justice and cruelty. Afterwards, follow the trail of the “boyars” forced by Dracula to rebuild the fortress of Poienari for their disloyalty. Your journey takes you ever deeper into the mountains as you climb the Arges valley. You will pause at the pretty town of Curtea de Arges with its extravagant Episcopal Church. In the late afternoon you will see the ruins of Poienari for the first time - perched high on a rugged crag over the Arges gorge. In 1462 Prince Dracula was besiged here by the Turks. He sent to the village of Arefu across the hill for help but his wife, fearful of capture, threw herself into the river far below. The villagers came at night and managed to smuggle the Prince across the high Carpathians to the safety of Transylvania and, in return, he gave them 16 mountains as pastureland, a reward they still remember, more than 500 years later! Tonight you will be honoured guests of the villagers of Arefu, eating and sleeping with them in their farmhouses. Around a bonfire, a group of thirty farmers will relate tales about Prince Dracula, passed on over the centuries by their descendants. |
| DAY 4 |
"Into Transylvania" You may climb to the ruins of Poienari Fortress (1456 steps ascend steeply through the forest) high above the Arges gorge before entering Transylvania at the Rucar-Bran pass. Visit Bran castle (1377), set to stop the crowds from pestering the solitude of the Count - most are stopped but not on this tour! (Bran looks as if it should be Dracula,s castle and on many tours is touted as such!) After lunch, tour mediaeval Brasov - one of the former Saxon strongholds of Transylvania, known also as Kronstadt. In the evening you will be offered an opportunity to become a noble by joining the Order of Transylvanian Knights (additional fee). You will be schooled into Knightly Orders, then taken to the Sacred Zone, then to the citadel. The Castellan and his court of knights, ladies-in-waiting and pages will advise and guide you through the six tests of chivalry - archery, arm-wrestling, walking on a beam, jumping a fire, answering a riddle and dancing a minuet! Should you pass the tests (and many do) then investiture ceremonies will commence. Dinner will be served as a mediaeval banquet and floor show. Overnight at Hotel Aro Palace. |
| DAY 5 |
"The Witch Trial" Drive to the mediaeval, Saxon town of Sighisoara after breakfast. There will be a guided walk round the old walled city, one of the best preserved in Europe. According to Jules Michelet, at least 200,000 women and men were burnt as witches and wizzards across Europe between the 15 and 18th centuries. The Catholic parts of Transylvania had their share of such trials and the last took place as recently as 1753, in Târgu Mures. This is a dramatic page in our history as humans and an initiation step on the way to Castle Dracula. Witness a witch-trial performed by 25 actors in period costume, using genuine prison cells and original setting. Dine in the house where Prince Dracula - Vlad the Impaler was born then spend a night out with the local chapter of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula. Overnight Hotel Rex or similar |
| DAY 6 |
"Night at Count Dracula’s castle" Prince Vlad dims out into history; Count Dracula arises from darkness, nightmares and fear! One hundred years ago,in the pages of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, a young English solicitor, Jonathan Harker, arrived in “Bistritz” on his way to Castle Dracula in the remote “Borgo Pass” in Transylvania. The Count instructed Harker to go to the “Golden Krone” hotel in Bistritz ... ... You will do the same for it is the only way to reach the castle! Harker left a description of his dinner at the “Golden Krone” - you will take the same menu and the same wine. However, unlike Harker you are not defenceless in front of the Vampire (should he be home and not in his “beloved” London, with streets “teeming with life”. There will follow a tour of “Bistritz” - present day Bistrita, hopefully in the company of Baron Misiuga - a founder member of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula, before embarking on your journey up the pass as a guest of Count Dracula! Please obey - for your own protection - the following rules: “You may go anywhere about the castle, except where the doors are locked” (Count Dracula to Jonathan Harker); “The old centuries had, and have, powers of their own that mere modernity cannot kill”. Refrain from visiting haunted houses in the area, or private cemetries, or the woods surrounding the castle, especially at night! There will be an option to attend a masked ball at the castle, an opportunity to join the Transylvanian Society of Dracula and to buy Count Dracula’s treasures. Dine and stay at the castle. |
| DAY 7 |
"Any survivors?" You should check your reflection in the mirror, and your shadow - not that anything can be done about it - before you spend a day returning to the living! You will depart after breakfast for the long journey back to Brasov, via the pretty Bistrita Valley of Moldavia and the spectacular Bicaz Gorge. Following your farewell dinner at the Aro Palace Hotel you may wish to further explore old Brasov by night - enjoy a drink at a pavement cafe or check out a club. |
| DAY 8 | "Escape" Early departure from Brasov to Bucharest to catch your flight back to England. |