There is a small beautiful country in South Eastern Europe which happens to be my home and there are at least 10 reasons to visit it. Maybe you have heard of it from Bram Stoker’s novel-Dracula or maybe you haven’t and that is why I’m here, telling you this story.

Seven years ago, when I have discovered how much I love to travel, I began to lose interest in Romania and maybe this comes somehow natural for travellers but it definitely shouldn’t .

Now, because of my job I don’t have the possibility to travel as much as I would like to and in order to satisfy this addictive pleasure of mine, I have no choice but to plan short trips in my own country where I am more than surprised every time to discover that I am surrounded with so much beauty.

I’m offering you the best 8 reasons to visit Romania:

1 Transylvania

Transylvania is the largest, the most esoteric area of Romania and one of the most beautiful natural regions of Europe. Located in the heart of the country, between mountains, it has beautiful stylish cities surrounded by citadel walls, scenic landscapes, castles, rich history and picturesque villages filled with traditions and legends. Transylvania is the place where time has stopped, where the old practices are intertwined with innovation in a perfect harmony. The main cities of the region are: Cluj- an old beautiful and lively city with an impressive architecture; Brasov- a dynamic modern urban on a charming medieval display; Sibiu- a classy, cultural and romantic city with both Romanian and German traditions; Sighisoara-one of the best preserved and still inhabited fortress of Europe

As the Italians have Tuscany and the French have Provence so we have Transylvania and we are proud of it.

Photo by Kyle Taylor, Dream It. Do It. World Tour

2 The mountains

Romania is crossed by the Carpathians which makes it a great winter destination especially because
from the end of October until April they are covered with snow. The most popular destination for
mountaineers is Prahova Valley and its well-known resorts: Sinaia, Predeal, Azuga and Busteni. Varied ski slopes, great accommodations, tasty traditional food, ozonized air, cultural spots and a great range of outdoor activities are making from Prahova Valley a perfect destination for any kind of tourists.

Recently, it was finished the Transalpina , one of the most spectacular roads in the world and the
highest from the Carpathians, also known in Romania as “The King’s Road”. Transalpina connects Ranca- a newly developed mountain resort, with Sebes and the Earth with the sky, displaying the most beautiful landscapes Romania has to offer.

Photo by Sem Vandekerckhove

3 A four season country

Nowadays, because of the global warming and its repercussions, it has become more and more difficult to enjoy three month of autumn and three moth of spring each year but Romania, thanks to its geographical location and its temperate climate, still possess this endangered gift. So, if you like the magic colors of fall or if you want to admire the nature awakening to life, the blossom trees and the fascinating scents of sprig in their entire splendor don’t hesitate to visit Romania during these seasons.

As for the summer, the country is bounded in the southeast by several resorts with sandy beaches overlooking the Black Sea while the winter looks great in the Romanian ski resorts.

Photo by Alex Panoiu

4 Beautiful women

Like many southeastern European countries, Romania has beautiful women. Without being part of
a specific typology, Romanian woman can be blonde or brunette, with colored eyes or not, but she definitely has a pleasant figure, a great attitude and a particular charm. She has a real cult for personal care, for fashion, culture and art and she also has a highly developed sense of beauty.

The Romanian woman knows how to be the perfect housewife, she knows how to maintain a smart and elevated conversation, she has a career and she definitely knows how to shine with elegance and to turn all eyes on her when the situation requires.

5 Great food & drink

Romanians love to eat. They always enjoy a tasty and rich menu and if it also contains traditional dishes, then it’s perfect. Being a mixture between some of the most delicious cuisines in the world-Turkish, Austrian, Hungarian, Russian and Polish, Romanian food is based on pork and fresh vegetables but it also contains chicken, lamb, beef and fish.

Here, people still cook in clay vessels which give a unique taste to the food; they still use vegetables, verdures and fruits untouched by genetic changes and they also consume fresh dairy products and homemade cheese especially those who live in the mountains.

Romania is also recognized for its great wine, being one of the largest producers in the world and maybe the oldest because on its territory, wine culture has existed for almost 6000 years.

Besides wine, there are some more homemade alcoholic drinks that you will find in almost every
Romanian house – elderflower champagne (socata), plum brandy (tuica) and fruit liquor(bilberry, raspberry and sour cherry).

The most remarkable thing about Romanian culture is the folklore which survived to these days. Their wood carvings, colored national costumes, woven carpets, pottery and glass paintings have become known all over the world.

Romania gave birth to great artists- poets (Mihai Eminescu), writers (Nichita Stanescu, Mircea Eliade), composers (George Enescu), sculptors (Constantin Brancusi) and painters (Nicolae Grigorescu) whose styles have also influenced the international culture.

Photo by Terwilliger911

6 The Danube Delta

The Danube Delta is the second largest river delta in Europe (4178 square km), being part of UNESCO World Heritage from 1991 and the best preserved delta on Earth. Offering a great collection of birds’ species (around 300), a rich assortment of animals and a great mixture of fishes, this place is an incredible network of waterways, lakes, floating islands, unexplored territories and wildlife.

Tourists interested in visiting this paradise, can accommodate in a floating hotel or a traditional pension in order to experience a unique vacation on Romanian lands.

7 Parties

You like to party? Then Romania will be the perfect destination!

Romanian’s nightlife is vibrant, varied, inexpensive and increasingly higher. Bucharest is full of bars, discos, world famous clubs, classy cafés, teahouses, pubs, restaurants and other types of locals and each night a party is organized in one of them.

Romanians are creative so they love to propose novel themes and to create original sets every time and that’s the reason why you won’t recognize a local on your second visit there.

All the main cities of the country have a great nightlife but you will have the best experience in the capital, in the west (Timisoara) and on the seaside, where party never ends.

Romanian laws allow clubs to run until morning so you don’t have to worry if you feel like having fun at 4 a.m.

In addition, they speak about building an artificial island in the Black Sea, a “little Ibiza”, meant to host the most passionate clubbers from all over the world, the best DJ-s and the most exclusive clubs but this is a secret.

Photo by George M. Groutas

8 Traditions

In the rural sides of Romania you can experience a surprising way of life which hasn’t been vanished over time. Here people still have some common occupations like shepherding, weaving, coloring eggs for Easter, raising chickens and pigs in their yards, they still use animals for field work and they love it, they can’t imagine life without all these.

The most important events of a human’s life: the Baptist, the wedding and the funeral are full of
traditions and interesting rituals and so is the Christmas, the Easter and the New Year’s Eve.

Photo by Horia Varlan

These are just 8 reasons to visit Romania but there are a lot waiting for you to discover them. I hope they are enough to awake your interest but insufficient for you to lose it.

Dear reader, wherever you might be located in this world, dare to visit your home as a tourist and I guarantee that you will discover things that will discover you, things you didn’t know about, things that will make you find beauty in the most common places because, first of all, beauty lies in your soul, you only need spurs to wake it up.