Bucharest, Romania. A quick overnight in the airport hotel and come morning we were once again at the Avis desk picking up our rental car for another weekend road trip. By the way if I haven’t mentioned how valuable driving abroad is when you’re short on time let this be the time! Although it can be a daunting prospect for people who haven’t done it before, I would highly recommend taking the plunge and before you know it, it will be second nature, some of the best places we’ve visited have only been possible by having a car and having one in Romania definitely proved it’s value. We drove North into the Transylvania region in the centre of the country and after waiting in the carpark for 10 minutes for a thunderstorm to pass by we walked up the hill to the beautiful Peleș Castle.
Peleș Castle, Sinaia, Transylvania, Romania
Peleș Castle, Sinaia, Transylvania, Romania
We also did a tour of the inside of the castle which was quite good and just as a second storm loomed over head, we were off to the second castle on our list ‘Bran’s Castle’ home to Dracula! After getting into the grounds for free we decided not to get a ticket to see the inside of this one as we did have a long drive back to Bucharest. Was a well worth day trip though and a really interesting and picturesque region to explore.
Leaving only one day in Bucharest we had a lot to fit in, so an early start with two lovely passages to kick off the day, Pasajul Englez (The English Passage) and Pasajul Victoria lined with colourful umbrellas overhead. It’s always nice enjoying these places completely on your own without another tourist in sight. Next (after reading on a different blog) we tracked down the old Truth Newspaper Trust’s abandoned building, it’s not open to the public and guarded by just one old man who sits out the front, he doesn’t speak any English but with a few affirming nods and a bit of our Romanian leu now in his pocket, he happily let us wander round on our own for an hour or so, The building is vast and I’m certain we didn’t get round it all but was a cool place to take photos and look about.
Pasajul Englez (The English Passage), Bucharest, Romania
The Truth Newspaper Trust (1898), Bucharest, Romania
The Truth Newspaper Trust (1898), Bucharest, Romania
The Truth Newspaper Trust (1898), Bucharest, Romania
The Truth Newspaper Trust (1898), Bucharest, Romania
The Truth Newspaper Trust (1898), Bucharest, Romania
We finished our day with a tour of the Palace of Parliament, the second largest administrative building in the world after The Pentagon. Overall a great weekend trip to one of Europe’s lesser visited capitals.
Palace of Parliament, Bucharest, Romania
Palace of Parliament, Bucharest, Romania
See all my photos from our trip below.
