Things to do in Romania

Bucharest, the capital, mixes belle-époque boulevards, Orthodox churches and the enormous Palace of the Parliament with a busy old town of cafés and bars. The open-air Village Museum gathers traditional houses and wooden churches from across the country.

To the north, Transylvania holds the Saxon towns of Brașov, Sibiu and Sighișoara, with fortified churches, cobbled squares and medieval walls. Peleș Castle in Sinaia and Bran Castle, linked to the Dracula legend, lie in the Carpathian foothills. The painted monasteries of Bukovina, the wooden churches of Maramureș and the wetlands of the Danube Delta, rich in birdlife, reward longer journeys.

Sarmale cabbage rolls, mici sausages, polenta with cheese and papanași doughnuts make a hearty table, with good local wine and fiery plum brandy. Summer suits the mountains, the Black Sea coast and the Danube Delta, and in winter snow settles on the Carpathians and carollers go from house to house in the villages of Maramureș.