Radio România Internațional

Category: Traveller’s Guide

  • Wine-growing tourism in Romania

    Wine-growing tourism in Romania

    Romania has a very generous offer of vast vineyards
    and beautiful wine cellars, fascinating stories of genuine treasures that await the wine
    lovers. Moreover, these wine cellars can be visited as part of several special
    programs which include walks around the vineyards, detailed info on the
    wine-making process and, more important than all that, wine tasting sessions.


    This week’s edition of Traveler’s Guide
    spins the yarn of a different experience, that of the legends told till late at
    night, in a picturesque setting.


    Alina Iancu is the founder of Romania’s Wine
    Cellars project. Alina is also a promoter of the local wines and of the
    wine-growing tourism. Alina told us the number accommodation units at the wine cellars
    but also in the surrounding areas has been on the rise, as of late.


    From this
    particular viewpoint, as against the last two, maybe three years, we fare much
    better. We have only one association, which is active, the Dealu Mare Wine
    Cellars Association. There are around 15 wine cellars in the association and several
    times a year they organize the Open Gates Day. Which means that a couple of wine
    cellars can be visited the same day with no previous appointment. There are a great
    many wine cellars, from the Dealu Mare vineyard, Dragasani or even from Transylvania, that began to stage festive events, be they live
    concerts at the wine cellar, or the Wine Cellar Day, celebrated at a certain
    moment in time, or the Grape Harvest Day. And then, when you know there are several
    wine cellars in a region, you’re aware you need to be able to plan your weekend.
    To this wine cellar you go for the grape harvest, while to that one, you go to
    enjoy the vineyard. There are a couple of vineyards that have started to associate
    with other local producers, be they cheesemakers or producers of meat specialties.
    And then, apart from a wine-growing experience, you can also have a culinary
    experience. To that end, we’ve got much more work to do, yet the local
    producers in certain areas have begun to put their produce together and present
    them to the people visiting their households.


    While visiting a wine cellar, tourists are
    initiated in the art and technique of wine tasting and can also listen to its tale.
    When their visit is about to end, the guests of the wine cellar can have a
    stopover at the souvenir shop, available to them with souvenirs in a liquid
    state. The initiator of Romania’s Wine Cellars project, Alina Iancu, told us
    wine growing tourism goes perfectly with other forms of tourism.


    Being welcomed at the wine cellar also
    means a brief presentation of the technological process, a sight-seeing tour where
    you are shown the hall where the grapes a reprocessed, the maturation area with
    the barrels, which is the strongest point of attraction, then the wine tasting
    session begins. As a rule, five sorts of wine are tasted, and some of them can
    also go with other produce. A visit to a wine cellar lasts for about one hour
    and a half. However, winegrowing tourism also goes with active tourism. More often
    than not, cycling or running activities are organized. That happens at national
    level as in the long run, you can enjoy the scenery, while in the end, when you
    reach your destination, you can also enjoy a glass of wine. Romania is
    well-known for its white as well as for its red wines, yet that has been gaining
    ground, quality-wise, as in recent years a great many new wine cellars have cropped
    up and in Romania, not only have they improved their quality, but also, the
    wine cellars already put themselves on the market with quality wines. Emphasis
    is laid, by all means, on the local sorts, on the indigenous sports, while
    quality is sensibly improving.


    Apart from the wine
    tasting sessions at the wine cellars, tourists can also enjoy taking part in
    events staged in the big cities across Romania, Alina Iancu also said. For example,
    the second edition of the Revino Gourmet Salon is held in Bucharest, over October
    21 and 23rd.

    Alina
    Iancu:


    We bring over wine makers, producers of craft beer, but also cheese makers
    and producers of meat specialties. So, you go the whole hog when you have this
    gastronomic experience, you can make the most of it for a couple of days running,
    what with the fact that it is smack bang in the middle of the capital city. Such
    events are staged in the big cities across the country, each year. It is a
    start, in a bid to have wine sorts go with the local produce, while this event is
    not only for the visiting public. Local producers need to met other local
    producers, because that is the only way we can enhance the value of the
    produce, and that of the place. Whenever we introduce a wine sort and point to
    a sort of local cheese that best goes with it, the story is a much more complex
    wine. In the build-up to all that, there are several factors, people and
    places, while the taste is a much stronger one, when more products are being laid
    out, all of them hailing from the same region.


    There are a great many
    tourists who come to the wine cellars. However, quite a few of them travel to Romania
    for business purposes. Such people would like to have a special experience at the
    weekend.


    There
    are very few tourists who come for the wine-growing part alone. However, in such
    vineyards as the ones in Dealul Mare, Drăgășani or even
    in Transylvania, very many foreign tourists dedicate their weekends to such
    visits and it goes without saying they’re impressed with what they see as,
    first of all, they ‘re not aware Romania is a great producer of wines, and secondly,
    they are impressed with the quality of the wine. Besides, wine-growing tourism
    can be done all year round. Any time of the year has its own flavor, yet the
    most sought-after are the months of May all through to October, when nature and
    the temperature readings allow you to enjoy other experiences than the
    wine-tasting one. What we need to know, though, is that early booking in needed
    and usually we take groups of visitors made of at least six people.


    If you access the Crame Romania platform, you can get info on
    the wine cellars, the particular places where they are located, as well as info
    on the indigenous sorts and, in general, on how a wine sort can be tasted. The founder
    of Romania’s Wine Cellars project, Alina Iancu, year after year, invites tourists
    to get acquainted with Romania’s wines and wine cellars.


    It’s been ten years since
    we promote wine-growing tourism. We also need the public to be more and more interested,
    as the experience is unique and the local producers have also accommodation
    places on offer, as well as special dedicated rooms and special personnel, more
    and more dedicated. You should be anxious to know, as soon as you reach Romania,
    according to the area you may find ourselves in, you should be anxious enough to ask whether
    there are wine cellars nearby, since the places you’re about to visit and the
    wines you’re about to taste, all that is well worth the while !


    We have already extended our invitation! Next
    week’s edition takes you to Mures, the Romanian county with the greatest number
    of castles and mansions.

  • Long-distance hiking and cross-cultural bonding

    Long-distance hiking and cross-cultural bonding

    Via Transilvanica is Romania’ s longest hiking trail. It
    connects sites that have been included on UNESCO World Heritage List. Via
    Transilvanica is also a vital connection between the local communities and various
    aspects of the heritage, including both built and natural legacy, but also the
    immaterial tradition. Via Transilvanica is rated as a most remarkable achievement
    for the Romanian Heritage, so much so that the European Commission granted Via Transilvanica
    the European Heritage Award 2023.


    Anna Szekely is Tasuleasa Social’s executive manager and
    the author of the Hiker’s Guide to Via Transilvanica. Anna told us it is Romania’s
    first long-distance hiking trail, running through the entire Romanian territory,
    north to south-west.


    This long-distance hiking trail was created
    in a bid to show Romania’s entire beauty and ethnic and cultural diversity. It
    was thought out in such a way that the hiker or the cyclist, or whoever comes
    to visit Romania, should discover Romania the way it is. First of all, I’ve
    told that before and I will say it again, it is also very important that we, the
    Romanians, rediscover the beauties of the country as we’re not aware of them
    just as yet. We cut through 400 communities with Via Transilvanica. These communities are very diverse and along the way
    we get to know more than 18 ethnic groups. We’re speaking about a stunning
    cultural and ethnic diversity. The heritage, we come across it everywhere, every
    step we take. Also, we cut through lots of rural areas, of which some are
    almost abandoned. There are villages on the brink of extinction, with a couple
    of elderly people who are still there but we don’t know for how long. And yet, since Via Transilvanica crosses those
    particular regions, the youngsters are invited to return to those areas. The
    rural areas have a tremendous diversity, we can find all sorts of traditions,
    food, we can have our fair share of very impressive culinary and cultural
    experiences.


    On the official site, at viatransilvanica.com,
    hikers even have a blog of their own, they even have an interactive group on Facebook,
    labeled Transilvanica Official Group.

    Anna Szekely:

    There people open the
    page and ask how they can take a hiking trail, they find their hiking companions,
    they also ask technical questions. There are very many useful pieces of
    information, yet most of them can be found in the Hiker’s Guide they can access
    on our website. The guide is translated into five languages. I really love
    speaking about it, as I am the one who wrote it. Together with my women
    colleagues, we documented the entire trail and we compiled this guide where all
    the needed pieces of info can be found, for those who are into taking up a long-distance
    trail. Also, it is downloadable for free. As a rule, we redirect everybody to
    the blog, so they can get info on accommodation, on the trail, of the trail
    map, on the regions, on the areas we cross. We have a verbal description of
    that, but we also have lots of technical data that re very important for a
    trip.


    Accessing the Hiker’s Blog, the tourist can find it easy to
    pick the segment of the trail he wants to take, as the trail is divided by
    days. So, a one, a two-day or a weekend-long hike can be planned, or a
    fortnight-long, or even for the entire trail. Even the organizers themselves
    answer the more technical questions. With details on that, here is Tasuleasa
    Social’s executive manager and the Author of The Hikers’ Guide to Via Transilvanica,
    Anna Szekely.


    There we teach prospective hikers to plan
    their hike in such a way that they should avoid getting lost, also planning
    their overnight stays, we inform them on the places where springs can be found,
    shops, or the emergency numbers. There are all sorts of very useful pieces of
    information. And we did have a great many foreign hikers. We ‘ve had most of
    them this year. We have foreigners from all over the world: from Australia, from
    Canada, from the United States of America, from Great Britain, from Germany,
    Switzerland, Spain, France. They have been very impressed with how the trail is
    marked. Let me also say one of our first foreign hikers was Christine
    Thurmer, who, two years ago, was a thru-hiker for the trail. She is one of the world’s
    most hiked women, with a record of more than 60,000 or 65,000 kilometres she walked
    around the world, on long-distance trails. She was the first woman to have had a
    thru-hike of this trail all by herself. She was the one who provided the greatest
    and the best feedback, for us, saying that through the andesite milestones
    marking every kilometre and which have various sculptures, we practically have
    the world’s longest fine arts and sculptures exhibition.


    Specifically, there are 1,400 such milestones marking a
    truly unusual hiking trail, and a full one, at that, in terms of the experience
    we can have, says Tasuleasa Social’s executive manager and the Author of The Hikers’
    Guide to Via Transilvanica, Anna Szekely. The uniqueness of Via Transilvanca has
    also enjoyed recognition since it was declared the winner of one of the
    European Awards for European Heritage, the Europa Nostra Awards in 2023. The
    Awarding ceremony was held in Venice in late September, with the vice president
    of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas,
    attending. The public’s award was granted also in late September. So Via Transilvanica
    was the most highly-appreciated European heritage project, for which 27,000 people
    cast their votes in favour.


    It is
    a great honor for us to enjoy international recognition, with that coming from the
    European Commission itself, and we keep our hopes alive we can live up to everyone’s
    expectations. I invite anyone from abroad or from Romania to come over and become
    familiar with the beauties of the country as they do their hiking, since it is
    one of the best and soundest ways to know the highs but also the lows of a
    country. This the best way to know and love Romania.


    Through its 1,400-kilometer-long trail, Via
    Transilvanica crosses 400 de localities and 10 counties, being divided into
    seven cultural historical regions. The trail connects 12 sites included on
    UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The construction of Via Transilvanica lasted for
    about five years, being completed with the support of 8,000 volunteer workers.

  • Tourist assets in Buzau county

    Tourist assets in Buzau county

    Buzau County is renowned because of its
    tourist assets, but mostly because of its wine cellars. Slow Food Travel offers
    a new model of tourism, made of encounters with farmers, cheese makers,
    shepherds, bakers and vine growers who, jointly with the cooks who cook their
    produce, will be the narrators of their local areas and sole guides for the
    local traditions. Our guide for today’s journey is Thorsten Kirschner, a founding
    member of Buzau Slow Food Community, the realm of legends and savors. Thorsten
    arrived in Romania 13 years ago. He spent two years in Bucharest, then he
    retired to Buzau. There he bought a mansion and founded an association
    promoting traditional craft produce.

    Thorsten Kirschner:

    Slow food is a global
    movement that has been gaining ground in more than 160 countries, providing
    access to healthy food. It is an alternative to fast-food, created in Italy in
    the 1980s. As we speak, it is very active in Transylvania, in Brasov, Sibiu, Cluj, and Buzău. We’re more like an NGO, bringing
    together farmers, food producers, agro-tourism guesthouses, restaurants and
    lovers of healthy and sustainable food. The idea we have come up with what that
    of creating a platform for the promotion of craft products, of the quality food
    in Buzau County. To give you an example of that, we have a honey producer with
    an innovative technology. He mixes fresh fruit into the honey and creates a new
    produce you can have for breakfast. Tourists
    can also find the produce in the souvenir shop and can thus go back home with
    something new. Furthermore, we also have craft beer. We have a young entrepreneur
    who started up with mead. It is a honey-based beverage, with a low percentage of
    alcohol.


    The Buzau Land Geopark has
    been a UNESCO site since 2022. It comprises 18 communes, with 40,000 inhabitants
    and lots of tourist assets, one-of-a-kind around the world. As for the visit to
    the tourist assets, that can be combined with gastronomic experiences, says the
    founding member of Slow Food Community Buzău, Thorsten
    Kirschner.


    For instance, the tourist
    arrives in the commune of Berca and finds himself in front of the tourist info
    center. There he can find out what he can visit in the Buzau land. He can go to the Muddy Volcanoes or to the cave
    settlements in Bozioru and after that, the tourist can have a stopover at a guesthouse,
    a restaurant or a local producer where he can have a tasting of this and that. We
    for instance, offer cheese tasting as well. We make goat cheese made of raw
    milk, which best goes with a Dealu mare sort of wine, for tasting. It is a network,
    basically. We do not promote our products alone. Also, in the area we have growers
    of bio wine. You can go to them, you can visit their cellars, you can see for
    yourself how the wine is made and then a tasting follows, of three wine sorts. Another
    event we stage in Buzău is the truffle hunting. We go into the forest with
    specially trained dogs, we look for truffles, and, on our way back, we have an
    all-truffle tasting menu.


    Slow Food Buzău targets
    anxious and responsible travellers who are eager to know for real the Buzau
    area’s local cuisine culture, without overlooking food sustainability and
    biodiversity. For instance, after one such trip, you can get to know the Babik
    and its story. It is a spicy salami, presented as one of the best salamis according
    to the TasteAtlas, and being 15th-placed according
    to a world ranking. You can also find the
    babik on a traditional produce map, created by Thorsten
    Kirschner.


    You can access our platform at slowfoodbuzau.com, in Romanian and
    English. There you can get all the info on local producers, restaurants and tourist
    guesthouses, in Romanian and English. You can find all the info you need about
    local producers, about restaurants and tourist guesthouses that are part of our
    network. We also have a visiting hours schedule. Our work on the platform is
    still in progress and we hope that, until the nest season, in 2024, we can have
    a much more generous offer.


    An event in the area has come to an end, recently.
    It was a celebration of good food, being also an excellent opportunity to socialize,
    for the participants. Also presented as part of the event were the most recent
    rural and adventure tourism offers.

    Thorsten Kirschner:

    We staged the third edition
    of the events titled the Craftsmen’s Market. It is an innovative concept, by
    means of which we get the consumer come closer to the farmers and the local
    food producers in the Buzau Land UNESCO Geopark
    It is Romania’s first such project by means of which the small local producers
    and tourism services providers collaborate, in a bid to create such a fair. For
    example, all the stands were made from recycled material. We call all the
    producers, urging them to collect woos and we worked on the stands. In two days
    alone, we had more than 2,000 visitors from all over Romania. It is a mix of a
    craft and farm produce, street-food, live cooking
    show, a craftsmen fair and creative and educational workshops for children. The
    feedback-ul we had was a very good one. It is a festival-fair, staged with the
    purpose of socialization. Foreign tourists came as well. 90% of them were surprised and said they did not know
    what they would come across in Buzau. They only heard about the Muddy Volcanoes
    but they did not know anything about Geopark, about the culinary offer. So
    promotion has not been efficient enough, just as yet. We, through the slow-food,
    provided some sort of marketing through collaboration, with no budget whatsoever.
    We did everything through the socializing platforms. Those who participated
    shared their experience and that is how we managed to have 300,000 views a
    week.


    You may not have reached the craftsmen’s annual event, yet socializing
    opportunities do exist. The founding member of Buzau Slow Food Community Buzău,
    Thorsten Kirschner, says that, if you schedule a visit
    to the UNESCO Buzau Land Geopark, you can have the chance to find the legends
    of the people, of the culinary recipes, but also those of the numerous tourist
    assets in the region.


    Apart from the Muddy Volcanoes we’re all
    too familiar with, we have cave settlements, a salt mountain, the Amber Museum,
    we have old monasteries. Then there is also an offer for active tourism, such
    as rafting or cycling with electric bikes. Also, we have two interesting areas.
    In Dealu Mare there are interesting wine cellars and there also is this slow
    food network, comprising producers of craft beer of honey. You can have a taste
    of the produce and you can take them home.


    One of the targets the Slow
    Food movement has set for itself is that of preventing cultures and traditions
    from disappearing. Furthermore, opting for that kind of tourism also means we can
    enhance the interest in the food we eat, in its origin and in the way our food
    choice impacts the world around us.

  • Vanished Worlds in Hateg Country

    Vanished Worlds in Hateg Country

    Țara Hațegului is one of the areas with the largest number of touristic, natural, and cultural objectives in Romania. Here you can find aurochs, medieval churches, old houses and castles, a lot of historical monuments of national interest, and even fossils of pygmy dinosaurs, unique in the world. The attractiveness of the area is also given by the more than 40 hiking or cycling routes, the ones for cycle tourism being approved by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism, a national first. A trip to Țara Hațegului Retezat is, first of all, a journey through time, says Anca Rusu, the manager of this ecotourism destination.


    “You can discover vanished worlds here, you can stand face to face with life-size dinosaurs that lived on Hațeg island 70 million years ago, or you can explore volcanoes and traces of an extinct sea. Coming to more recent times, you can admire mountain landscapes, lakes, carnivorous plants, all left over from the Ice Age, 10,000 years ago. Then, you will enjoy the traces left by the Romans in antiquity at Sarmisegetuza Ulpia Traiana, or the first places of Christianity, as the Densuș Church is considered. We are slowly reaching our days, passing through the medieval period, which left us important stone fortresses and churches in Țara Hațegului. And the local people continue to beautifully tell the story of these lands blessed by God.


    In Țara Hațegului, there are trails for all lovers of active tourism.


    It is very important to know more data about each individual tourist or each group of tourists, because we recommend the trails in the Retezat National Park to those who are active and in love with nature, of course. Retezat National Park is known to be an extremely technical mountain. Of course, there are various categories of difficulty, but in general Retezat is not recommended for beginners. For beginners, we have prepared trails from the other two natural parks located in Țara Hațegului: Grădiștea Muncelului-Cioclovina Nature Park, or UNESCO International Geopark Țara Hațegului. They are a bit more affordable and recommended for everyone, especially families with children. You can find details about all these routes on our website, turism-retezat.ro. There you will find them by category, according to each protected natural area.


    Hațeg Country has never excelled in terms of crafts, as it happens in the north of Romania, in Bucovina or in Maramureș. However, there are projects and people who continue to carry on the few crafts that existed and still exist in Țara Hațegului, according to Anca Rusu.


    “If I had to give an example of success, I would think of Cooperativa Hațegănă, a cooperative that still stubbornly produces by hand traditional folk shirts and costumes from Țara Hațegului and its surroundings, which you can easily find by accessing their page on Facebook, or coming to the city of Hațeg, in the center, somewhere behind the town hall. You find the ladies there, and you can learn their impressive story that has been being written for, well, over half a century.


    And here we meet a special category of tourists compared to Retezat or the other mountain areas. Here, mostly, families with children arrive, who are looking for experiences regarding the discovery of fossils or everything that life meant on this former tropical island. They can discover activities at all the houses in the Geopark. But these are not the only point of attraction, says Anca Rusu, the manager of the țara Hațegului-Retezat ecotourism destination.


    At Peșteana there is another important point, the Hațegan Village Museum, from where you can go on an easy hike and admire a swamp that is a bit special. Carnivorous plants, Drosera rotundifolia, live in the swamp, which you can admire with the children. If you want to go back in time, 70 million years ago, live like a paleontologist, and have with your children all kinds of wonderful experiences set up by people who interpret the special natural heritage that Țara Hațegului has, you can go at Casa Vulcanilor in Densuș. I recommend you call or find out more details on their website, casa-vulcanilor.ro, because it’s a shame to get there without a guide. There are activities that you have to discover with someone who explains them to you. They are among the most popular and spectacular activities with children that Țara Hațegului offers.


    Since 2015, the Țara Hațegului Dinosaur Geopark Natural Park has come under international attention. It is declared an International Geopark by UNESCO. Thus, a lot of conferences, workshops, meetings at the highest geological and paleontological level take place here, together with specialists from across borders, who bring their families or recommend the area to the countries where they come from. Thus, tourists come from all over the world. And, starting this summer, the branding strategy has changed, as we learned from Anca Rusu, the manager of the destination.


    Through all our activities, especially those of the local community, and following the public-private partnership that we, the Retezat Tourism Association in Țara Hațegului, coordinate, we propose that in ten years Hațeg will be known at the European level as a capital of dinosaurs. We still have a lot of work to do, we set out to do a lot, but it is not impossible, and we believe that we have extremely valuable things to show the world. And, if we talk about the new slogan of Țara Hațegului, it is summed up very nicely: Living Histories.


    The easiest way to get to Țara Hațegului is from Sibiu International Airport. From here, you can rent a car and arrive in an hour and a half. There are also local buses. The duration of the journey will be approximately two hours, and a ticket will cost approximately 10 euros. From Bucharest, you can arrive by train or bus, but you will spend more than eight hours on the road.



  • A tour of the Communist period in Bucharest

    A tour of the Communist period in Bucharest


    Today we invite you to discover the capital of Romania through a special tour, which is very popular among foreign tourists. The tour of communism in Bucharest involves visiting all those places that still bear witness to the so-called Golden Age, which ended abruptly in December 1989. The Palace of the Parliament, the third largest administrative building in the world, according to the World Records Academy, or the Ceaușescu House, the residence of the former dictator of Romania, are just some of the tours objectives. Andreea Cosma is a specialized tour guide, and the tour she offers to tourists is comprehensive. In addition to various visits, information is provided about the daily life of Romanians, from a social, economic and cultural point of view.



    Here is Andreea Cosma: First of all, I think that every foreigner should take this tour because it will help them understand the Romanians behavior and way of being. Like it or not, we are still influenced by the almost 50 years of communism. Romanians should also take this tour, especially those from the younger generation, who do not really receive information about this epoch at school. The tour aims at understanding the changes brought and the impact had by the communist regime not only in the case of Romania and Bucharest, but also in the case of the people. This is what we are focusing on. Some of the sights we see on the route are, of course, the Peoples House or the Palace of the Parliament, the Schitul Maicilor – the Mothers’ Hermitage Church to highlight the story of the transmuted churches from the communist era. The tour also includes a visit to an old grocery store on Apolodor Street and a stop at the headquarters of the former Political Police – the Securitate, currently the Bucharest Police headquarters. The tour ends in Revolution Square.



    From an architectural point of view, the Palace of the Parliament remains one of the most controversial buildings in Romania. The building spans a surface of 365,000 square meters, ranks first in the world in the Book of Records in the category of administrative buildings for civil use, and third in the world respectively in terms of volume. It is also the heaviest and most expensive building in the world. The entire construction is the result of the effort of more than 100,000 people. Almost 20,000 workers were working in three shifts, 24 hours a day, during the peak of the construction period. For the construction, almost 100% Romanian materials were used. Andreea Cosma, our guide, recommends tourists, if they have time, to purchase the guided tour from inside the building. Visits should be booked 24 hours in advance, on the institution’s website, with the standard price standing at 60 lei (12 euros) for one adult.



    Andreea Cosma: In the pedestrian tour, we tell people about the demolitions that took place to make way for the most important symbol of Ceausescus megalomania. We also tell people about the construction of over 360,000 square meters, achieved in approximately five years, reminding them that it is a building in progress, not yet completed. We also tell them about the supposed tunnels that exist under the People’s House. From there, we take tourists to see another interesting objective that connects us to the story of Elena Ceaușescu. The building used to be the House of Technology and Science, what is now the headquarters of the Romanian Academy. It was supposed to be a sort of office for Elena Ceausescu, who had very successfully graduated three years of schooling, and then finished her life with a PhD in chemistry, without doing the studies, of course. It is interesting, nonetheless, to see how the communist propaganda managed to show us how people from very poor backgrounds managed to reach the upper echelons.



    The next objective was erected in the mid-1960s, known at the time as Spring Palace. It was expanded between 1970 and 1972. This was the residence of the dictator’s family. Various wood essences of various colors, from domestic sources, were used for the interior decorations. You can also see an impressive collection of paintings, as well as many manually manufactured tapestries and mosaics. The tour is in Romanian and English, and the standard fare is about 11 Euro.



    Here is Andreea Cosma, a tour guide: “I always mention the Spring Palace. It is very interesting to visit. The main residence of the two Ceausescu dictators was turned into a museum, and it is very interesting to see their lifestyle. We go there and see the luxury and the opulence they lived in, by contrast with the rest of the population. The entire Primaverii, or Spring, neighborhood is worth taking in step by step, ideally with a guide that tells you the story of each house. Each has a story related to the family that resided there, and about the dynamic within each family, including their relationship with the Ceausescus.



    Andreea Cosma, a tour guide, mentioned another building that stands witness to the Ceausescu period: the Dambovita Center, or Radio House, as it was referred to until 2015. The construction started in 1986 on the place where a horse race track used to be, and it was supposed to house the National History Museum of the Socialist Republic of Romania.



    It is another story written during an era that many remember with sadness, but which today has become fascinating: “Since the tour is organized like a story, going through all the major changes that communism brought, describing its impact on our lives, with no exception, all tourists were impressed by the end. They understood better why we, Romanians, are the way we are, each with his or her individual experience, when it comes to relating to other Romanians. In terms of countries of origin, we had a very large number of people from the USA. This was a bit surprising to me. Up until the pandemic, there was not a single tour without at least one tourist from the UK. The situation changed last year. There was not a single tour without at least one tourist from the US. Otherwise, most are from the west of Europe, and very few from Asia, South America, and Africa.



    The price of a Real Tour of Communism experience is between 18 and 24 Euro. The most expensive version is a private tour. Generally, tours are with the public, with 15 people at most, so that each tourist can be offered proper attention. (LS, CC)

  • Cultural tourism in Romania

    Cultural tourism in Romania

    The interest has been growing, in Romania, for the old noble residences, in recent years. Whether we speak about the increasing number of those who are anxious enough to set about roaming the villages in search of old manor houses, of whether it’s about the entrepreneurs who embark themselves upon the adventure of restoring such buildings to their pristine beauty, a trend can be noticed, whose widening scope targets the rediscovery of Romania’s out-of-town nobles’ castles and residences. If we take into account the built cultural heritage market, Romania has a very great Advantage. Or at least that’s a what the president of the ARCHÉ Association, Alina Chiciudean, says.



    We have natural landscapes with absolutely unique anthropic elements. The people I meet belong to the category of tourists who are in search of something a little bit more than the star-monuments. Were we a standard tourism agency, we would most likely visit Bucharest, we would take a one-day trip somewhere on the Prahova valley, ticking the Bran Castle, the Peles Castle and, if the case, the Danube Delta, if we have enough time on our hands. Instead, we offer authentic experiences, which means that, if we also head from Bucharest to the North, we can have a stopover at the Cantacuzino Estate in Florești. Located nearby Ploiesti, it is an impressive estate, with a surface area of 150 hectares, it is a former hunting park, with a promenade park, a main building and the outhouses. There we would not visit the place only; we would not just take a walk around the beautiful estate. Tourists can get to know members of the local community, children and youngsters in the commune where they turn up every week, whenever an activity is on offer, staged by the foundation that manages the estate, and that is how they can have the chance to discover the real Romania and can make the most of the freshness of ideas of those who have been living in the rural regions all their lives and whose connection with nature is different, they have a different angle of seeing things. I think it is the most beautiful and the most rewarding experience in tourism. Many times I’ve been asked to offer such experiences, mainly by our partners in Europe.



    In north-eastern Romania’s Iasi County there is the Tibanesti commune. Here we have an architecture monument that stands out, which was built in the early 19th century. It was erected by the Carp family of boyars, hailing from the Baltic countries and settling there in the 16th century. It is another place where becoming familiar with the heritage ties in with the journey into the local craftsmen’s fascinating universe. Here is the president of the ARCHÉ Association, Alina Chiciudean, once again.



    There, one year after the next, friends and partners of ours stage events, organize a summer school and have a complete multiannual program under the heading We strike the iron at the manor house. Were we to go there, we will most likely met craftsmen who do their work proper so we can have the fully-fledged experience of that. It is an experience where you can see the craftsman in his workshop and then you can have the chance to see that some of the elements there are little by little integrated into the process of the building which is a historical monument. Hopping from one part of Romania to the other, to southern Transylvania’s Apos locality, tourists who come with their families can write the names of their children themselves, on a tile manufactured by a traditional craftsman. We have a great many options. The thing is to seek that particular sort of activity, which has been more and more appreciated. Through the arch over time connecting those who have always lived like that to today’s, truly beautiful and rewarding things can come out of that, especially for the younger generation.



    The ARCHÉ Association is a non-governmental, non-profit organization carrying research, preservation, highlighting and promotion activities for the cultural heritage. As part of this organization’s activity, the only program has been developed, for the rediscovery of Romania’s less well-known castles, under the heading Castle Break. It happened ten years ago. At present, the big tourism agencies try to integrate those monuments, some of them being refurbished, in the packages they offer their clients. Actually, the profile of the tourist has changed throughout the years, says the president of the ARCHÉ Association, Alina Chiciudean.



    What I can say, though, at least as far as the post-pandemic period of time is concerned, is that people no longer seek a purely aesthetic discovery, they also want to leave their mark on the beautiful spot they’ve reached. Lat year, even two years ago, we came up with many such initiatives, so that the tourist can become a gardener for a whole afternoon, after we’ d got the required approvals. Works in a historical garden, that cannot be done by just anybody, so the experience is all the more precious given it complies with all the procedures and standards in place. Therefore, in autumn and in spring, we plant, we clean a garden and we’re aware our presence and visit on the premises will surely be felt there, and are there to last. That’s where the beauty of the heritage lies. Once you arrive in such a place, you realize you have hundreds of years of work in front of you, of work whose progress has been achieved little by little, in the buildup to the estate or the monument you hit upon. So what we have here is a kind of involvement tourism, while foreign tourists search for that in particular. They are quite used to participate, to have a quite active life. They’re young people, they’re still strong, and then, in turn, we try to offer them, in Romania, such standardized experiences, but that happens upon request, most of the time. We have an interdisciplinary team, architects, historians, art historians, PR specialists, we have all the professions related to cultural heritage. We can join them all along and explain true stories and not just fairy tales or legends of the place. They will learn something and will have something to eat straight from the farmer nearby or from the local cuisine. Some work will be done in the garden, for a little while, outdoors. Of course, beautiful photos, unavoidably, will also be there, but the experience is complete.



    Speaking about tourists’ reaction upon their departure from Romania, here is the president of the ARCHÉ Association, Alina Chiciudean, once again, this time relishing in reminiscing a professional development project of the youngsters who chose heritage-related jobs for their career. Back then Alina accompanied a group from the Low Countries, who were on a sightseeing tour of Bucharest city center.



    The visit was not guided by someone exclusively specializing in tourism guidance, but by one of our colleagues, an architect, specializing in creative writing in London. They never imagined Bucharest had so many things to offer. The mix of styles, of cultures, people’s generosity to offer explanations, all that make a kind of experience which very powerful for those who arrive in Romania. They are very pleasantly surprised with what they’ve found and perhaps that’s where the beauty lies, of Romania and its places, that including the capital city. That may come as something surprising for the people, as on the website you cannot make sense of what’s in store for you. And maybe the feature we’re doing together right now does not clearly reveal what they can find there. Rather, it is obvious you need to show up with your heart open and allow yourself to be surprised.



    As we speak, roughly one thousand out-of-town urban residences of the local elites, from the 16th to the first half of the 20th century are preserved on the territory of Romania. Some of them have been restored, some are degrading, while others are the bone of contention for inheritors in various lawsuits. Castles can also be found in cities, some of them housing museums or playing host to various events.(EN)




  • The First Tourist Village in Romania

    The First Tourist Village in Romania

    Today we stop over in the center of Romania, on the southeastern slope of the Piatra Craiului mountain, at an altitude of 1,244 m, where we can discover the first tourist village in Romania, Sirnea. Here we can enjoy a fairy tale landscape, and we can discover an isolated and sprawling village, where we can relax, or go exploring the marked trails around. This is a special experience, which you can enjoy with Eugen Totilca, certified guide and activity coordinator with a tourism organization.



    Along with the other six villages between the Bucegi massif and Piatra Craiului, Sirnea lies within Bran Country, as we were told by Eugen:



    “In the year 1972, upon the initiative of Professor Nicolae Fruntes, in collaboration with the Romanian Academy, there was a project to promote villages and traditions in Romania, and Sirnea was picked for it too. Since this initiative started, it has been the only tourist village in Romania, it stayed that way, and we are very proud. The biggest resource and wealth of the village is its inhabitants, who are extraordinary people, accustomed to hardship, who appreciate and welcome tourists who come to our area to get to know them. The tourist objectives here are also very generous. The village of Sirnea, before WWI, was on the border between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Wallachia. Here you can visit the Border Guard Road, where you can still see the border stones between the two former countries. This was the place in which Romania started WWI. Here we saw the first cannon shots and the first casualties that Romania suffered in order to liberate Transylvania.”



    For the last few years, Eugen, together with the villagers, set up a center for tourism, as an interface between the tourists and the village and its people. There, they organize trips and guided tours:



    “We can do simple reconnaissance trips, strolls through the forests, the hills, and the groves underneath Piatra Craiului. In the summer we have botanical tours, during which we pick plants and tell their stories, talking about the therapeutic values of each of them. We also have electric bike circuits. We have a fleet of 30 to 40 electric bikes that tourists ride, along with a guide. The guys live here. We also have a travel center, where we can organize both first lessons in horse riding, as well as horse rides on the surrounding hills. At the same time, we are a tourist information center. Here we receive the tourists and offer them information and the stories about the place, so that they can start feeling at home.”



    Only 17 km away from Sirnea, we find the famous Bran Castle. This is a 14th century fortress, open to the public, very popular with tourists. They can discover here a monument that has aged exceptionally well, built on a crag, about 40 m above the groundline. The building has four levels, has four towers, and its special feature is a total lack of symmetry. The castle is extremely detailed and convoluted, with a series of small rooms, towers, and hallways, and many associate it with the Dracula myth. However, Sirnea has plenty of other activities to pick, that the trip should be longer in order to cover them all, along with all the tourist objectives around.



    “Every weekend, we propose an event to cover outdoor activities, hiking, e-bike, horse riding, as well as the current seasonal activities of the villagers. During a weekend, we can visit a traditional household, helping with the work specific to that time of the year. In addition, we have strictly tourisy activities, such as an e-bike circuit, or horse strolls. Then, in the evening, we have a dinner with traditional food, to make the experience complete, in order to get to know the people and food of the village.”



    The traditions are best carried forward from generation to generation by craftsmen. With their crafts, they are keeping alive traditional legends, symbols, and motifs. We asked tourist guide Eugen Totilca if we can still find craftsmen in Sirnea:



    “Fortunately, they are still here, but they are fewer and fewer, because many have aged, and traditions are harder to pass down. However, we can still talk about crafts specific to the area, which are still practiced, even if mostly by older people. We still have a woodworker who makes wooden pitchforks and rakes, and shingles for roofs. We also have a lady who receives visitors who want to see how carpets are woven on a loom.”



    As the first tourism village in Romania, Sirnea has a tradition of hospitality. We can still find there accommodation that has been there since communist times in Romania:



    “These are units with tradition, with hosts that have received tens of thousands of tourists, and still do. These are farm B&Bs, but also hotels, with prices for all pockets. Without false modesty, there is not a single tourist that I have interacted with, in all the years Ive been dealing with tourism in Sirnea, who didnt leave as a friend. We even made an app, a virtual guide, which we use for the circuits that we have mapped, offering translation in a few foreign languages for our tourists.”



    Among the future projects for tourism in Sirnea are marking further circuits, and new tours. Eugen Totilca told us that he plans to include in the tours visits to a sheepfold, for tourists to stop over and have some traditional shepherd dishes.



    “At the center, we have a new project, which we started last year. In addition to horse riding, we can do equestrian therapy. We have a therapist friend who can do this. Our community wishes to, and is making every effort to, preserve traditions in Sirnea, promote them, and put Sirnea on the map as an ecotourism destination where adventure and tradition take pride of place, offering a complete experience to tourists who reach our village.”



    The most convenient way of visiting this destination is to contact a tourists agency which can offer a complete package. The recently finalized Brasov-Ghimbav airport will become operational in June this year, and it is only 45 km away from Sirnea, Romanias first tourism village.

  • The Fagaras Citadel, among the world’s most beautiful such edifices

    The Fagaras Citadel, among the world’s most beautiful such edifices

    Our stopover today is Brasov County, where we will get to know one of Romania’s best-preserved monuments. A great number of publications worldwide have written that it is one of the world’s most beautiful citadels. The Fagaras Citadel, for which construction works were completed in the 16th century, was besieged 26 times, but it was never conquered. Today, on the premises, inside the citadel, we can find the Valer Literat, Fagaras Country Museum, whose doors have been opened for us by the director, Elena Băjenaru.



    The Fagaras Citadel, the Fagaras Country area’s most important historical monument, is a historical monument built over 600 years ago by Wallachia’s ruling princes. It is a citadel for which, as we speak, the final stage is carried, of a restoration project implemented with European funding. In our citadel, the tourist has access crossing a wooden bridge, rebuilt as part of the project, just as it was in the 17th century. It is a citadel which, as we speak, is one of Romania’s best-preserved defense citadels, surrounded by a moat, also built sometime in mid-16th century. It is a citadel surrounded by two massive defense walls with four bastions. Actually, this citadel, which has a perfectly developed defense system, has never been conquered in an armed confrontation, yet it was looted several times.



    Before entering the museum and before visiting the castle, the tourists can take an outer circuit of the premises. With details on that, here is Elena Bajenaru once again.



    They can see the bastions, the two defense walls, they can take a walk along the sentry road, rebuilt and restored just as it was in the 17th century. In one of the bastions an exhibition is to be mounted, dedicated to the Fagaras Citadel’s guard. We have a citadel guard and we re-enact a ceremony for the opening and closing of the gates, just as it was in the 17th century, during the reign of one of the citadel’s princesses, Anna Bornemisza. Then they can enter a very beautiful inner courtyard, in the middle of which the 17th century fountain was restored. They can climb up the stairs and, beginning with the 1st floor, they can enter the museum. In the museum, we present one ne hand, the history of the Fagaras Country, an area with a very rich history. They can also have the chance to see period realignments as part of that exhibition circuit. We have restored the Hall of the Assembly, the Assembly of Transylvania, Transylvania’s Government and Parliament as it was at that time, we restored the bedroom of one of the Fagaras Citadel’s princesses, Anna Bornemisza and, of course, access is also provided to exhibitions of decorative art, fine arts, peasant crafts, or temporary exhibitions. On the second floor we have arranged four rooms. We call them the Throne Hall. In the 17th century record books, they were entered as The Great Palace, there where the Transylvanian princes received in audience the envoys of the European powers. Miron Costin, but also the king of Poland, Sobiesky, were accommodated in this room. Now these four rooms have a cultural purpose. We stage cultural events, classical and medieval music concerts, cultural activities in general, and they are spectacular.



    The citadel’s restoration project will be completed by the end of May, while as soon as that is achieved, beginning June 1st, the ceremony for the opening and closing of the gates will be resumed. Then you can see the citadel guard, made of 12 soldiers clad in the 17th century armour and there is also one of the citadel’s princesses who will show up, reading a document issued around the year 1678. In another move, the director of the Valer Literat, Fagaras Country Museum, Elena Bajenaru said, it is interesting we can establish a connection between torture and the citadel, for at least two reasons.



    In the citadel, after 1700, a torture mechanism was brought, known as the Iron Maid. It is a mechanism that was first documented in Spain, somewhere around 1515, when the one who was sentenced to death was sent to kiss, as a last homage, an image of the Virgin Mary hanging on the body of that mechanism. The culprit approached the mechanism and, as he was stepping on a manhole, a couple of knives darted from behind, penetrating the body of the one who was sentenced. The manhole snapped open and the body fell into a channel where several spears were placed, having the points upwards. The channel communicated with Olt river, flowing 700-800 away from the citadel. Then the Făgăraș Citadel has a Prison Cell Tower that used to be a pretty tough medieval prison, as well as a communist prison for a decade, between 1950 and 1960, with almost 5,000 political detainees being imprisoned here.



    During the summer season, which is drawing near, if you hit the Fagaras Citadel, you can take part in unforgettable events.



    Elena Bajenaru once again.



    Apart from the cultural projects, temporary exhibitions, book launches, we stage a medieval festival in the last weekend of August. It is a medieval festival with knightly orders participating, from Transylvania and elsewhere in Romania. We have medieval theatre performances, medieval music concerts, classical music concerts, medieval theatre, combat demonstrations, smithy workshops, everything that was and can still be associated with the activities revolving around this medieval citadel. Then, on our way out of the exhibition circuit, we have a very well-stocked souvenir shop. We also have citadel guides in English and Hungarian, we have books in English about Transylvania, about the most important monuments Romania has, apart from what we usually offer as souvenirs to go with the Fagaras Citadel.



    Nearby Fagaras Citadel there are two other monuments the director of the Valer Literat Fagaras Country Museum, Elena Bajenaru, strongly recommends the tourists to visit, should they spend more time in the area.



    First of all, I should send them to visit the church built by Brâncoveanu in late 17th century, somewhere around 1697, for two reasons, at least. The church is endowed with a very beautiful painting, made by Preda the Painter, also because the altar piece of that little church could be viewed as the most beautiful altar piece of the entire Brancoveanu-era art. It also lies very close to the citadel, so it is worth visiting it. I should also recommend tourists to visit the Roman-Catholic Church, a former Franciscan monastery, which also lies close by . It is known as one of Transylvania’s first churches with a Baroque-style painting.



    So here we have an interesting tourist destination. Beginning June the 1st, it waits for you with its doors wide open, but also with very many and extremely diverse events.




  • Tourist routes in the Danube Delta

    Tourist routes in the Danube Delta

    The Danube Delta is a genuine natural paradise. It stretches from the point where river Danube flows into the Black Sea. Delta. A habitat of the waterfowl that have been found here a vast expand of rush-beds, the Danube Delta is one of Romania’s greatest tourist attractions. Here you can take tours enabling you to watch the flora and the fauna, you can have photo safaris of boat rides, by boat or by kayak. Traditions, history, culture will not be in short supply for you, just like the numerous wine cellars.



    So we get to know a fascinating kingdom of waters, which, in the spring, change their appearance from one day to the next. The trees turn green and the show is in full swing, of the migratory birds returning from the hot countries. Ionut Calin is the president of the Danube Delta tourism Guides Association. Himself a guide in the area, he is always keen on revealing the uniqueness of the places to tourists.



    Ionut Calin: ”The Danube Delta, thanks to the variety of flora and fauna, has come to the attention of researchers as early as the inter-war years. In 1938, part of Letea forest was declared a nature reserve, at tha time being Romania’s second such area. It was not until 1900 when the first step was made, towards the setting up of the Biosphere reserve, having its own administration and its own scientific council. In 1991, the RAMSAR convention was signed (The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat) while, as we speak, has a threefold international status. Even if it is Europe’s second largest area, it is the best-preserved wetland area, it is the world’s only delta entirely declared a biosphere reserve and the world’s third such area regarding the importance of biodiversity. The great variety of flora and fauna, especially birds and landscapes, I think they make a great attraction of the Delta.”



    Usually, the town of Tulcea is the departure point in any undertaking to explore the Danube Delta. Access to Tulcea is provided by car, by train or by plane. Once you get to Tulcea, you continue your trip by water. During the summer season, several passenger boats are operational, linking Tulcea to the other localities in the Delta. Our guide today, Ionut Calin, tells us the main visiting programs are provided by the boat trips. By taking a boat trip visitors intend to discover the Delta in the most authentic way possible and are anxious to see as many waterways and lakes as possible and, of course, birds and plant species.



    With details on that, here is Ionut Calin once again: ”Also, certain birdwatching programs are carried, or photographing tours, for which we use boats and camouflage, so as not to disturb the birds. We can come closer, at a distance which is safe for them, without invading their habitat, but with the possibility of photographing and watching them in their natural habitat. Usually, watching is done from the boat, yet it can also be done while on land. By boat, access is easier in the area where birds fly to feed, or in certain areas of migration or nesting. Such a bird-watching tour starts early in the morning, since birds are more active at this time of day. Usually, we begin at 6 or 7 am according to the area and our clients’ availability. I stage a tour in the morning for about three or four hours, and another tour at sunset. The photo tours are similar to the birdwatching ones.”



    The offer also includes the kayak and canoe rides, says our guest today, tour guide Ionut Calin: “Its those trips we take in small boats. We go on channels less frequented by motorboats. There we discover the peace of the Delta, undisturbed by large boats or commercial ships. I have always tried to come up with something new, original and to show people the lesser-known face of the Delta. For instance, I still go out with my clients, together with the fishermen, to see how the fish are taken out of the nets. We go out early in the morning, at four or five, and accompany the local fishermen to the lakes, where the nets are prepared, where various net maintenance and cleaning works are done.”



    The historical region of Dobrogea, which also includes the Danube Delta, is famous for its multiculturalism. The ethnic communities that live in this space are an example of coexistence. Turks, Tatars, Greeks, Armenians or Jews, they all have contributed to the prosperity of the area and have left their mark on the region’s traditions and gastronomy.



    Ionut Calin: “In the Delta we can find craftsmen who still make thatched roofs or who simply keepsuch roofs in good condition. We also have sculptors and painters, local artists. Once in the Delta you can visit traditional fishermens houses, where they make or keep in good condition their fishing nets, where they weave baskets or various objects from reed. As a rule, when we have tourists, we go to local guesthouses or local gastronomic units in the Delta, where a traditional meal is served, consisting mainly of fish. Of course, for those who do not eat fish or who are vegetarians, there is also a separate menu. In these households, depending on the place we go to, people cook specific dishes, because we have more influences in the Delta. There are Ukrainians, Lipovan Russians in the Delta, we also have some Greek and Turkish influence, so we have quite a varied menu to choose from. The dishes are based on fresh fish, cooked by the ladies of the Delta, in their household.”



    And, if you have more time on your hands, Ionuț Călin, the tour guide, suggests you should explore the area on land as well, where you will find no less than 20 wineries: “I also organize trips to Dobrogea, Tulcea county, where we visit fortresses, monasteries and wineries. We really have a good collaboration with the wineries in the county. In recent years, wine tourism has developed a lot throughout Romania, which makes us happy. When we go with a group to a winery, of course, we announce in advance the number of people, the day and the time. There, the people in charge make a presentation of the winery, of the vineyard and of the process of transforming the grape into wine, which is then stored in barrels or bottled. Of course, a tasting follows. Whether we are talking about specialists or simple nature lovers, tourists were impressed by the Danube Delta thanks to the authenticity of the places, the unique landscapes, the variety of flora and fauna, the hospitality of the locals and the traditional dishes. I can say that these were the perfect ingredients of an unforgettable holiday in the Delta. I especially had tourists from Germany, France, Great Britain, the Nordic countries, Israel, who came especially for birds and kayaks, and from Spain.”



    The holiday season in the Danube Delta starts from April and lasts until October. The calendar of events is extensive and includes the ANONIMUL International Independent Film Festival, Tulcea Fest, Sulina City Days, Mila 23 Village Festival, Fish Borscht Festival in Crișan, the Danube Delta Marathon in Sulina. They are scheduledduring the summer.


    So, this is a destination recommended primarily to responsible tourists who want to discover the Danube Delta in its pure, wild form. (EN, LS)

  • Carpathian Mountains’ flora and fauna

    Carpathian Mountains’ flora and fauna

    There
    is a growing number of tourists who are set to discover the Carpathian
    Mountains’ wildlife, thanks to several special tours they’re willing to take in
    the mountains. Going on such tours enables them to understand hidden details,
    to watch the wild animals in their own habitat, while in the summer, tourists
    can enjoy the beauty of the Carpathian Mountains’ flora. Tours can be personalized
    and completed with visit in the rural regions, to the traditional craftsmen or
    to several tourist assets of a particular area.


    Cosmin Zgremția is a forestry engineer by profession. Since
    2014, he has also been a specialized flora and fauna guide. Ever since he was a
    child, Cosmin imagined the forest resembled an outdoor museum. Later on, he
    found out Romania had a surface area of 6.5 million hectares of forest, an
    immense surface area, that is, which he himself, as a forestry engineer, could
    have never imagined as a whole. Therefore, given the country’s so great
    forested area, Romania has become increasingly known, internationally, as a destination
    of exploration of the natural wildlife.


    Cosmin Zgremția:


    I have been doing sylvan tourism, which
    is part of ecotourism, and I do believe in the value of conservation through
    eco-education. Actually, I ended up being a tourism guide out of love for
    nature and thanks to my profession. I was quick to discover that those auxiliary
    services which according to us are attached to silviculture were poorly put to good
    use by my fellow forestry workers. In 2011, when I was a hunting fund manager as
    part of Brasov Municipal City’s Hunting Fund, I came up with the idea of opening
    to the lay public the hunting observatories for bear observation tours. That’s
    how my tourism career started. Gradually, I have grown fond of that, more and
    more. I noticed I had a penchant for explaining all those intimate details of bears’
    lives, and of the forest in general. So I decided, having resigned from the
    position I had with the Forestry Directorate, to dedicate my entire life and
    activity to that particular field of ecotourism.


    All
    visits Cosmin has been organizing are thematic visits.


    One such tour enables visitors to observe the wildlife fauna. What we do,
    actually, is follow the animals’ traces. We stand a 90% observation chance for
    the common species and 10% for the protected species: bear, wolf, wild cat.
    Another tour gets us explore the rural environment, it is part of a thematic
    visit blending details about trees, plant species into details pertaining to
    the Romanian cultural identity. Another tour takes you on a visit to a chalet.
    Such a visit is made in the company of a specialized guide, a nature scientist, and
    includes several stopovers. The most popular visit is the thematic walk through
    the forest. It is like a safari where you have
    stopovers every ten meters. Plant species are observed, certain bird species,
    even insects. I have been trying to speak about each separate species. I want
    to involve everybody. Therefore, the experience is like an outdoor documentary,
    where participants really get involved. It is a giant leap we take, from watching
    a documentary on the telly to actually being part of it. The most spectacular option
    could be a tour in the Fagaras Mountains. Its difficulty is a little bit
    greater, but you can have the chance to watch the bears but also the chamois,
    in the wildlife. Practically, each time we go out in the wilderness I use the environment
    to offer tourists the required info and instil the love of nature in them, at
    once pursuing my aim, eventually, that of eco-education.


    Some of the tourist who opt for such wildlife observation
    tours also have the required photo technique. They are keen on having snapshots
    of bears, woodpeckers and even wolves in their natural environment. With details
    on that, here is our guide today, Cosmin Zgremtia, once again.


    Each species can be taken pictures
    of. There are optimum periods, for taking pictures or for observation. For example,
    you stand very little chances to photograph a bear in the wilderness, in winter.
    Therefore, the bears’ photographing season usually begins on April the 10th
    and ends on September 15, when the bears retire for their winter slumbers. Actually,
    latterly, towards winter, bears are less active during the day and more active during
    the night, before they retire. If they want to live a wild experience, my guests
    need to have the minimum required equipment for hiking. Which means boots with
    a grippy sole, proper trousers, three layers of clothing, for the abdomen and
    the chest and something to cover their head with. As for my challenge as a
    guide, I want to have in-shape tourists.


    First of all, tourists are always impressed with the
    information they get. Cosmin Zgremtia once again:

    Secondly, they are impressed by the interaction
    with the wildlife, with the forest as such, what also impressed them is the way
    they felt they connected to nature. And, thirdly, they are impressed by the way
    I treated them and how they felt among the locals. In the tours I offer, I try
    to integrate my guests in the naturel environment but also in out authentic Romanian
    community. In effect, I am trying to offer Romania an identity
    as regards its natural resources, but also culture-wise. Most of the tourists
    come from Great Britain, they are followed by French and Italian tourists, but
    we also had guests from Australia, even from New Zealand and even from North America,
    the United States.


    Cosmin told us most of the tourists he accompanied were
    foreign and that he would like the Romanian tourists to take an interest in such
    tours. However, such an interest may stem from a certain kind of education in
    the field of tourism.


    Practically, most of my tourists are
    foreign citizens because they already have that particular upbringing, that
    kind of education. They can identify the key words in the description
    of the tourist programs and are quick to accept a trip into the wild. Moreover, the foreign tourists’ faith in a tourist
    guide is stronger.


    If you contact the national tourism information and promotion
    centres across Romania, especially those located close by the nature or
    national parks, you’re sure to get data about a tourist guide who can accompany
    you in the exploration of nature, so that you can have a truly special
    experience. (EN)

  • Summer Season at the Beach

    Summer Season at the Beach

    On the first of May, the seaside vacation season officially opened in Romania. As early as 2022, hotels have made significant investments, many of them greatly raising the quality of the services offered. Thus, compared to 2019, the best period in recent history for the Romanian seaside, the capacity of all-inclusive accommodation increased by 37%. Today we will review some of the most tempting offers. Alina Ungureanu has been welcoming tourists since 2014 in a spa center in Eforie Nord.


    “We run medical recovery programs and we are talking about rheumatic, post-traumatic, and postoperative typologies. We work with rheumatologists. In addition to the medical part carried out in many centers in Romania, we also propose the wellness part of this field, represented by relaxation massages. We are open all year round. We make various offers at certain times of the year. Youre eagerly expected. We hope to make a good first impression and not a last impression.”



    Iulian Tenie is the manager of a three-star hotel in Mamaia. Tourists will be welcomed here in a very special setting. They will be received into the atmosphere of pirate movies. And, to fully experience the adventure, all the sets bring back to life scenes or locations from the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. You wont meet Johnny Depp, but you will definitely remember the troubled waters of the seas, the dead mans chest, or Salazars revenge.



    “We wanted it to be a themed hotel, in such a way that those who arrive here benefit from different facilities and services and, as much as possible, to stir emotions among children and, possibly, also among adults who consider themselves children. In addition to the lobby, which is themed, we also have rooms that reflect elements from pirate stories. The latest built rooms, which we built this year, also have a special ceiling, in addition to the other thematic details. During the day it is white, but in the evening, if you dare to turn on the light, some creatures from pirate stories appear. In addition to that, we have a product called Gold Pirate, which we implemented last year, which basically means all-inclusive optional services. Those who opt for this product get free parking and two beach chairs for each room.”



    The beach is just a four-minute drive away, and just eight minutes away by car youll find an open-air cinema and a water park, ideal for completing the adventure. The evenings, on the other hand, will be truly special, a real foray into the multi-ethnic culture of the region.



    “This area is the most culturally rich. We have here Tatars, Turks, Lipovans, Macedonians, Greeks. We somehow want to give our tourists a complete experience. choosing from their gastronomic culture, but also artistic programs in this vein. For example, for a Tatar evening, we have an ensemble of Tatar women who dance, and we also have, on the live-cooking side, dishes from the culture of Tatar cuisine. The same happens with the Greek, Turkish, Lipovanian evening, etc.”



    Francesca Constantinescu, manager of a hotel complex in Cap Aurora, targets especially families with children. Every year, this hotel complex offers a new service. Children up to seven years of age benefit from free accommodation and related services, and parents receive an extra bed in the room.


    “We started to take more and more inspiration from the best in the field of tourism, in the field of all-inclusive, which is catching on more and more in the Romanian market. Thus, gradually, first as a group, we offered plays, concerts included in the package, and a playground for children. Then, we developed the “family all inclusive” concept. Thus, we added the aqua park, beach areas, swimming pools, and developed the whole concept of entertainment for families with children. There is also customer loyalty. We have had, and still have, a lot of families who come back to us with love and tell us that they tried to convince their children to go somewhere else, but they didnt want to, and they came back. Its very nice to hear words of praise from them, and its nice to see the contentment and satisfaction on their faces when we bring them a novelty, one new service. At three stars, the price is 800-900 lei (160-180 euros) per night. At four stars, the price is 1,100 lei (220 euros) per night.”



    Adrian Voican, the manager of a Romanian tour operator, says that one of the resorts on the Romanian coast stood out as a music festival resort. Although the musical genres are diverse, it remains the favorite resort of rock fans. Thus, we note the diverse profile of Romanian resorts.


    “ I come by motorbike to stay in Vama Veche or I just come and stay all night at the concerts there. Music is celebrated there, and its a place that the Bulgarians have also discovered. My big victory was that I was able to bring Bulgarian tourists. Why come to Vama Veche? For the music, for festivals. Saturn is a family resort where we see the eternal circus tent, which is an attraction for children, and which is always on the beach between Saturn and Venus. Over time, the lake has been cleaned, there are swans, its beautiful, fishermen still fish there, and investments have been made in the beaches, they are clean, there are sunbeds, there are umbrellas, its a very large and generous beach. There are still health treatments, there are pools, and its a more popular resort in terms of prices, even though we have a five-star hotel here as well.”



    We learned from Adrian Voican that, of the more than 3,000 accommodation units of all types that exist on the coast, 70% are five, four and three star hotels. And the rates are very different depending on the period of stay.


    “Prices are interesting in terms of dynamics, because it is different in June, where you can start with 235 lei (50 euros) at a three-star hotel in Mamaia, breakfast included, and you can get to 600 lei (120 euros) in August at four stars, breakfast included, or even 1,000 lei (200 euros) in the all inclusive regime in Eforie Nord or Neptun. But you have all sorts of possibilities. With all inclusive, breakfast only, four stars, five stars, three stars, two stars, you have a choice. And there are also offers, marketing programs that create customer loyalty.”



    According to the data of this tour operator, the most sought after resorts so far are Mamaia, Eforie Nord and Jupiter. On the other hand, the number of bookings increased by 60% in the first five months of the year as compared to the previous year.


  • Equestrian Tourism in Romania

    Equestrian Tourism in Romania

    For many people, the perfect tourism offer would be a vacation that involves horse riding, traversing the Carpathian Mountains, hills and plains, rivers, forests, and ancient villages. Even though everything seems perfect at first sight, there are a few details that we should know before thinking of an experience on horseback in discovery of new places.



    Equestrian tourism is definitely a topic that involves expertise. Mihai Radea is a tourist guide, historian, and art historian, welcomes tourists with multiple circuits: cultural, natural, and equestrian.



    “We can organize the equestrian ones either exclusively as such, or we can integrate them in our larger cultural circuits all across the country. We have collaborators in all parts of the country, horse breeders who offer, as a primary service, horseback nature circuits. Then we can organize depending on the part of Romania that people got to. For instance, we have, closer to Bucharest, Slanic Prahova, with great scenery. I also collaborate with a horse breeder in Transylvania, at Prod, near a small village, in the middle of nature, at the foot of hills, where you can have a horseback circuit. Then, in a new space, very beautiful, in northern Moldavia, close to the famous monasteries, near Dragomirna Monastery, between Sucevita and Putna. I have a bunch of horse farms that I work with. Basically, we can offer this service pretty much all over Romania, in collaboration with the horse riding centers that provide the primary service, and we take care of the rest.”



    Slanic Prahova is the closest place to Bucharest. Here you can take organized trips among the hills, in a beautiful natural setting, where the guests can enjoy the company of the horses, the scenic beauty, and a picnic meal with the owners of the farm, when the circuit is a full day. Of course, you can also visit the Slanic Prahova salt mine, which is a veritable salt palace, with a depth of 127 m. Mircea Radea also proposes a stopover in Transylvania, 17 km away from the Sighisoara medieval city, to the locality of Prod:



    “We can take tours among the hills of Transylvania, through forests, following springs, in a beautiful setting. You can spend the whole day with the horses in the hills, but if you have more days available, there many tourist objectives to visit. Near Prod we have the city of Sighisoara, then, not far away, we have the citadel of Rupea and Sibiu. We also have a beautiful place in the north of Moldavia, which, naturally and spiritually, is a treasure. Here we also have horse farms that offer us this possibility of touring in the middle of nature near Dragomirna Monastery, between the Sucevita and Putna monasteries, in a fairy tale land. It is amazing there. We can take these trips through the forest. At the horse farm between the two monasteries, somewhere close to Horodnic, you can take a trail to either Putna or Sucevita monasteries. We reach these places where nature, spirituality, culture, and history blend in a harmonious way.”



    Tourist guide Mircea Radea says that tourists only need the proper clothing to get on horseback, the protection equipment is provided by each equestrian center:



    “It doesnt matter what experience the guests have, because these circuits or trips are arranged on categories. If we have people with little or no experience, we generally go at the gentlest pace, in a column. In order to ride faster, the man in the front of the row, the row leader, has to go faster, and this never happens if the guests have no previous experience. If, however, we have experienced guests who know how to control a horse, we can go faster, trotting or galloping. These trips offer a great satisfaction. Riding a horse free, in nature, with the wind whistling by your ears, gives you a feeling of total freedom, and a satisfaction that cannot compare with other modern entertainment. For this to happen, the persons coming to us have to be able to control the horse, and to ride at this high pace. Otherwise, no one risks going high speed.”



    Even though horseback trips seem very tempting, tourists have to know that, with absolutely no training, the experience may turn to failure. There are, however, alternatives around equestrian centers, such as carriage rides, for those who are interested in horses, and want an equestrian experience. You can have a vacation that consists of horse riding lessons, which would be the first step towards true equestrian tourism. Here is Mircea Radea, tourist guide:



    “Every time we added a horseback ride in nature, it was unforgettable, and was one of the highlights, one of the most vivid memories in the tourists hearts and minds. If they have older children, for them it is usually the highest point, and most interesting part of the trip. Those who choose these equestrian trips always leave in awe. Right now, the average price for one hour of horse riding, with no other services, without including transportation to and from the center, not including meals, guides, or translators, is between 20 and 30 Euro.”



    For experienced tourists, there are very well set up equestrian circuits, through Romanian villages, and trails that include visiting various tourist objectives. They can climb a mountain, can follow a river, or can gallop through the valleys, the hills, and the plains. The horse farms around the country that deal with equestrian tourism can offer an interactive program for all ages. If you dont have experience, you can simply visit a horse farm or a horse riding center, it will definitely be an unforgettable vacation.

  • The Romanian Black Sea Coast

    The Romanian Black Sea Coast

    Today we are heading to the Black Sea Coast, where we find new, beautiful beaches and blue waters which are not very deep at the shore and whose temperature can exceed 25 degrees C in high season. The Romanian Black Sea Coast offers a wide range of opportunities for treatment and relaxation, with some of the resorts having a very active nightlife. From the seaside, you can take day trips to Dobrogea or the Danube Delta.



    Ștefan Necula, the director of the litoralulromânesc.ro tour operator, says that the Black Sea Coast is one of the most beautiful places in Romania, an international destination, where the infrastructure in most of the resorts has improved significantly in recent years. On the other hand, this destination is for everyone, being ideal for relaxation, spa treatment, parties or visiting special museums.



    Ștefan Necula: The southern Black Sea Coast begins with the Eforie Nord and Eforie Sud resorts, whose beaches have also been extended this year. The beaches of other resorts will also be extended in the coming period. A lot of facilities are included. The Black Sea Coast is a very suitable destination for families with children, because we have many resorts prepared for kids. They will find different attractions such as swimming pools, well-equipped playgrounds with various inflatables, which can also be located on the beach. On the Black Sea Coast visitors will find water parks, which also provide various facilities for children, a Dolphinarium, and an Aquarium. Also, the Black Sea Coast resorts boast clubs that are among the most famous in Europe. In addition to these, we have attractions in the south of the coast that are unique, such as the Archaeological Museum of Mangalia. There is also the Museum of History in Constanța which exhibits unique works. There are different types of relaxation, and let’s not forget the spa centers and the spa treatments that tourists can benefit from on the Romanian Black Sea Coast.



    On the Romanian Black Sea Coast, you will find SPA offers that include jacuzzi, dry sauna, infrared sauna, wraps, relaxation massages, anti-cellulite massages, all of which are complemented by fitness rooms. Balneo, rheumatic, anti-stress, detox and slimming treatments are carried out under the careful supervision of a doctor and therapists. On the other hand, the sapropelic mud from Techirghiol is known not only in Romania, but also throughout the world, for its real healing properties for many severe or milder ailments. The offer of the Romanian Black Sea Coast also includes the exploration of unique areas, as well as festivals.



    Ștefan Necula is back at the microphone with more: “More and more festivals are being organized on the Black Sea Coast. This year, the season started on May 1 with festivals that are already in their 10thedition. And they continue throughout the season. We also have a very big festival, NeverSea, which is already famous and is very much in demand with tourists. There are other smaller festivals that are just as interesting for customers. Then the main attraction is the Danube Delta, where day trips can be organized and where tourists can benefit from the local services of those who own boats there. It would be better to use the small boats, which can carry ten people and enter canals that are usually not accessed by most people. There they can see untouched corners of nature, with vegetation and birds that only come to the Danube Delta in the summer season. Also, during these trips, different places around Dobrogea can be visited. We know that Dobrogea is a multicultural area. There are many ethnic groups here, living in harmony for centuries, and this brings more colour to the area and renders it a special meaning. On these trips, tourists can enjoy specific meals, from fish dishes to Tatar specialties. There are many options, really, to get to know Dobrogea in the true sense of the word.



    Most of the tourists interested in the Romanian coast come from the European Union. Most of the time, they decide to visit Romania thanks to the Romanians they interact with in their countries of residence. Probably most tourists come from Italy and Spain. We can also talk about a country that is now no longer in the European Union, Great Britain, but which is also a source of tourists interested in the Romanian seaside. I think the most important thing is that we have a constant flow of foreign tourists. Honestly, in terms of their feedback, it’s always been positive. They’ve seen that Romanian people are welcoming, they are very good hosts, and visitors are also impressed by our traditional products. And they always leave with the intention of coming back.



    There are options on the Romanian Black Sea coast that can certainly be accessible to any tourist from Romania or from another country. Of course, considering the quality-price ratio, Romania has a very good offer, says Ștefan Necula, director of a tour operator agency.



    We believe that in terms of accommodation, and with regard to the hotel infrastructure, things have developed a lot lately. Moreover, if we take into account the increased prices of plane tickets for established destinations, we see that Romania is one of the destinations that can be considered for a budget travel. For a 5-night stay, starting on July 10, accommodation in the Mamaia resort, in a three-star hotel, costs around 400 Euroe. In the south, in a resort such as Eforie Nord, for example, accommodation for the same period would cost around 230 Euro in a three-star hotel and some 670 Euro in a four-star hotel, for a double room, half board.



    The Mihail Kogălniceanu Airport in Constanta has announced renovation and expansion works until the end of the year, but without affecting its operations. Also, from the Bucharest airport, one can reach the Black Sea coast in less than three hours on A2, also known as the Sun Motorway. (LS, MI)

  • Countryside Museums

    Countryside Museums

    The only Romanian online platform devoted to countryside museums takes users around over 50 museums
    across rural Romania. Each museum tour is an interactive 3D tour, produced with
    high-performance equipment and integrated with Google Street View, Google Maps
    and Google Earth.




    The platform Muzee de la sat is
    aimed at promoting the Romanian village and museums in the countryside using
    state-of-the-art technology so as to engage the young, the project manager
    Ionuț Teoderașcu explains:




    Ionuț Teoderașcu: This project, muzeedelasat.ro, started
    nearly 2 years ago. First we scanned and visited museums in Moldavia, in the
    east of the country, because the project is implemented in stages, by region.
    So we started with Moldavia and then moved to Wallachia and recently, about a
    month ago, we reached Dobrogea. We’re taking it step by step. So far we have
    explored over 10,000 km, Dobrogea included, and more than 70 museums. The
    platform currently includes 53 museums, and we are working on the materials for
    the museums in the 2 counties in Dobrogea, Tulcea and Constanța.




    The only online platform devoted
    to museums in the countryside places great emphasis on the rural and the
    traditional, as Ionuț Teoderașcu adds:




    Ionuț Teoderașcu: In a first section of the website we
    introduce ourselves and present our goal, which is exploring the entire
    territory of Romania and see all the museums in rural communities. Obviously,
    we have an interactive map of Romania, featuring the counties that we have
    covered so far. When users select a county, a tab opens listing the museums in
    that county that can be explored using the virtual tour on our platform. For
    instance, if we choose Iași, we find 2 museums: the Alexandru Ioan Cuza
    Memorial in Ruginoasa and the Cucuteni Museum. The website is translated into
    English as well, which is very important since we target not only Romanian
    nationals, but foreigners as well. We had extensive media coverage, so those
    interested in finding out more about the project may read about the story
    behind it.




    The eligibility criteria included
    safety and functionality. A museum must be hosted in an adequate building and
    opening hours must be complied with, so that tourists who plan to visit it may
    be sure that they can do so. The response from both users and museum curators
    during these 2 years has been positive, according to Ionuț Teoderașcu.


    Ionuț Teoderașcu: Museum curators told us this kind of
    promotion was very helpful, because users checked out the museum on the
    internet and then visited the respective museums in person as well. Many times
    tourists said they saw the virtual tour on our platform and were persuaded to
    come visit the museum. Users are delighted. For those cannot travel there, this
    is a very good way to see something new and to explore these museums from the
    comfort of their home. There are cases of people in poorer health, who are
    unable to travel, so we facilitate this contact between rural culture and urban
    users who explores the world on their tablets, phones or laptops.




    Ionuț Teoderașcu, project manager with muzeedelasat.ro,
    has chosen two of the objectives presented to the public with the
    recommendation to visit them. The list is very big and the choice subjective
    but you can get a clear picture of the objectives proposed.




    Ionut Toderascu: I have recently discovered when I have been to Dobrogea, the preserved traditional
    household in Enisala, the Tulcea county, where we can see a traditional
    architecture specific to North Dobrogea, with various tools on the premises. We
    can see how households had been built, for instance, on stone foundations with
    adobe walls. This is a very beautiful household with vivid colours, but also
    interesting, especially for foreign tourists. Here tehy can discover a new
    culture and see how people used to live in the past. This household, for
    instance had two houses: the main house with two rooms, the living room and
    what they used to call the good room or the beautiful room, where events were
    being staged, the dowry stored etc. Not
    everybody was allowed into that room. Another museum can be found in the region
    of Moldavia. It is the Palace of Alexandru Ioan Cuza in Ruginoasa, the county
    of Iasi, and it’s completely different from a traditional peasant household of
    course. This is like the name says, a palace, which was the summer residence of
    Romania’s ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza. The furniture here is very beautiful and
    interesting. It was purchased by the ruler’s wife, Elena Cuza, from Paris. We
    are speaking about a different period of time here and, of course, another type
    of village museum. Being located in Ruginoasa, it is also a village museum and
    can be explored on our website.




    The iniatiators of this project intend to cover the
    entire Romania and get as many visitors as possible. This large-scale project
    has also a social component:




    Ionut Toderascu: We are also going to the disadvantaged areas of Romania with VR galsses
    and show these museums to children who have probably never been to a museum.
    They are using these headsets and go around the museums by means of the
    joysticks. They are asking us things and are practically exploring the museums
    for themselves. We’d like to reach out
    to these children and show them the cultural value of the village, the museums,
    but at the same time to develop the platform and go further to other counties
    to see other museums, scan them and complete Romania’s interactive map.


    By using this interactive map,
    depending on the area you are visiting,
    you can create your own route so that you may visit as many of these
    museums as you can and get a clear picture of the rural life. (AMP&bill)

  • Eco-tourism in Romania

    Eco-tourism in Romania

    Romania is known, among other things, because of its
    vast and virgin forests, because of the areas where tradition is still unspoiled
    and where we find craftsmen who still work handicraft objects using techniques
    and following patterns that have been handed down to them from one generation
    to the next. In all this landscape there are associations that have been
    striving to preserve the natural values and provide education focusing on responsible
    tourism. Today we will find out what exactly eco-tourism entails. Our guide is
    advocacy expert and Greener Association coordinator, Loredana Pana.

    Loredana Pana:


    It entails the activities we can do when we are
    on holiday, yet we do such activities with a significantly less strong impact
    on the environment we visit, Tourism, as a rule, can do a lot of damage to the
    visited places. The great inflow of tourists, the flight, everything we consume
    while on holiday, all that takes its toll on the tourist destinations. When we
    intend to do eco-tourism or slow tourism, as it is known, we visit certain
    areas, bearing in mind the impact we can have on nature. For instance, we do not
    use motorized vehicles when on holiday or we spend as much time as we can in
    the same area and eat the local produce and not those brought from afar, as the
    latter have a strong carbon imprint. Practically, we need to think as much as
    we can about the impact we have in a given community and what we live behind
    us. The eco-routes are ecotourism itineraries we can take by foot, by bicycle,
    by water, using a kayak, on horseback, so it’s about non-motorized means of
    transport.

    Luckily, in Romania, quite a few of the areas around the
    country are not very developed, so they somehow are in a natural condition
    which is closer to eco-tourism. Notwithstanding, according to Greener
    Association’s Loredana Pana, ecotourism should work according to a sound legal
    framework.


    Loredana Pana:

    Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a
    tendency or an encouraging trend at legislative and national level to support
    such eco-tourism destinations and I think we have the opportunity to do it
    since we’re still at the beginning, yet such destinations should be promoted
    more often.

    Ecotourism Destination is a concept that has
    been developed since 2012 by the Central Public Tourism Authority, in
    partnership with nationwide representative institutions and organizations. At
    that time, Romania was Europe’s first country to have launched such a
    recognition system of the ecotourism destinations. As we speak, there are seven
    officially recognized eco-tourism destinations. However, advocacy expert and Greener
    Association coordinator, Loredana Pana, invites us to explore an area which, even
    though it has not been officially recognized as such, can be the perfect
    destination for those who want to do green tourism.


    Loredana Pana :

    I will
    recommend, right now, the areas along the river Danube. We have many projects
    involving river Danube and the Danube Delta. The Danube Delta is an
    extraordinarily beautiful area it is a UNESCO world heritage site, it is unique
    around the world, thanks to the landscape the Danube forms as it flows into the
    Black Sea. We still have villages that are not touristic. I should like to
    recommend to your listeners to take a couple of days off and have boat rides,
    slowly, with as small boats as possible, and spend as much time as they can in
    those villages of the Danube Delta, being in direct contact with the local
    community. I don’t recommend that we go to a resort, which is somehow separated
    from the entire local community. The Danube Delta is a unique example from the
    viewpoint of multiculturality. There are over 12 ethnic groups living in the
    Danube Delta and Dobrogea and they are a good example of good practice as they
    have preserved their traditions and lived together for such a long time.


    The Greener Association has this week launched the
    Danube Eco-route.


    Loredana Pana :

    This is actually an idea we are going to
    continue to work on. It’s a 44-kilometre-long route on land and water
    around the city of Giurgiu. The route includes the city of Giurgiu and other
    four communes, Slobozia, Oinacu, Prundu and Gostinu. These 44 kilometres can be
    covered on bicycle, on foot or on horseback. It is important that we should not
    go there by cars or other motorized vehicles but enjoy the tranquility of
    nature and the fresh air. We have proposed this eco-route because we need green
    areas to use for entertainment and our psychological welfare, so to say. It is
    at one hour distance from Bucharest, a marvelous area the Danube creates in
    this region. In the south, for instance, there are no entertainment facilities
    on the Danube, like we have in the Delta, or where the Danube enters Romania,
    for instance.


    For those who want more centralized information
    concerning the access to this route, the Greener Association has a project in
    place.


    Loredana Pana:

    By the end of the year we want to
    create a virtual map with this Danube eco-route as it is important for people
    to have all the information they need, how to get access, how good the road is,
    if they can bring their children along etc. And we want to make that map
    public. I invite you to follow us at maimultverde.ro and on our social
    networks. We are going to post all the information than we can glean by the end
    of the year.


    Loredana Pană, expert advocacy and project coordinator
    with the Greener Association, has also met an increasing number of foreign
    tourists who have appreciated the lack of human intervention in these wild
    areas.


    Loredana Pana:

    Trekking routes through the mountain
    wilderness have been much appreciated. Transylvania with all that it has to
    offer is also very appreciated. Bucharest has become a travel destination for
    city breaks. And from the viewpoint of the environment and ecology, we have
    been running a new programme in Bucharest since last year. It is called
    ‘Outdoor’ and through it we are trying to promote the city’s less-known green
    areas to its citizens. There are also wild green areas, where people don’t have
    access at present, such as the lakes on the Colentina river. Back in the 60s,
    there were lots and lots of swimming pools there in what was dubbed as ‘the
    seaside of Bucharest’. Not anymore nowadays, you know. Bucharest can also
    become an eco-tourist attraction for Europe although we are quite far from this
    objective at the moment and there is no strategy to bring us to that
    direction


    However, there is an increasing tendency to come back
    to nature in the Romanian tourism and from this point of view the offer is very
    diversified. (EN & bill)