Key details
• Private tour: just for you and your partner, family, or group
• In English: with a guide (other languages upon request)
• Dates: flexible, you decide the travel dates
• Services: includes accommodation, transportation, assistance, guided visits, and entrance fees
• Location: starts and ends in Bucharest
• Duration: 4 days in total
• Flights: not included
Short description
A different tour, with a focus on the rural charm of Transylvania but without losing sight of the most famous cities: Sibiu, Sighișoara and Brașov. Spend the nights in 3 original and different villages, enjoy nature and local gastronomy, and visit the famous castles.
What you will do
• Stay in charming houses, in 3 authentic and different villages in Transylvania
• Sibiel: visit the Glass Icons Museum; Viscri: visit Prince of Wales’ favorite village; Bran: possible visit to Bran Castle or other activities
• Enjoy nature (optional trekking), an included snack, and typical meals (optional)
• Visit Sibiu (European Capital of Culture), Sighișoara (medieval "postcard" town), and Brașov (former "Crown city"); and discover the Royal Castle of Peles, in Sinaia
Advantages
Why Santiago Tour?
1. Local experts and excellent guides
2. Local prices and hand-picked services
Why a Private Tour?
1. It's flexible: you decide when and how to travel
2. It's personal: just for you and tailored to your preferences
Price
This is a private tour, adaptable to your travel dates and preferences, organized exclusively for you and your partner, family, or group.
| Number of participants |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 or more** |
Price per person* |
€1049 |
€789 |
€709 |
€619 |
€559 |
*Price to be reconfirmed based on availability and rates for the exact dates, number, and type of rooms required
** For 8 or 9 participants, the price is higher than for 6 and will be communicated upon request
Services
What is Included:
• Accommodation: 3 overnights as per itinerary, in a double room (double occupancy) with breakfast included. Smart type: mainly 3*+ pensions (see below).
• Transportation: Modern vehicle as per itinerary, including all related expenses. Type: Car (up to 3 people), Minivan (up to 7), Minibus (up to 17), or Coach (18 or more)
• Assistance: English-speaking tour guide, as per itinerary. Type: driver-guide for car or minivan (up to 7 people) or separate guide plus driver for larger vehicles (8 or more people)
• Guided visits as per itinerary, a snack in the countryside (cake and coffee or tea) and 2 attractions with entrance fee included: Glass Icons Museum (Sibiel) and Peles Castle (Sinaia).
Smart Type Accommodation: mainly 3*+ pensions with quality services
or similar, depending on availability at the time of booking.
• Single room supplement: + €80.
What is Not included:
• Flights and travel insurance
• Personal expenses (e.g., mini-bar, phone calls, porterage, etc.)
• Photo/video fees during the visits (if applicable)
• Any services not specifically mentioned as Included
• Tips for the guide and/or driver.
Options
1. Accommodation
• Superior type - mainly 4* and 3* superior pensions, with quality services:
Sibiel - Domeniul Orlandea Ioana 5*; Viscri - Viscri 125; Bran - Conacul Torzburg 4* / Conacul Bratescu 4*, or similar depending on availability. Total extra charge: to be communicated on request.
Notes on accommodation
• Confirmed accommodation can be communicated only after making the reservations on specific dates
• In general, the pensions don't have an elevator or air conditioning. If these are essential requirements, please let us know.
2. Assistance
With a tour guide
• English-speaking tour guide (other languages upon request): Providing detailed explanations, presentations, and guided tours. Your guide will also handle all necessary arrangements, including restaurant and meal recommendations.
• Staffing based on vehicle type: A tour guide who also drives (1 person, for car or minivan, up to 7 tourists), or a tour guide plus a driver (2 people, for minibus or coach, starting from 8 tourists), with fees, meal allowance, and accommodation included.
• A dedicated tour guide for the entire program: No local guides are used in general, unless otherwise specified. Should a visit to an attraction not be available in English, your guide will accompany and translate for you, or will conduct the tour personally. Note: At Bran Castle, your guide will explain everything before you enter, as local regulations do not permit external guides to conduct tours inside.
• Bran Castle offers options such as fast-track entry and guided tours in Romanian or English. These options, as well as the Torture Chamber and the "Time Tunnel" elevator, are at an extra cost. In August, the fast-track entry option is highly recommended.
3. Meals
• lunches and dinners will be organized freely or with the help of your assistant.
• breakfasts are included with the accommodation
Read the General Conditions for a Private tour by clicking here
How it is organized
• 3 Overnights: Sibiel - Viscri - Bran
• Itinerary: Bucharest - Cozia Monastery - Sibiu (European Capital of Culture 2007) - Sibiel (typical village of “Marginimea Sibiului”) - Sighișoara (UNESCO medieval town) - Viscri (Charles of Wales's favorite village) - Brasov (“Crown city”) - Bran (charming village where Dracula's Castle is located) - Sinaia (Peles Castle) - Bucharest
• The tour has 3 overnights and 4 full days of program, with activities such as: visits along the route, city tours, trekking, snack, leisure activities (optional) and free time.
• Doesn't include arrival and return days, and any type of activity or accommodation in Bucharest.
Short description
Concept:
• 4 days in total and planned to take place from Wednesday to Saturday. It can be adapted to your flights and preferred dates while taking into account the visiting hours of the attractions included in the program.
• The program can be slightly customized to match your preferences and ideas, or it can be the draft for a tailor-made trip made from scratch. To calculate travel times, take into account an average speed of approx. 50 km / hour (except highways).
Custom-made:
• Adapt: several optional activities and visits are offered to customize the trip based on your preferences.
Program
Day 1 of 4. A Byzantine monastery and reach Transylvania
Bucharest - Cozia - Sibiu - Sibiel ☾. 299 km
Program: visit Cozia Monastery; city tour and free time in Sibiu; overnight accommodation in Sibiel
We leave Bucharest for Sibiu. En route, we visit Cozia Monastery, on the bank of the river Olt, with a splendid old church in Byzantine style. We cross the Southern Carpathians and arrive in Sibiu, European Capital of Culture in 2007. Time for lunch and a walking tour of the city whose eye-shaped dormers give charm to a beautiful Central European architecture. While strolling, we encounter: the fortifications, the Large Square, the Small Square, the Evangelical Cathedral and the Orthodox Cathedral. Free time and then continue to Sibiel. It is a typical village in the beautiful rural area of “Marginimea Sibiului”. Overnight accommodation and the option of having dinner in a rural house, with local products, homemade wine, palinca (typical plum liquor), and a folklore show.
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Day 2 of 4. The medieval “postcard” town and rural Transylvania
Sibiel - Sighisoara - Viscri ☾. 160 km
Program: visit the Glass Icons Museum in Sibiel; visit and free time in Sighisoara; visit and time in Viscri; snack in a transylvanian village
Breakfast. In the morning, we visit the collection of the Glass Icons Museum, the most important of its kind in Romania, displaying surprising naive painting styles. We then leave for Sighisoara, the “postcard” town with an unforgettable collection of medieval buildings, declared a World Heritage Site. Walking tour around Citadel Square, framed by buildings such as The House with the Stag, the Venetian House or the Clock Tower. Free time to walk the cobbled streets and perhaps climb the 1642 Covered Staircase. It’s a passage of more than 170 wooden steps leading to the school, the Church on the Hill, whose restoration was awarded, and to the old German cemetery, with a certain Romantic atmosphere. Sighisoara still maintains much of its fortifications and here you can also find the house where Vlad Tepes "the Impaler" is supposed to be born back in 1431. Time for lunch. During this day’s itinerary, we also discover the rural charm of Transylvania by having a quick snack. Optional: detour to the secular oak reserve of Braite, 7 km from Sighisoara, and go on a trekking within the protected area while enjoying the surroundings (no extra cost).
In the afternoon, we continue to the famous Saxon village of Viscri, one of the most beautiful in Transylvania, being the favorite of Prince Charles of Wales. Overnight accommodation in a quaint rural house and go for a walk in the village, enjoying its tranquility and authenticity. Optional visit of the UNESCO fortified Church, a jewel of the 13th century. You can admire the Bacon Tower - its location made it particularly cold and allowed for ham and bacon to be stored there, while every piece was being stamped with its owner’s unique house number. In some other rooms, a small museum has been organized with objects and tools of daily life in the past, and from above you have a view of the entire sleeping landscape that surrounds the hill and its white church.
Moreover, you can visit a blacksmith workshop, still operating, and attend a show from a pre-capitalist time, the "parade" of about three hundred cows that return from the pasture, each one to its home. Option of having an authentic dinner, or a refined one at the end of the day (Transylvanian gastronomy: "farm-to-table" and "slow-cooking" ingredients, in a place with exquisite decoration).
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Day 3 of 4. A city in the heart of the country; Dracula's Castle and its magical surroundings
Viscri - Brasov - Bran ☾. 110 km
Program: city tour and free time in Brasov; optional: visit Bran Castle; optional: trekking or activities in Bran and the surroundings
Breakfast. We leave Viscri for Brasov, a charming town located at the foot of high mountains. Arrival and walking tour admiring the Council Square and its unique buildings, the Black Church, an imposing Lutheran church, and the beautiful Catherine’s Gate. Free time and the option of having lunch. We then continue to Bran and discover "Dracula's Castle", where the myth of the Count-Vampire enfolds in mystery a great historical fortress. Optional visit, free time, and overnight accommodation in a charming guest house. Also optional: go on a trekking route exploring the villages and the natural landscape of this low area located between the Bucegi Mountains and Piatra Craiului limestone massif. Other possible activities: ride in a horse cart or egg painting workshop (subject to availability and upon request).
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Day 4 of 4. A royal castle and return to the capital
Bran - Sinaia - Bucharest. 175 km
Program: visit Peles Castle, free time in Sinaia, and return to Bucharest
Breakfast. Possible trekking in the morning, if you didn’t have enough time the previous day or you simply want to explore more, and leave Bran heading back South. We arrive in Sinaia mountain resort where we visit Peles Castle (standard tour), the last royal residence in Europe built in neo-Renaissance style. Time to stroll through the center of Sinaia, have lunch and perhaps a coffee on a terrace in its beautiful park, and return to Bucharest (overnight accommodation not included). End of Santiago Tour’s services. Thank you!
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