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Romania & Bulgaria - Lonely Planet · Romania & Bulgaria p321 Southern Mountains Plovdiv & the p359...
Transcript of Romania & Bulgaria - Lonely Planet · Romania & Bulgaria p321 Southern Mountains Plovdiv & the p359...
Mark Baker, Steve Fallon, Anita Isalska
Romania & Bulgaria
p321Southern Mountains
Plovdiv & thep359
Central MountainsVeliko Târnovo &
p427The Danube & Northern Plains
Coast p211& Black SeaThe Danube Delta
p183Monasteries
BucovinaMoldavia & the
p166Maramure¢
p76Transylvania
p149Banat
Cri¢ana &
p34Bucharest
p60Wallachia
p296Sofia
p395Black Sea Coast
BULGARIA
ROMANIA
©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
Romania & Bulgaria Map . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Romania & Bulgaria’s Top 17 . . . . . . . . .8
Welcome to Romania . . . .18
Need to Know . . . . . . . . . 22
If You Like… . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Month by Month . . . . . . . 26
Itineraries . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Regions at a Glance . . . . .31
BUCHAREST . . . . . . . 34Around Bucharest . . . . . 58Snagov Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
WALLACHIA . . . . . . . 60Ploieşti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Târgovişte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Piteşti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Curtea de Argeş . . . . . . . . . 68Craiova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Drobeta-Turnu Severin . . . 73
TRANSYLVANIA . . . . 76Prahova Valley . . . . . . . . . 77
Sinaia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Bucegi Mountains . . . . . . . 82Predeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Braşov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Around Braşov . . . . . . . . 92Bran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Poiana Braşov . . . . . . . . . . . 94Zărnesţi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Hărman & Prejmer . . . . . . . 97Saxon Land . . . . . . . . . . . 98Sighişoara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Fortified Saxon Villages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Făgăraş Mountains . . . . . . 106
PLAN YOUR TRIP ON THE ROAD
WOMEN IN ROMANIAN TRADITIONAL DRESS
SA
LAJE
AN
/ SH
UT
TE
RSTO
CK
©
Romania Contents
Sibiu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Around Sibiu . . . . . . . . . . . 116Székely Land . . . . . . . . . .118Sfântu Gheorghe . . . . . . . 118Miercurea Ciuc . . . . . . . . . 120Gheorgheni . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Odorheiu Secuiesc . . . . . . 123Odorheiu Secuiesc to Târgu Mureş . . . . . . . . . 124Târgu Mureş . . . . . . . . . . . 125Southwest Transylvania . . . . . . . . . 129Alba Iulia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Deva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Retezat Mountains . . . . . . 134Northern Transylvania . . . . . . . . . 136Cluj-Napoca . . . . . . . . . . . 136Turda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Huedin Microregion . . . . . 144Apuseni Mountains . . . . . 145Bistriţa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
CRIŞANA & BANAT . . . . . . . . . 149Banat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151Timişoara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Crişana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Oradea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Băile Felix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Arad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
MARAMUREŞ . . . . . 166Baia Mare . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Around Baia Mare . . . . . . .171Ţara Chioarului . . . . . . . . . .171Sighetu Marmaţiei . . . . . . 172Mara Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Săpânţa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Iza Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Vişeu & Vaser Valleys . . . 181Borşa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
MOLDAVIA & THE BUCOVINA MONASTERIES . . . 183Moldavia . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Iaşi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Târgu Neamţ & Around . . 193Piatra Neamţ . . . . . . . . . . . 194Ceahlău National Park . . 198Bucovina . . . . . . . . . . . . 200Suceava . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200Bucovina Monasteries . . .204Rarău Massif . . . . . . . . . . .209
THE DANUBE DELTA & BLACK SEA COAST . . 211Danube Delta . . . . . . . . 213Tulcea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214Sulina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Sfântu Gheorghe . . . . . . . 219Black Sea Coast & Littoral . . . . . . . . . . . . 220Constanţa . . . . . . . . . . . . .220Mamaia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225Vama Veche . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Romania Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
The Dracula Myth . . . . . 242
Outdoor Activities & Wildlife . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Visual Arts & Folk Culture . . . . . . . . 249
The Romanian People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
The Romanian Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Directory A–Z . . . . . . . . 258
Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Language . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Map Legend . . . . . . . . . . . 511
SURVIVAL GUIDE
SPECIAL FEATURES
The Dracula Myth . . . . . 242
Outdoor Activities & Wildlife . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Visual Arts & Folk Culture . . . . . . . . 249
The Romanian Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
UNDERSTAND
Romania & Bulgaria Map . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Romania & Bulgaria’s Top 17 . . . . . . . . .8
Welcome to Bulgaria . . . 280
Need to Know . . . . . . . . 284
If You Like… . . . . . . . . . 286
Month by Month . . . . . . 288
Itineraries . . . . . . . . . . . .291
Regions at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . 293
SOFIA . . . . . . . . . . . 296Around Sofia . . . . . . . . . 317Boyana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317Vitosha Nature Park . . . . 318
PLOVDIV & THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS . . . . . . 321Rila Mountains . . . . . . . 323Rila Village . . . . . . . . . . . . 323Rila Monastery . . . . . . . . . 324Borovets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327Pirin Mountains . . . . . . 329
Blagoevgrad . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Bansko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332Melnik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337Bulgarian Thrace . . . . . 339
Plovdiv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339Rodopi Mountains . . . . 352
Chepelare . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352Pamporovo . . . . . . . . . . . . 354Smolyan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355Devin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
VELIKO TÂRNOVO & CENTRAL MOUNTAINS . . . . . . 359Shumen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
PLAN YOUR TRIP ON THE ROAD
AR
SE
NIE K
RA
SN
EVS
KY / S
HU
TT
ER
STOC
K©
Bulgaria Contents
Madara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .364Veliko Târnovo . . . . . . . . . . 365Around Veliko Târnovo . . . 374Dryanovo Monastery . . . . 376Tryavna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377Etâr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379Lovech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .380Troyan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382Hisar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383Karlovo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385Kazanlâk . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386Shipka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389Stara Zagora . . . . . . . . . . . 391Sliven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
BLACK SEA COAST . . . . . . . . . . . 395Southern Coast . . . . . . . 397Burgas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397Sozopol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .403Primorsko . . . . . . . . . . . . .408Tsarevo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .409Sinemorets . . . . . . . . . . . . 410Central Coast . . . . . . . . 411Pomorie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411Nesebâr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412Northern Coast . . . . . . . 416Varna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416Sveti Konstantin . . . . . . . 423Balchik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
THE DANUBE & NORTHERN PLAINS . . . . . . . . . . . 427Vratsa & Around . . . . . . .429Chiprovtsi . . . . . . . . . . . . .430Belogradchik . . . . . . . . . . 431Ruse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433Rusenski Lom Nature Park . . . . . . . . . . . .438Lake Srebârna & Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . .440Silistra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
Bulgaria Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
Outdoor Activities & Wildlife . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
Visual Arts, Craft & Music . . . . . . . . 462
The Bulgarian People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466
Bulgarian Wine . . . . . . . 468
Bulgarian Cuisine . . . . . 470
Directory A–Z . . . . . . . . 474
Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
Language . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Map Legend . . . . . . . . . . . 511
VELIKO TÂRNOVO, BULGARIA P365
SURVIVAL GUIDE
UNDERSTAND
SPECIAL FEATURES
Outdoor Activities & Wildlife . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
Visual Arts, Craft & Music . . . . . . . . 462
Bulgarian Wine . . . . . . . 468
Bulgarian Cuisine . . . . . 470
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©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
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Itineraries
Sinaia
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Sibiu Braşov
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BUCHAREST
HUNGARY
BULGARIA
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UKRAINE
ROMANIA
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Transylvania Castles & Cities
Transylvania is Romania’s best-known region and arguably its most beautiful. It’s filled with rocky mountaintops, haunting castles and lively historic cities. This classic route is designed for travellers for whom this region is the prime focus. The tour starts in Bucha-rest, where most international flights arrive.
Hire a car in Bucharest or hop a train northward toward the mountains, stopping in Sinaia for a couple of nights and checking out Peleş Castle. From here, take a cable car into the Bucegi Mountains for a hike.
Drive or take a bus north to spend a couple of nights in Braşov, a lively hub with a cobbled centre. Use Braşov as a base for a day trip to the infamous Bran Castle.
If you have a car, spend a night in the Saxon village of Viscri before continuing to Sighişoara, where the dramatic citadel offers creature comforts and Dracula’s birthplace.
Head southwest for a night or two in the cultural hub of Sibiu. If you have a car (and it’s summer), drive south along the breathtaking Transfăgărăşan road. South of the pass, stop at the ‘real Dracula’s castle’ of Poienari Citadel, before returning to Bucharest.
10 DAYS
29©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
Eastern Romania receives the fewest number of visitors, yet possesses some of the country’s most important natural and cultural attractions. For the former, look no further than the serene Danube Delta, a sprawling protected wetland that’s per-fect for birders. Northwest of here are the cultural wonders of the Bucovina painted monasteries.
The tour starts in Tulcea, the gateway to the Danube Delta. Stay overnight in Tulcea and enter the delta via boating day trips. If you’ve got more time, skip Tulcea and grab a passenger ferry to deeper, more scenic Sfântu Gheorghe.
After birdwatching and boating, return to Tulcea and take the bus or drive north to Iaşi, Moldavia’s cultural hub and larg-est city. Spend a day taking in the sights. Use Iaşi as a base to explore the Agapia, Văratec and Neamţ monasteries.
From here, it’s a short hop to the re-gional capital of Suceava, which has good hotels and a number of companies offering tours to the nearby painted monaster-ies. Don’t miss the Arbore, Voroneţ and Suceviţa monasteries.
1 WEEK
Danube Delta & Painted Monasteries
Romania is a deceptively large country, with physical barriers (such as high moun-tain passes) that make it difficult to get around easily. This tour highlights the most popular province, Transylvania, but adds neighbouring regions, including capital Bucharest, to make the most of your time.
Spend the first two nights in Bucha-rest, taking in the Palace of Parliament as well as museums and restaurants. Take the train or drive to Braşov, and spend at least a day or two. Use it as a base for visiting Bran Castle and the Saxon town of Viscri.
Head north to Sighişoara and its his-toric citadel. Spend the night before head-ing south to Sibiu, an eye-catching former Saxon stronghold.
From here, head north through Cluj-Napoca, a big university town with an abundance of awesome cafes and clubs.
Push northward to the city of Baia Mare or to Sighetu Marmaţiei, to use as a base for visiting the unspoilt region of Maramureş. Don’t miss the Merry Cem-etery in Săpânţa or the pretty wooden churches in Budeşti, Surdeşti and Ieud.
2 WEEKS
MOLDOVA
ROMANIA
UKRAINE
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Braşov
Tulcea
Bran Castle
Sighişoara
Sibiu
Cluj-Napoca
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BudeştiIeud
Surdeşti
AgapiaMonastery
SuceviţaMonastery
Suceava
NeamţMonastery
Iaşi
#•
#•#•
#•
#•
#•
#•
#•#•
#•
#•
#•
#•
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#•
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Arbore Monastery#•#•
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Danube Delta & Painted MonasteriesClassic Romania
Classic Romania
30
PLAN YO
UR TRIP ItIn
er
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Ies
511
Walking Tour detourWalking Tour
Path/Walking Trail
BankEmbassy/ConsulateHospital/MedicalInternetPolicePost OfficeTelephoneToiletTourist InformationOther Information
AirportBorder crossingBus
CyclingFerry
U-Bahn/Underground station
MonorailParking
Metro station
Petrol stationS-Bahn/Subway stationTaxi
Train station/RailwayTram
Other Transport
LighthouseHut/Shelter
Beach
LookoutMountain/VolcanoOasisParkPassPicnic AreaWaterfall
River, CreekIntermittent River
Swamp/Mangrove
Reef
Canal
Water
Dry/Salt/Intermittent Lake
Glacier
Beach/Desert
Airport/Runway
Cemetery (Christian)
Cemetery (Other)
Park/Forest
Mudflat
Sportsground
Sight (Building)
International
DisputedRegional/SuburbMarine ParkCliffWall
Capital (National)Capital (State/Province)City/Large TownTown/Village
State/Province
LaneTertiary
TollwayFreewayPrimary
StepsPlaza/Mall
Pedestrian overpass
Secondary
Unsealed roadRoad under construction
Tunnel
Cable car/Funicular
BeachBird SanctuaryBuddhistCastle/PalaceChristianConfucianHinduIslamicJainJewishMonumentMuseum/Gallery/Historic BuildingRuin
Sento Hot Baths/Onsen
ShintoSikhTaoistWinery/VineyardZoo/Wildlife SanctuaryOther Sight
DivingBodysurfing
Sleeping
Eating
Entertainment
Shopping
Drinking & NightlifeCafe
Camping
Canoeing/KayakingCourse/Tour
SkiingSnorkellingSurfingSwimming/PoolWalkingWindsurfingOther Activity
Tube station
T-bane/Tunnelbana station
Gate
Information Routes
Boundaries
Hydrography
Areas
Geographic
Population
Transport
Sights
Activities,Courses & Tours
Sleeping
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
ShoppingNote: Not all symbols displayed aboveappear on the maps in this book
Map Legend
©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
OUR STORYA beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies. Lonely Planet was born.
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