This Sightseeing tour of Saxon Transylvania begins with a pick-up in an air-conditioned European car/ minibus/ coach (depending on the number of travelers) from your accommodation in Brasov by an English-speaking driver/ guide. German, Italian, Spanish, and French guides are also available on request. You can also opt to be picked up from another location of your choosing in Brasov.
Transfer to Prejmer village to visit Southeastern Europe’s largest fortified church, a UNESCO World Heritage site dating from the 14th century. Explore the double ramparts and dungeons of this impressive fortress, which shelter a beautiful church with a honeycomb inner wall. There was a time when every family in the village had a room in the fortress that provided sanctuary in the event of foreign attack. In more peaceful times, the rooms were used as storage space for food.
Continue to the village of Harman, home of another stunning fortified church, this one from the 13th century.
Impregnable walls and bulwarks surround the church in a stony embrace, and massive towers guard the corners. Enter this Roman basilica, admiring the Gothic flourishes in the interior. Gaze at evocative religious paintings that are more than 700 years old.
Transfer to Bran village, where you’ll find the legendary Bran Castle. Dating from 1377, this massive fortress has a storybook charm all its own and helped inspire Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Its walls are made of cool stone and its interior is composed of a creepy labyrinth of hidden passages and secret chambers.
In 1920, Queen Mary, the niece of Great Britain’s Queen Victoria, turned the castle into a beautiful summer residence. Nearby the castle is a shrine set in a sheer mountain face that once sheltered Mary’s heart.
Finish your tour with a visit to the Rasnov Peasant Citadel. Perched on top of a hill in the Carpathian Mountains and overlooking a lush pastoral landscape, Rasnov is the best-preserved peasant fortification in the region, and the largest in Eastern Europe. Built in the 13th century, this imposing fortress protected villagers from the sieges of centuries.
You will be returned to Brasov at tour’s end, and dropped at your accommodation or another location of your choosing.