Romania Tours and Travel

Day 1 – Timisoara

• Arrival in Timisoara at your own convenience
• Morning meeting in our hotel and start of the tour after breakfast.
• We will spend the day immersing ourselves in Timișoara, the foremost cultural and economic powerhouse of Western Romania and the cradle of the anti-regime protests that culminated in Nicolae Ceaușescu’s dramatic downfall in 1989.
• Our visit will be dominated by the striking architectural legacy of the Socialist Republic of Romania (RSR). Additionally, we will marvel at the exquisitely preserved palaces, houses, churches, and monasteries that harken back to the pre-communist era.
• Overnight in Timisoara

Day 2 – Jiu Valley

• From Timisoara, we will venture deep into the mining heartland of the country, heading for the Jiu Valley—the gritty core of Romania’s once-thriving coal industry.
• Journeying through a sombre landscape of abandoned pits, decaying industrial structures, and half-empty mining towns like Lupeni, Petrosani, and Petrila, you will understand more of Romania’s past.
• Traditional and savoury lunch will be part of the days travel.
• Arriving in the provincial city of Târgu Jiu in the late afternoon
• Traditional dinner in the city centre and overnight in Târgu Jiu.

Day 3 – Scornicesti, Pitesti & Targoviste

• We will start the day early, transferring to Scornicești, the birthplace of Nicolae Ceaușescu, and then proceed to Pitești, infamous for the Pitești Prison and its horrific re-education experiments, known as the “Pitești Phenomenon,” conducted between 1949 and 1951.
• From this most feared prison, we will continue to Târgoviște, the city where the regime met its dramatic end. Here, on Christmas Day of 1989, Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena faced their death trial.
• In the afternoon, we will reach the mining village of Doftana, home to a formidable fortress where the fascist wartime Romanian regime under Conducător Ion Antonescu imprisoned communists, anarchists, and other political dissidents.
• Travel with private bus to Bucharest, late dinner and overnight stay.

Day 4 – Bucharest

• After a leisurely breakfast we will dedicate the remainder of the day to an in-depth exploration of Bucharest´s socialist-era architecture and art, exploring life under communism.
• The Patriarchal Cathedral, Palace of Parliament, and the Revolution Square will not be missed on this exploration.
• We will also visit both, the grave of Nicolae Ceaușescu and the Soviet Heroes’ Cemetery and of course have lunch with Romanian cuisine.

Late Afternoon

• Lose yourself in the city’s old town, with the aftermath of sites visited during the day and try to see the influence that remains to date.
• Dinner and overnight in Bucharest.

Day 5 – Bucharest

• Last breakfast together before the tour ends in Bucharest.

From here you can continue to the coastline heading for Bulgaria with us, join one of our other tours in Eastern Europe like Moldova, Transnistria, Kaliningrad, Ukraine or the Baltic countries or venture further on by yourself.