Bulgaria & Romania Highlights

Enjoy a walking tour with your private guide along the main tourist attractions of Sofia and view the Roman walls of ancient Serdika, St. George Rotunda, one of the oldest fully preserved churches in Europe dating from 4th century AD. The most important religious buildings such as the Mosque, the Synagogue, St. Joseph Catholic church and the Orthodox churches of St. Nedelya, St. Petka, St. Sophia, the Russian Church and St Alexander Nevski Cathedral - cathedral church of the Patriarch of Bulgaria and one of the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in the world, the former Royal Palace, the National Theatre, the Mineral Baths, the Parliament, the statue of Tsar Liberator, and the Sofia University. Visit the Crypt of St Alexander Nevski Cathedral with the best collection of icons in Bulgaria.

Enjoy a day trip to Veliko Turnovo - the medieval capital of Bulgaria. It is situated 220 km/ 140 miles east of Sofia. During a short tour of the city you will get familiarized with St Forty Martyrs Church dated from 13th century, the Konak where the First National Assembly was held after the Liberation and where the Turnovo Constitution was ratified in 1879. Walk along the Samovodska Carshiya - a market street with houses, shops and workshops from the Revival Period. Enjoy your lunch in a local restaurant. Continue your afternoon with Tsarevets - the fortified hill which for two centuries between 1185 and 1393 was the center of political and religious power in the Second Bulgarian Empire. View the remains of the Royal Palace, the Patriarchate and the city walls with the famous Baldwin Tower where Emperor Baldwin I was held prisoner by Tsar Kaloyan after the Battle of Adrianople in 1205.

Enjoy a full day tour to Rila Monastery, the biggest monastery in Bulgaria, one of the most remarkable monuments on the Balkan Peninsula. The monastery was founded in the l0th century by the Bulgarian monk St. John of Rila and was rebuilt in the l3th -l4th century and it is situated 120Km/75 miles south of Sofia in the beautiful surroundings of Rila Mountain. In the four-storied dormitories there are more than 400 cells, 4 chapels, guest-rooms, a cook-house, unique in terms of construction and design. A museum with a rich library is arranged at the monastery. Since 1983 it is included in the list of monuments of the world culture and natural heritage compiled at UNESCO. Lunch is included in the tour price.

Meet your driver for a private airport transfer with vehicle and driver.

Flight is required, currently not included in the quote.

Airport transfer with private vehicle and driver.

Enjoy a full day tour of Bucharest, called "Little Paris". Start with The Palace of the Parliament – admire the luxurious display of crystal chandeliers, mosaics, oak paneling, marble, gold leaf, stained-glass windows. Visit Cotroceni Palace and Museum. Continue to the Village Museum with 50 buildings representing the history and design of Romania’s rural architecture. See Bucharest’s Arc of Triumph, built in honour of the Romanian soldiers who fought in the First World War.

Morning drive north towards Transylvania. Before reaching Bran, optional stop in Azuga for a snack and wine-tasting (not included). While crossing the Southern Carpathians, stop in Sinaia to visit one of the most beautiful castles in Europe - the famous Peles Castle, a masterpiece of German New-Renaissance architecture, commissioned by King Carol I in 1873 and completed in 1883. Its 160 rooms are adorned with the finest examples of European art, Murano crystal chandeliers, German stained-glass windows, walls covered with Cordoba leather, Meissen and Sevres porcelains, ebony and ivory sculptures. Drive through the village of Bran to Brasov, the largest city in Transilvania. Once arrived in Bran, visit Dracula’s Castle, the place where Dracula was imprisoned before he was taken to Budapest. Bran Castle is home to a rich collection of Romanian and foreign furniture and art items from the XIVth-XIXth centuries. It sits up atop a 200 ft. tall rock, overlooking the picturesque village of Bran. On the grounds bellow there is an open-air ethnographic museum of old village buildings with exhibits of furniture, household objects and costumes. Continue to Brasov with a visit to Prejmer Fortress. Brasov the city  where Dracula was betrayed by the rich merchants of Brasov and because of this betrayal he ended up to be imprisoned for 12 years in Pesta and Visegrad by his cousin - Mathias Corvinus, King of Hungary.

Start your Old City tour with the Town Hall Square, where you can admire the colorfully painted and ornately trimmed baroque structures. Visit the Black Church, the largest gothic church in Romania. Continue your visit and see Catherine's Gate errected in 1559, the only original gate that still survives since medieval times. Visit Weavel's Bastion, the largest medieval bastion in Brasov and the best-preserved among the seven original watchtowers constructed around the city walls.

Transfer to Sighisoara by a private vehicle and driver.

Explore the Old Town of Sighisoara with cobbled streets, burgher houses and ornate churches. Start your tour along the medieval street and visit the Clock Tower known as the Council Tower, built in the second half of the 14th century and expanded in the 16th century. Continue tour with the Venetian House, built in the 16th century. Visit Dracula's house where Vlad Tepes was born in 1431 and lived with his father until 1435 and enjoy a walk on the covered stairs to the Church on the Hill.

Transfer to Sibiu with your own vehicle and driver, with a stop to Biertan, one of the first German settlements in Transylvania. The name was firstly attested in 1283. It had an urban organization, notice the franconic style of the rows of houses around the central square overlooked by a grandiose fortress-church.

Enjoy a relaxing city tour of Sibiu, the European Capital of Culture in 2007, a medieval city with narrow streets and gothic arhitecture. Considered to be the jewel in the crown of German Siebenbuergen (Transylvania), the town dates back from 1400 and is one of the main tourist attraction in Romania. Visit Brukental Museum, the oldest museum in Romania with a vast collection of paintings, antiques, coins, and rare books, built by governor of Transylvania, Samuel Brukenthal between 1777 and 1787.

Leave Sibiu and cross the mountains on the Olt River Valley, one of the most spectacular valleys crossing the Southern Carpathians. Visit Curtea de Arges, the first capital of Wallachia with the old Princely Court and the Manole Monastery - the place where tree of the four Romanian Kings are buried.

Airport transfer with private vehicle and driver.