Bran Castle was built by the Teuton knights in the 13th Century as a defense fortress to protect the border between Transylvania and Wallachia. In the 15th Century, Dracula, (“Vlad the Impaler”) was incarcerated here. For centuries people have been looking for the truth behind Dracula. On this trip you’ll hear the legend, the truth and true stories of the locals. You’ll taste the local produce and most importantly you’ll have fun.

Curtea de Arges: It is the oldest church in Wallachia where the former Royal family of Romania is buried. All the Wallachian kings took a special interest in this monastery as there’s a legend behind the construction of this Church. Everything that used to be built back in the the days was crumbling overnight until the chief of the builders “Manole” had a dream. God appeared in the dream and told him that they need to build a woman within the walls of the church so it wouldn’t crumble anymore. Find out what they did and how they finished the construction of the Curtea de Arges church on this tour.

After visiting Curtea de Arges, we will go to the Real Dracula’s Castle, which is placed on the highest cliff around Arges at 850 meters high, surrounded by a spectacular landscape and, in order to get here, you will have to climb up the 1480 steps. The first documents mentioning the Poienari Fortress are from the 14th Century, when it was only a surveillance tower. In 1457 Dracula used the unfaithful landowners to rebuild it. On Easter Day he trapped them at the religious service in the church and forced them to walk to Poienari. Once there, he raised his sword toward the old fortress ruins and ordered them to repair and consolidate it in 1 week. It’s hard to believe this can be the truth, but the legend says that the people preferred hard work instead of being impaled. Lots of them had lost their lives there as they had to climb the steep hill, but they finished the construction in 1 week, as ordered. All those alive were forgiven by Vlad Tepes because he decided they had learned their lesson.

Was founded in March 1966 and is located on the Arges River and has a length of 28 km. The construction took five and a half years. 42 km of underground galleries were drilled and 1,768,000 m³ of rock were excavated, of which about 1 million m³ in underground bands consist of 930,000 m³ of concrete, of which 400,000 m³ underground and were mounted 6300 tons of equipment. It was at the time of inauguration, the 6th in Europe and 9th in the world among similar buildings.

Was built between 1970-1974. It has 92 km of twists and turns and for the construction they dislocated 3 million ton of rock. Ceauşescu wanted to ensure quick military access across the mountains in the event the Soviets attempted a similar move into Romania. Consequently, the road was built mainly with military forces, at a high cost both financially and from a human standpoint—roughly 6 million kilograms of dynamite were used. It has more tunels (a total of 5) and viaducts than any other road in Romania. Near the highest point, at Balea Lake (2043m), the road passes through the longest road tunnel in Romania (884 m). In September 2009 the cast and crew of the British television show Top Gear were seen filming along the road. The segment appeared in first episode of Series 14, which first aired November 15, 2009. Host Jeremy Clarkson claimed they had made a mistake in naming the Stelvio Pass as the best road in the world and that Transfăgărăşan should have this title instead.

Similar trips: Bran & Poienari • Full Tour to Transalpina Highway • Complex Dracula’s Day Tour • Day Tour to Corvin Castle (Huniarzi Castle), Furnaces from Gavojdia & Zarmisegetuza Regia • Full Transfagarasan Highway Tour • Day Tour to Peles Palace, Dracula’s Tomb & Airport Bucharest