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LAST UPDATED
12/11/2016



beyondtheforest.com provides everything you need to plan your holiday - unbiased travel information based on extensive, personal travel and an unparallelled network of local specialists.




To book your perfect holiday
we recommend:



01900 824329
www.travelcounsellors.co.uk

A quaity, personal service by
travel experts in your local area
Your Invitation to the Land Beyond the Forest
- the comprehensive, one-stop, travel service for Romania






ROMANIA
Travel Press



BBC GREEN website

Maramures feature





Watch 'Wild Carpathia'
Sky Travel Channel
(251/252)
Autumn 2012

There's More to Transylvania
than Dracula
An excellent, often
tongue-in-cheek travelogue
by Marcus Tanner

The Independent
(1.03.2009)

Lucy Mayhew's
excellent account of Prince Charles'sguesthouse:
Transfixed in Transylvania by Charles's Carrots

Mail on Sunday
(16.12.2007)

Blood & Gutsiness,
Andrew Eames

Telegraph (28.10.2006)

Hospitality with a Bite,
David Atkinson
Metro (20.10.2006)

On the Trail of Dracula,
Andrew Eames
Times (13.5.2006)





Beyond the Forest - Romania travel specialists
Flights to Romania with Beyond the Forest
Travelling by train to Romania
Car hire and driving in Romania
Domestic travel and transfers in Romania
Travel advice for visitors to Romania
Books, Maps & Exhibitions about Romania
What are visitors say about Romania and Beyond the Forest
Connecting you to Beyond the Forest
Beyond the Forest is an travel information site providing everything you need to plan your holiday in Romania, and especially the mountainous region of historic Transylvania. The site is divided into the following sections:

1.
REGIONS OF ROMANIA (below): pages with information about places to visit, what to do and see in different geographical regions of Romania. These pages also have links to recommended hotels and quality guesthouses throughout Romania.

2.
HOLIDAYS : a wealth of ideas for qualirty, semi-independent and fully inclusive holiday programmes

3.
SPECIAL INTERESTS : information about specific aspects of Romania: culture, nature, Dracula etc

4.
GENERAL INFORMATION (left): Travel Advice, Books about Romania, our Guestbook, and information about Flights, Car Hire, Transfers and Rail Travel to assist you to plan your holiday.


Regions of Romania - choose your destination

Painted Monasteries of Bucovina with Beyond the Forest
Maramures - the Land that Time Forgot - Holidays from Beyond the Forest
Holidays in Dracula Country with Beyond the Forest
Cluj and the Apuseni with Beyond the Forest
Holidays in Saxon Transylvania - Sibiu and Sighisoara with Beyond the Forest
Timisoara and the Banat with Beyond the Forest
Between the Woods & the Water - on the trail of Patrick Leigh Fermor in Romania
Holidays in the wilderness of the Danube Delta with Beyond the Forest
Holidays in Brasov & the Carpathians with Beyond the Forest
City Breaks in Bucharest with Beyond the Forest
Holidays on the Black Sea Cost of Romania with Beyond the Forest

Holidays - Recommended Holidays in Romania

Adventures with Count kalnoky in Transylvania Holidays with Count Kalnoky in Transylvania
Plus HRH Price of Wales wilderness retreat
Secret Transylvania - adventure holidays in the Sibiu region Uncover the secrets of Transylvania with
these exclusive holidays with a difference.
Escape to another world - village holidays in Maramures Chill out in the beautiful, unspoilt Maramures region
2011 prices - from £ 449.00 per person
Discover the truth about Dracula with Beyond the Forest Dracula Tours & Adventures - in search of the truth!
Off the beaten track adventures - discover the REAL Romania! Tailor-made 4x4 adventures off the Beaten Track
Eco-friendly stress-free holidays in the villages of Saxon Transylvania - Viscri, Biertan, Crit, Cloasterf, Malâncrav Eco-friendly Holidays in Saxon Transylvania

Special Interests - Information Pages

Ceausescu, Communism & the Romanian Revolution 1989 Ceausescu, Communism and the Romania Revolution
Dracula: Fact & Fiction in Transylvania Mediaeval Crusader or Vampire Count? Discover the Truth!
Art Nouveau in Timisoara and Romania Art Nouveau architecture in Romania
Railway Enthusiasts Guide to Romanian Railways Steam in the forest, and other railways in Romania:
Trams & tramways in Romania Tramways in Romania
Natural History of Romania Fauna and Fauna in Romania
Excellent website of music and folk costume in Romania Folklore, Costume & traditional dance and music


All accommodation, services, attractions and other travel related products recommended on this site are constantly reviewed.
BeyondtheForest provides independent, unbiased information to help you to plan or book your holiday.
We encourage feedback from travellers to ensure the information is always uptodate.

Beyond the Forest recommends travel services of the highest quality, integrity and professionalism which contribute to sustainable tourism . Wherever possible they benefit local people and their environment by promoting responsible tourism in their communities. Look out for out for our 'Holidays with a Heart' logo.





Romania


There hasn't been a better time to visit Romania with excellent flight connections from all over Europe, and a host of low cost airlines flying routes into regional airports. It is no longer necessary to fly to Bucharest if your destination is the mountains or historic towns of Transylvania, the cities of the Banat, the magical unspoilt villages of the Maramures, or even the famous Painted Monasteries of Bucovina. There are now scheduled flights into many regional airports from Vienna, Munich or Budapest connecting with flights from other parts of Europe. In addition there are low cost flights withprices as low as £ 90.00 return to Cluj Napoca, Targu Mures or Timisoara from Luton with WIZZ AIR (note extras can bring these price up to £120.00-£200.00).

Romania has something for everyone, from the natural wilderness of the Danube Delta to the bustle of Bucharest, the cultural gems of Transylvania, or the soaring peaks of the Carpathians. Take a short city break, an Autumn Dracula Trail for Halloween, or chill out in a traditional village in the Maramures. Language is rarely a barrier in this country, where the main language is close to Latin, and signs and menus will make sense to anybody with even just a smattering of school French. Many young people speak English, especially in tourist related fields, while German, Hungarian and French are commonly spoken .

Romania is a large country, well connected by rail services and domestic flights. However, please bear in mind that travel can be slow due to the terrain, the large distances, and the rural nature of much of the country. Unlike many other Eastern European countries the countryside is alive with activity, providing a distraction for the inquisitive traveller or photographer, round every bend in the road. You will find people working in the fields and the forest, traditions passed on from generation to generation, a multi-cultural society which never leaves a dull moment, and regions with some of the most diverse and rich natural history anywhere in Europe. It is also a romantic country with varied, dramatic landscapes which change through the distinct four seasons - from the deep snows and iced waterfalls of winter, through the clouds of fruit blossom of early spring, the bright hay meadows of summer to the dazzling autumn colours of the Carpathians. And, there is much more to this country than its natural beauty and country traditions - check out the restaurants, shopping or nightlife in Bucharest, Cluj, Timisoara or Sibiu - the opera, theatre, galleries, museums, castles and the dazzling array of monasteries, the fortress churches and walled towns of Transylvania, the magnificient frescoes of the Painted Monasteries, the wooden churches of pastoral Maramures and a historical legacy that dates back long before the Romans bestowed their Latin language, or the Crusaders spawned legends from Dracula to the children of the Pied Piper. We hope that these pages inspire you and help you to plan your trip of a lifetime to a region of Europe, little understood beyond its borders.





NEWS
flash ..... NEWSflash..... NEWSflash..... NEWSflash..... NEWSflash..... NEWSflash..... .....

Beyond the Forest has been providing a first class travel information service for visitors to Romania since 1999. To celebrate our 18th anniversary we will be upgrading the site with extra information and a host of new ideas and special offers. Watch out for our new Beds pages. These will be attached to all regional pages and will provide full information about recommended tried and tested accommodation from the simplest of bed and breakfast guesthouses to 5-star luxury. As always the focus is on service and places with character. You will also find direct links to the accommodation in question though all can be booked as part of a financially protected tailor-made holiday by following links on this site.



Amongst the highlights for 2017 will be:

  • Bear-tracking and Hay Meadow sat HRH Prince of Wales' wilderness retreat at Zalanpatak (Valea Zalanului); availability for June 2017 already limited
  • Weddings at Bran Castle or Malancrav Manor
  • Jonathan Harker PLUS Dracula Trails and Painted Monastery Experience tours combined with Touch of Class or Another Europe for the ultimate Transylvania holiday
  • Christmas Market & Fairytale Breaks in Transylvania
  • Autumn Colours in the southern Carpathians, Maramures and Bucovina - discover the spectacular landscapes of autumn in Transylavia
  • Halloween Dracula Trail combined with special Touch of Class and Another Europe brealks
  • Winter in Transylvania - from traditional carnivals to sleigh rides or a visist to the Ice Hotel deep in the Carpathians
  • Opera in Timisoara or Cluj
  • Discover the Roma Gypsy Culture of Transylvania - call or email for various option including staying in remote villages or learning about the forest gypsies
  • Painted Monasteries: stay with the nuns in a monastery for a unique, magical experience in Bucovina, or at a former chateau near the Cotnari vineyards; can be a stand-alone break with excellent personal guides, or part of an extended itineraryu
  • Weddings - now available at Bran Castle
  • Patrick Leigh Fermor - follow in the footsteps of this famous travel writer through Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria: discover the manors and chateaus of the Mures Valley, the historic towns and fortresses of mediaeval Transylvania, the legend of Ada Kaleh, and the mysteries of the Balkans as you trace his journey chronicled in 'Between the Woods and the Water' and the recently published, "The Broken Road." Get in touch for further information.
  • Vaser Valley Railway - weekend breaks to explore this unique forest railway in Maramures; tourist services, local railway accommodation and even private train charters avaiable.
  • Moldova - why not combine a visit to the Painted Monsteries with a day or two in border to visit the vineyards and the monasteries of this fascinating country; flights to Chisinau and Iasi.
  • Ukraine - guided day trips available in conjunction with holidays in Maramures
  • Hungary - why not combine your holiday in Transylvania with flights to Budapest and a few days in this vibrant cultural city which straddles the Blue Danube, or a few days in the Puszta.


PLUS new updated information and excellent links ona variety of topics appropriate to any visit to Romania


Also:


ULTIMATE TRANSYLVANIA HOLIDAY -- Combine a few days exploring the stunning Painted Monasteries of Bucovina and Eastern Carpathians, or a unique 'Jonathan Harker PLUS' Dracula trail with a week of excellent accommodation, food, activities and unparallelled hospitality in Transylvania on our recommended TOUCH OF CLASS and ANOTHER EUROPE programmes. Details will be posted on the relevant pages and on our updated regional pages for the Painted Monasteries, Dracula Country, Cluj and Sibiu.

AUTUMN COLOURS: spectacular autumn colours - special programmes for 2017 in southern Transylvania, Bucovina and Maramures

CHRISTMAS MARKET & FAIRYTALES: unique, long weekend breaks in late November and December for a unique shopping experience, Romantic fairytale towns and landscapes, and evenings by the fire with mulled wine and fairytales from your childhood in their natural setting including visits to the ICE HOTEL high in the Carpathians!

HALLOWEEN IN TRANSYLVANIA: choose from a selection of Dracula themed holidays over Halloween; combine Jonathan Harker's trail to visit Count Dracula on the Borgo Pass with mediaeval Sighisoara and our special Halloween Touch of Class or Another Europe unique holidays. Why not combine walking in Maramures with Austum/ Fall colours and Halloween?

TOUCH OF CLASS 2017 - contact us for packages; additional holidays now at Zalanpatak including winter bear tracking and hay meadows, rhorse ridingomantic Valentines Day breaks. The 'castle' is now open for unique honeymoons and for Halloween!!! NOTE - already booking for 2017

Contact us now for further information on the above holidays and keep checking the site for regular updates




27 YEARS SINCE THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM IN EUROPE: FROM THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL TO THE ROMANIAN REVOLUTION.
WHY NOT BOOK A BREAK TO THE BEAUTIFUL CITY OF TIMISOARA TO LEARN ABOUT THE BLOODIEST REVOLUTION OF 1989?
Other commemorative trips and information will be released during the year



FLIGHT UPDATES:

Of the scheduled airlines British Airways and Tarom fly direct daily from Heathrow to Bucharest. Tarom has also added a service to Iasi, though the times are overnight. Alternatively they connect through Bucharest to many regional airports. Lufthansa and Austrian serve many regional airports in Romania with flights from the UK via Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna. Austrian also serve Chisinau (Kishinev) in Moldova. KLM have useful connections from most UK regional airports to Bucharest via Amsterdam

Low-cost airlines WIZZ AIR and BLUE AIR now fly DIRECT to BACAU, BAIA MARE, BUCHAREST, CLUJ, IASI, SIBIU, SUCEAVA, TARGU MURES and TIMISOARA and BUCHAREST - avoid the Bucharest traffic jams and long transfers by flying DIRECT to TRANSYLVANIA or the BANAT. Cluj, Iasi, Sibiu and Timisoara are excellent cultural centres ideal for an inexpensive city break, while Cluj is also a useful gateway for Maramures and northern Transylvania. Targu Mures is ideal for Dracula breaks and access to the Touch of Class and Another Europe holidays outlined on this site, Targu Mures is just one hours drive from Sighisoara which makes it easy for transfers for the early morning inbound flight. Alternatively why not spend the last night in a restored manor - Castel Haller located just 15 minutes from the airport. Most of these flights are from Luton but there are also selected services from Birmingham, Doncaster, Glasgow, Liverpool and London Gatwick - schedules are changing all the time with new services being added so drop us a line to see what fits best with your plans.


Both scheduled and low-cost flights can be booked through Travel Counsellors and your entire package protected by their ATOL licences and Travel Trust Scheme. Group deals are also available.


TRANSPORT IN BUCHAREST - Prebook your transfers if travelling from Otopeni (Henri Coanda) airport into Bucharest. Some visitors have reported having been charged over EURO 150 to the city!. The journey into the city can take up to 90 minutes due to severe traffic congestion at certain times of the day. If your final destination is not Bucharest consider flying direct to other cities, or making a domestic connection. Transfers from the airport to the North station can also be booked in advance with the bus-rail shuttle service though it is not as frequent as originally proposed. A Metro link is also under construction.



STOP PRESS: our accommodation pages are being redesigned and rewritten to showcase only the best places to stay - from all-inclusive holidays, to contemporary city hotels or historic boutique hotels oozing with character, family run pensions and even village homes offering the best in local hospitality. All accommodation featured has been recommended and tested. We rely on feedback to ensure that only the best places feature on our places.








CLICK HERE for our NEW 'Another Europe' AUTUMN COLOUR holidays: experience the spectacular colours in the Cindrel and Fagaras Mountains, walk through the Cibin gorge and take a 4x4 adventure through the remote and picturesque Frumoasa ('beautiful') valley. Take a night trek to listen for wolves, a lantern alk up to the historic Cisnadioara citadel and enjoy an evening in old Sibiu. Special one-week all inclusive holidays throughout October. Depart on Saturdays. PLUS special BONFIRE NIGHT break - November 2017





CLICK HERE for our NEW 'Another Europe' HALLOWEEN adventure and 'Jonathan Harker' Trail: experience Halloween as a short break in Cisnadioara or start out with the trail to seek outthe mythical Count Dracula in mysterious northern Transylvania. A horse and cart takes you up forest and cart tracks, climbing deeper and deeper into the Carpathians, to arrive at Hotel Castel Dracula on the Borgo Pass. Risk a night in this remote place before continuing through the Transylvanian Highlands to Sighisoara, birthplace of Vald the Impaler - the real Dracula. Overnight in one of the historic hotels in teh romantic walled, citadel then join our special 'Another Europe' break for a Halloween party starting with a lantern lit trail to the historic citadel then a bonfire in the orchards. Additional activities include a full day excursion to the spectacular Corvinesti fortress at Hunedoara, and a ghost walk through mediaeval Sibiu. Book now as places are limited.





Top Tips for 2017


MARAMURES - this magical region is one of the last enclaves of traditional rural life still remaining in Europe; visit now before EU and Romanian laws change this pastoral region with its enchanting landscapes of strip fields, orchards and magnificient mountain forests forever. Easy rail or road connections from Cluj (direct sflightys with Wizz Air from Luton) or Bucharest, or from the Austrian Airlines service to Baia Mare


PAINTED MONASTERIES & MOLDOVA - discover the stunning Painted Monasteries of Bucovina making use of regional flights, excellent guide services and the unique opportunity to stay in the guesthouse of one of the working monasteries (Dragomarna, Putna or Neamt). Alternative stay in a lovely restored manor house ('conac') near the famous Cotnari vineyards. Your holiday may even be combined with the cultural centre of Iasi and a day or two over the border visiting the vineyards and wine-cellars (some of the largest in the world) and monasteries of Moldova.

ROMA GYPSY CULTURE - we can also offer a unique programme of day trips and longer stays to discover the culture and villages of the Roma gypsies in Transylvania. You can stay and dine with Gabori gypsies in their homes and find out first hand about their traditions, music, dance and costume.

PATRICK LEIGH FERMOR - see also above. We have recreated the trail of this famous, and much admired travel writer, following in his footsteps as he tramped across Europe in the 1930s, winding through Transylvania to the legendary Island of Ada Kaleh in the Danube then via Bucharest and Bulgaria to Constantinople. Watch this space for separte pages with more detailes and tailor-made and possibly small group tours.

SECRET TRANSYLVANIA - delightful, quality breaks based in the picturesqueSaxon village of Cisnadioara on the edge of Sibiu. Excellent value all inclusive holidays based in a British-run pension with a special focus on cuisine and a range of activities and excursions into Saxon Transylvania, the Carpathians and the Cindrel Mountains. The scale of this operation means that personal service is paramount and special effort is made to catering for individual tastes and interests. Ideal for Honeymoons, Valentines Day breaks, Halloween etc. Unparallelled hospitality, food and a great diversity of exciting activities have made these excellent value holidays very popular - so early booking is essential. Specialities include the Ice Hotel, the thrill of the Transfagarasan and Transalpina High Mountain Highways, and visits to the spectacular Corvinesti Fortress at Hunedoara. NEW 'Jonathan Harker PLUS' Dracula trails and 'Painted Monasteries Experience' can be incorporated with these holidays.

TOUCH OF CLASS - fully, inclusive holidays with a genuine Transylvanian Count in the Brasov area. These popular holidays are an ideal introduction to Transylvania with a focus on cultural heritage, natural history and adventure. Accommodation is in beautiful, restored houses in the small Szekely village of Miclosoara (Miklosvar), close to Brasov and the high Carpathians. Also available staying in the Prince of Wales' house in the Saxon village of Viscri, as an introduction to the rural life of ancient Transylvania. NEW: experience the wilderness in HRH Prince of Wales' new guesthouse in the village of Zalanpatak, a haven for wildllife and a superb base for bear tracking. NEW 'Jonathan Harker PLUS' Dracula trails and 'Painted Monasteries Experience' can be incorporated with these holidays.

REGIONAL FLIGHTS - fly to regional airports to avoid the mayhem and congested streets of Bucharest (see also above). There are connecting scheduled flights to Sibiu, Cluj, Timisoara, Iasi, Targu Mures and Baia Mare and DIRECT, low-cost services to Bacau, Baia Mare, Cluj, Iasi, Sibiu, Suceava, Targu Mures and Timisoara with WIZZ and/ or BLUE AIR. Most departures are from Luton butb there are now selected flights from Birmingham, Doncaster, Glasgow, Liverpool and London Gatwick. Alternatively, take a domestic service from Bucharest to most major towns in Romania.





Useful Links


Romanian
Cultural Centre
London



The Romanian Cultural Centre in London is an independent association, which promotes Romanian cultural programs, and cultural exchanges between Britain and Romania, maintains an information and data base service, and acts as the focus for the Romanian community in Britain.

We are all ordinary Romanians who give time and energy to organising concerts, film screenings, book presentations, special events and monthly parties.
For further information and a full diary of events visit the website:
www.romanianculturalcentre.org.uk






For all the LATEST NEWS,
weather forecasts, events
and general information, visit

www.hotnews.ro


HOT NEWS
Non-Stop Romania
English Language Pages
HOT NEWS 24 Hours Romania


Treeflights.com do one thing ~ they plant trees for people who fly.

When we take a flight we burn up hundreds of litres of fuel, a non-renewable resource that took millions of years to make, and we produce a lot of CO2, the main culprit for global warming. Theres no way of avoiding it, flying is inherently environmentally destructive and we shouldnt do any more of it than we have to. Planting a tree is an ecologically constructive thing to do. Trees use the suns energy to absorb CO2, taking it out of the atmosphere and turning it into the renewable material that we call wood. Trees also encourage biodiversity and are fantastic air purifiers. However, they take ages to grow.

When you order a Treeflight that this is not a quick-fix and your flight will not suddenly become carbon neutral. But the tree planted for you will make a significant, positive difference, over time, to our atmosphere.
For further information, or to order a Treeflight please visit: Treeflights.com

A trip to Vienna, Budapest or Bucharest by train would emit 95% less carbon dioxide than the equivalent flight. Consider taking the TRAIN








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