The True Story of Vlad the Impaler

Fly to Bucharest, Romania’s lively capital, where you will be met on arrival and transferred to your centrally located hotel for a two-night stay. Depending on your arrival time, spend the remainder of the day relaxing or begin exploring independently. Perhaps stroll through the historic Old Town or along elegant Calea Victoriei, one of the city’s most important thoroughfares, lined with grand buildings that reflect Bucharest’s prosperous late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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Spend today exploring Bucharest with your private guide, discovering the contrasting architecture and history of the Romanian capital. See elegant Calea Victoriei, Revolution Square and some of the grand buildings that earned the city its former nickname, ‘Little Paris’, alongside reminders of the communist era.

Learn about Bucharest’s development from a medieval settlement into the modern Romanian capital and its connections with 15th-century Wallachia, the principality ruled at various times by Vlad the Impaler. This introduction provides useful historical context for the journey ahead, before tomorrow’s visit to Vlad’s former Princely Court in Târgoviște. (B)

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Leave Bucharest with your private driver/guide and travel to Târgoviște, once the capital of Wallachia and an important centre of Vlad the Impaler’s rule. Visit the remains of the Princely Court and climb Chindia Tower, one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks and closely associated with Vlad’s reign.

Continue towards Transylvania, with the route varying according to the season. When the Transfăgărășan Highway is closed, travel through the scenic Olt Valley and visit Ostrov Monastery, peacefully situated on an island in the Olt River. Continue through the Carpathian landscape to Sibiu, one of Transylvania’s most attractive historic cities. (B)

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Begin with a guided tour of Sibiu, including the Evangelical Cathedral, associated with Vlad’s son Mihnea cel Rău, who was killed in the city in 1510. Continue to magnificent Corvin Castle, one of Transylvania’s finest Gothic castles, and learn about the complex relationship between Vlad the Impaler and the powerful Hunyadi family.

Travel onwards through Mediaș before visiting the Saxon village of Biertan, whose impressive fortified church forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Continue to Sighișoara, one of Europe’s best-preserved inhabited medieval citadels and traditionally regarded as Vlad’s birthplace, for an overnight stay. (B)

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Explore Sighișoara’s UNESCO-listed medieval citadel on a guided walking tour. Visit the landmark Clock Tower, the Church on the Hill and the house traditionally identified as the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler in 1431, while learning more about his early life and the medieval world into which he was born.

Continue to Bran Castle, the dramatic 14th-century fortress whose links with Dracula are largely the product of later legend rather than Vlad’s own history. Afterwards, travel to Brașov, where Vlad had a turbulent relationship with the city’s Saxon merchants. Explore the medieval centre and visit the imposing Black Church before checking into your hotel. (B)

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Leave Brașov and travel through the Carpathian Mountains to Sinaia, an elegant mountain resort once favoured by Romania’s royal family. Visit magnificent Peleș Castle, built in the late 19th century as the summer residence of King Carol I and renowned for its richly decorated interiors.

Continue to Snagov Monastery, situated on a small island in Snagov Lake and traditionally associated with Vlad the Impaler. Legend maintains that Vlad was buried here following his death in the 15th century, although archaeological investigations have never conclusively identified his tomb. Afterwards, return to Bucharest for your final night in Romania. (B)

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Depending on your flight departure time, enjoy some final time at leisure in Bucharest. Perhaps browse the shops along Calea Victoriei, return to the Old Town or stop for coffee before meeting your driver for the transfer to Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport. Check in for your flight back to the UK. (B)