Tour 1: 3rd day

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 3 Poienari Fortress - Vidraru Lake - Olt Valley - Sibiu

Click here to see the map and the distances!

In case you are interested in seeing one of the fortresses Vlad Tepes built, it’s time we get to Arefu village, near the huge lake Vidraru, at the base of Fagaras mountains. Although this is not a „Dracula Tour”, some information regarding this fortress is quite interesting. It’s said that, on his coming on the throne of Wallachia , he invited all the previous unfaithful boyars to a fastous dinner at the royal court in Targoviste, on the purpose of making up with them. Barrels of wine and tons of food was served. Tepes waited until everyone was drunk and he ordered his guards to kill all the weak and old boyars. He then forced the strong ones to march over 100 km to Arefu, were they were put to hard work building up one of the most impressive fortresses, not by its size or decorations, but by its location, on the top of a high and remote cliff. Serving as a defensive citadel against the turks who, at that time, didn't’t yet conquered Wallachia, Poienari Fortress, as it is called by historic's, kept its defensive role many years after.. Unfortunately, in 1888 it has partially collapsed to the river flowing at its base, but it is still a very impressive attraction.
Very close to Poienari Fortress, Vidraru Lake and the huge Vidraru Dam give us the opportunity to see spectacular images. Here are just few of them:

If you don’t want to climb more than 1450 steps which it takes to get to the citadel (although a little physical exercise doesn't’t hurt!) we can skip the part with Poienari fortress and get going to Olt Valley, on our way to Transylvania.

Being a very important route from Transylvania to Wallachia, and keeping its strategic importance until this day, we can find a lot of attractions scattered along this route. One of the first attractions I want to mention is Cozia Monastery, built in 14 century by Mircea cel Batran, the legendary ruler of Wallachia. The spectacular Olt Valley provides many places to stop for sightseeings, such as a Roman Castrum, picturesque lakes and mysterious ruins. Once we get closer to Sibiu we’ll notice the change in villages’ architecture, as we enter the fabulous Transylvania We’ll make the first stop in Turnu Rosu village („Red Tower”), a former border village between Wallachia and Transylvania Here in Turnu Rosu we won’t be visiting any classical tourist attractions, but instead the village itself. Being a starting point to Fagaras mountains, it is possible that in summer days we see the mountaineers (Czechs, Germans and Hungarians most of them) preparing to enter the majestic Fagaras mountains. As soon as we finish our stroll along the village’s narrow lanes, we head for the town of Sibiu.

Sibiu is a town which I, personally, like very much. I have always been attracted to its historical remainings, the medieval atmosphere which, at least in upper town, is everywhere present. Serving as the seat of the Austrian governors of Transylvania, Sibiu had 19 guilds, each representing a different craft, and each of these crafts had a very precise part of the citadel to protect, especially the 39 towers and the 4 bastions.

In the afternoon we’ll take a tour of the city, paying a special attention to the baroque Roman Catholic Cathedral (built between 1726 and 1733), the City History Museum which displays many interesting exhibits, the Gothic Evangelical Church with its magnificent organ (more than six thousand pipes). If we get there on Wednesdays, it’s possible for us to listen to a great organ concert. If not, maybe we’ll do that in Brasov, at the Black Church. However, in the old center of the town we’ll see also the Staircase Tower and the nearby Liar’s Bridge build in 1859, just by the “Piata Mica”. For the following day we’ll save time to visit the two most attractive of Sibiu’s beauties: Astra Museum (otherwise known as Museum of Popular Techniques from Dumbrava Sibiului) and Bruckental Museum. We’ll spend the night in a very fine pension close to Sibiu..