Winter bear watching & distillery tour near Brasov

You will be picked up by your driver/ guide from your location in Brasov and driven to the nearby town of Sfantu Gheorghe, where you will visit a local palinka distillery. Palinka is a traditional Hungarian spirit made out of different fruits. You will have the chance to see how this drink is made and the secrets behind palinka's unique taste.

Depending on your schedule, you can choose to visit the nearby Szekely National Museum where you will learn a lot of interesting facts about the Romanian history from early ages to modern times. The visit is at your own expense (10 lei/ person and if you want an English museum guide, then it's another 20 lei/ group).

You will then leave for Tusnad Bai / Balvanyos and decide whether you want to have lunch first (included in the price) or visit the St. Anna lake, which is the only volcanic crater lake in Romania. Depending on road conditions, we can either leave the car on the edge of the crater and descend about 1 kilometer down to the shore or drive to the lower parking area. You will spend quality time admiring the beautiful lake and take pictures with the nature.

Depending on the schedule, we can drive to a nearby area and after we park our car, we can go on a 10-15 minute walk to the Stinky Cave, situated on a mountain full with post-volcanic activities. The cave is still used by people around the world for healing purposes for those with circulatory problems, rheumatic diseases and vasoconstriction.

Then comes the highlight of the day, the bear watching experience. There are two bear hides in the area and depending on weather conditions, we can either go by a 4x4 car directly to the bear hide or choose the other one where we will have an easy 5 minute hike in the forest. Nothing too difficult, so don't worry. After arriving in the safe bear hide, we will wait quietly for the bears to appear.

The bear hide is specially designed and built by a professional photographer and it features huge one-way windows so bears cannot see you inside. Make sure you bring a camera! During the stay, you will be served with traditional palinka to keep you warm. And speaking about staying warm, bear in mind that it's winter and it can be very cold outside as well as inside the bear hide.

Because during the winter chances of seeing the bears are significantly lower, in case you don't see bears, you can choose to get a partial refund. So every person will get 20 EURO back if they choose to do so. If not, thank you :)

In the end you will return to the car and you will get back to Brasov and dropped off at your location where you can enjoy the rest of the day and get warm with what's left of the palinka. Yes, you can buy palinka at the distillery and choose from a big variety of types which include raspberry, blackberry, elder-flower and blueberry palinka. But if you like the traditional taste, just choose plum or pear palinka.

It will surely warm up your stay.