Private day trip to former capitals of Wallachia-Romania, from Bucharest

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Princely Court, Targoviste Romania

The complex of monuments which form the Royal Court of Targoviste represents one of the most important architectural group from Valahia and has a great artistical and historical value.

Being a royal residence for many centuries, the Royal Court offers the possibility of revealing a chapter of the romanian medieval art and history.

Besides the outdoors museum there is an exhibition dedicated to Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler), founder of the fortifications; a lapidarium at the Royal Court's basement and an exhibition of religious art in the great Royal Church.

Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Curtea de Arges Monastery, Bulevardul Basarabilor 1, Curtea de Arges 115300 Romania

Curtea de Arges Monastery is one of the most famous monasteries in Romania and a must-see attraction if you’re looking to discover centuries-old religious sites.

It’s the monumental church and its unique architectural style that make this monastery one of the most representative in Romania, a country that has hundreds of religious monuments of venerable age.

The burial place of Kings Carol the 1st and Ferdinand and Queens Elisabeta and Maria, this church – also known as the Cathedral from Curtea de Arges – had an overwhelming influence in the past on the architectural style of many religious monuments from the southern part of the country.

Built 500 years ago by the medieval Prince Neagoe Basarab, the church was from the beginning a key religious landmark in Southern Romania given the use of expensive and rare materials and the hand-carved decorations inspired not only from the Byzantine tradition, but also from the Ottoman world. The consecration ceremony from 1517 highlighted the importance of the edifice, so high that the patriarch of Constantinople and many representatives of the monasteries from Mount Athos attended the event.

Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Poenari Citadel, Transfăgărăşan Comuna Arefu, Romania

The ruins of Poienari Fortress stand high on a cliff overlooking the Arges River, at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. Built at the beginning of the 13th century by the first Walachian rulers, the castle changed names and residents a few times over the decades; eventually, it was abandoned and left in ruins.

Recognized the potential of the location and upon taking over the throne, Dracula ordered that the structure be repaired and consolidated, turning it into one of his main fortresses. When the Turks attacked and captured the castle in 1462, Vlad (Dracula) escaped via a secret passageway leading north through the mountains.

Although the castle was used for many years after Vlad's death in 1476, it was eventually abandoned again in the first half of the 16th century and left to the ravages of time and weather. In 1888, a major landslide brought down a portion of the castle which crashed into the river far below. The castle underwent repairs and the remnants of its walls and towers stand to this day.

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Vidraru Dam, Arges River between Fruntii Mountains and Ghitu mountains, Curtea de Arges 117040 Romania

Vidraru Dam is a dam in Romania. It was completed in 1966 on the Argeş River and creates Lake Vidraru. The arch dam was built with the primary purpose to produce hydroelectricity. The dam's height is 166 metres, the arch length 305 meters and it can store 465 million cubic metres of water. The reservoir has a total shoreline (perimeter) length of 28 km.

The total surface of the lake is 3,930,000 sq m, 10.3 km in length, with a maximum width of 2.2 km in the Valea Lupului zone - Călugăriţa. Normal level or water retention is 830.00 metres above sea level (mdM).

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Balea Glacier Lake, Fagaras Mountains Bâlea Lake Romania Romania

Bâlea Lake is a glacier lake situated at 2,034 m of altitude in the Făgăraș Mountains, in central Romania, in Cârțișoara, Sibiu County.

There are two chalets opened all the year round, a meteorological station and a mountain rescue station. It is accessible by car on the Transfăgărășan road only during the summer, and the rest of the year by a cable car from the "Bâlea Cascadă" chalet.

Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Transfagarasan Highway, Dn 7C Sibiu and Arges County, Curtea de Arges 115300 Romania

The Transfăgărășan road or DN7C is a paved mountain road crossing the southern section of the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. It has national-road ranking and is the second-highest paved road in the country after the Transalpina.

It starts near the village of Bascov, near Pitești, and stretches 90 kilometres (56 mi) to the crossroad between the DN1 and Sibiu, between the highest peaks in the country, Moldoveanu and Negoiu. The road, built in the early 1970s as a strategic military route, connects the historic regions of Transylvania and Wallachia.

Duration: 5 minutes