If you too have often wondered which is the best winter destination for the weekend, join the club! Living in Bucharest I’ve been constantly looking at a mountain resort to keep me away from the usual bustle of Prahova Valley. And speaking of this area, most of this resorts I visited not once but several times over the last 15 years.
So, for convenience or due to the need for minimal effort in carrying luggage, I benefited greatly from the tourist / driver experience. Oh yes. We now come to mention the endless lines of the season starting from Azuga and ending at Bușteni (or vice versa), the time spent driving in congestion until you manage to get to the destination.
One day, in the autumn of 2007, dominated by a spirit of adventure, I signaled left after the bridge situated before the entrance in Predeal and advanced “slowly” before and after Pârâul Rece. Whatever you do, do not miss the landscape before Rasnov: you have both Bucegi and Fagaras Mountains on display. But until Bran my patience starts to disappear. Not at all impressed by what I saw and a little disappointed, to admit honestly, I called the villa where I had booked the room for instructions in reaching the locations. Left and right on the street, I arrived. An attic wooden room expected us. Great! And soon we were out and about, curious to discover the resort.
“If someone told me then that Bran will become our favorite resort my surprise it would have reached sky high.”
To begin, a tour at the Castle and in the surrounding area seemed a good plan. Then I quickly begin to ask the local people what we could see, what were the recommended routes, where to eat. As we could not be edified fully, in a beautiful summer day, about our third visit to the resort, we took a road from the bridge at the border of Predelut. We had no big claims on the chosen route, just wanted to lose ourselves in the forest, look Bran from the top.We followed the path on a steep road outside the village and after several changes in direction, among the last houses, a clearing on a hillside showed us just how much more we had to climb up. Time for admiring the landscape opening up to Moeciu. We fallowed the edge of the forest until we came across what it appeared to be a fence. It even felt like we walked right by the courtyards of a few houses scattered through the meadow, but there was no other possibility anyway. When the trail entered the woods again I had that feeling of “bear watching us” J maybe because we haven’t met anyone on the way. There was a silence which made you attentive to the rustling of each leaf. But, oh that priceless moment when we reached the top and Fagaras opened before our eyes!
And just like that Bran entered my soul. By the end I have made peace with the absence of other touristic sights and kept the tradition of passing through the center of the resort, enjoying the handicrafts exhibits in the Bazaar. It may be a small village but it has a lot of heart.
What I recommend in Bran:
– Visit the Castle
– Take a walk through the center
– Go to dinner at Popasul Reginei restaurant
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