Timișoara, the largest city in western Romania, lies along the canalized Bega River. Over the years, Timișoara has been influenced by many cultures. The Romans used it as an important crossroads fortress until the Tatars destroyed it in the 13th century. Conquered by Turkish armies in...
We have parked on the banks of Danube in the village Coronini, from where it took us just a few minutes ride on our scooter on a good paved road to reach Sfânta Elena, which is the best known of the six Czech villages in the Banat region (could be easily reached also by truck). About...
Today we planned to visit Ravensca – one of six Czech-inhabited villages in Romania’s Banat. We have parked near the gasoline station at Liubcova, where according to Google starts the unpaved road to the village. We took our scooter, the first few kilometers we drove on an...
The ethnic Czech villages of the Romanian Banat – today home to around 2,000 inhabitants – are a unique cultural phenomenon. They are located in the mountains above the Danube Gorge and are surrounded by populations of Serb and Romanian origin. The villages’ years of isolation have helped...
On the way to Czech villages in the Banat region, we passed through the impressive Iron Gates Nature Park – The Danube Gorges. On the territory of this nature park, the Danube forms the longest gorges in Europe (134 km) and, in its narrowest sector, creates the Great and Small...
Drobeta–Turnu Severin is an important inland port on the Danube in southwestern Romania near the point where the river leaves the Iron Gate gorge. The modern city was established only in the 19th century but the city’s history goes back to the time of Roman emperor Trajan. Mainly because...
A former Roman settlement, the city of Târgu Jiu lies at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, on the banks of the River Jiu. Inhabited since Paleolithic times, the region of western Oltenia was of strategic importance to the Romans. The area provided direct access, through one of...
The stunning Corvin Castle (also known as Hunedoara Castle) is sitting on a rocky bluff with only a wooden connecting bridge for access. This Gothic-Renaissance castle has a gorgeous exterior, almost like a fairytale castle straight from Disney (entrance 35 ROL). With the magnificent...
We planned to drive to Padiș – the heart of the Apuseni Mountains, a large mountain chain, a subgroup of the Carpathians, lying north of the Mureş River in northwestern Romania. The Apuseni Mountains are not high—reaching a maximum elevation of only 1849 meters. Limestone underlies most...
Bánffy Castle is considered one of the biggest castles in Transylvania. From the fourteenth century through 1944, Bánffy Castle was occupied by members of the Bánffy family, whose ranks included the first governor of Transylvania under the Habsburgs as well as a 19th-century Hungarian...