Discover the Beauty of Transilvania and Explore the Romanian's Winter Traditions Before Holidays!

This trip is a mix of experiences for those who love to discover new things about the culture and traditions of the place that you are visiting. Do you know that in Romania, for the winter Holidays (Christams, New Year's Eve), we have a Bear, Goat and Masked carolers Dance? Yeap! You read it right! Romania is a rich country when it comes to traditions and superstitions. Modern Romanians only keep a few of them, but many of the old traditions can be discovered in the countryside, in remote areas of the country. In Romania children go caroling on Christmas Eve. Actually, in Bucharest and in other cities they start long before that, as they try to go to as many houses as possible. If you live in a block of flats, chances are you'll be visited by carolers as early as the beginning of December. Not only children go caroling. Groups of students – usually theology students, with beautiful voices- start caroling sometime in the second half of December. Carolers usually expect small food and beverage goodies- fruits, nuts, cookies, glasses of wine for adult carolers- in exchange for their performances. Nowadays kids usually settle for money, 5 or 10 RON should be enough. Traditionally, carolers have bells, whips and drums and make noise to dispel the malevolent spirits. Some of them also wear costumes and masks symbolizing diverse animals such as: bears, goats and horses, which representing the evil forces. From Christmas until Epiphany, they also visit the houses in the neighborhood singing the Carol of The Star and other religious carols, holding a stick with a Star made of cardboard or other materials on top of it. In the first day of the New Year they walk again from house to house chanting a song about luck, throwing rice in the doorways of their receivers. We are going to explore the main attractions of the area, which includes the Dracula's Castle, Peles Castle, the most beautiful city in Romania, which for me is Brasov and the Rasnov Fortress. -- How to arrive at the accommodation -- -> Henri Coanda Airport in Bucharest: at the entrance of the airport, there is a special train taking you to the North Railway in Bucharest (1 EUR ticket) <-> buy a ticket from Bucharest to Brasov (6 -12 EUR depending on the transport company) <->From Brasov I am going to collect you and bring you to your accomodation