Continental Journeys

Bucharest City Package

Depart:

Independent Tour-Land Only

4 Days/ 3 Nights

Daily April 1-October 31, 2009

Price per Person:

In a double room at the tourist class Hotel Ibis $539
Single supplement $249

In a double room at the first class Hotel Lido $599
Single supplement $299

In a double room at the deluxe Hotel Intercontinental $749
Single supplement $339

Package Includes:

3 nights accommodation at hotel category selected all with private facilities
Round trip airport transfers
Breakfast each morning
Private Bucharest city tour
1 dinner with folkore show
Hotel taxes and service charges

Itinerary

Additional nights available.

Optional private Transylvania tour from Bucharest to Sinaia, Brasov and Bran (Dracula's Castle)-10 hour tour including lunch and entrance fees to sites visited: $349 per person with 2 passengers: $659 1 passenger
During this day tour (pick up from hotel 8am) you will get to visit some of the most interesting and famous Romanian sites. After an early departure, you will drive through the scenic Prahova Valley until you reach one of the most popular mountain and ski resorts in the Carpathians, Sinaia, the favorite place of King Carol 1st of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen, the first King of Romania. Here you will visit the splendid Peles Castle, former summer residence of the Romanian Royal Family, and the Sinaia monastery erected at the end of the 17th cetnury, the oldest building in town. Continue your tour to Brasov, one of the most important towns of the area during the middle ages. Here you will visit the Black Church, the largest gothic building in Southeastern Europe, which houses a collection of unique oriental carpets. You will also visit St Nicholas church and the first Romanian school in Transylvania. After lunch which will be served in a local restaurant continue to Bran village to visit the famous Dracula's Castle, built in the 14th century in order to protect the border between Transylvania and Wallachia. Arrive to Bucharest 8-9pm.

Mogosoaia Palace Tour-6 hour tour including lunch-$219 per person with 2 passengers and $379 with 1 passenger-Today you will make a trip outside Bucharest and visit the Mogosoaia Palace, a fine piece of 17th century Romanian architecture. The Mogosoaia Palace is situated near Bucharest in a splendid park on the shore of Mogosoaia Lake. Mogoasoaia Palace was built 1698 -1702 by Constantin Bracoveanu, a famous Romanian Voivode. The Palace is an architectural monument, having the fa?ade dominated by traditional staircase balconies, and by arcades and columns with capitals, specific to the "Brancovenesc" (Brancovan) style. The Mogosoaia Palace has also some Byzantine decorative features and adornments, which join stylistic elements characteristic both of the Italian Renaissance and the Baroque. The Mogosoaia Museum exhibit oil paintings, stone sculptures, gold or silver embroideries, rare books and old manuscripts among other treasures. The palace was connected to the Princely Court by a long bridge, paved with wooden logs, Calea Victoriei of today. You will be introduced to the aristocratic life of the good old times, when young princesses and princes were walking and chatting in the parks, or when the major sports event pompous balls took place here. Both the balcony and the first floor rooms had been initially adorned with oriental stucco and mural paintings representing either members of the princely family historical themes. On the facade overlooking the lake there is a wonderful "loggia" of Venetian inspiration, with three cusped archades. Its rich adornment joins together stylistic elements characteristic both of the Renaissance and the Baroque. Its elegant and refined features make this edifice unique in the Romanian residential architecture.

Tragoviste and Dealu Monastery-6 hour tour including lunch-$219 per person with 2 passengers and $379 with 1 passenger-After breakfast departure to Targoviste, capital of feudal Walachia from the 14th to the 17th century. The main attraction of Targoviste is the famous ?Princely Court?, known as Vlad Tepes (Dracula) real palace. He lived here for 7 years as the ruler of Walachia. This was Vlad?s longest period of power and during that time he committed many atrocities. The palace is now in ruins with only parts of the walls still intact but next to the palace you can find the watch tower and a church which in contrast is still completely intact. From the tower is a great view of the palace. The church is where Vlad attended at that time, inside is a very impressive interior filled with wood carved furniture and paintings and sculptures all over the walls. Near the Princely Court is situated the Dealu monastery, one of the most interesting religious monuments in the county. The monastery?s name is closely related to the apparition of the first book in Romania and the establishment of the fourth European typographical center of Cyrillic writing, through the patronage of the prince Radu the Great and the activity of the monk Macarie.

Snagov Monastery tour-6 hour tour including lunch-$259 per person with 2 passengers and $439 with 1 passenger-This half day trip offers you the possibility to see the surrounding beautiful landscape offered by Snagov Lake and forest embroidered with monasteries and palaces. Depart from Bucharest and after a drive of about 1 hour, you arrive at Snagov. You will cross Snagov Lake by boat and visit the Snagov Monastery. Snagov Monastery, a rustic cloister from 1364, located on a small isolated island in the middle of Snagov Lake, is the reputed burial place of Vlad Tepes, also known as Dracula, who, it is claimed, lies beneath the floor of the church. Don't let yourself be taken in by the imposing forest and the nice lake surrounding the island or by the generous architecture of the monastery. The secrets are there and when the strong winds rummage the deep waters the frightful sound of ringing bells of the old sunk church (built here by Vlad the Impeller's grandfather, Mircea cel Batran) reveal them to a cautioned ear. The island and the monastery witnessed throughout the centuries lots of crimes and dramas.

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