Romania

This guide offers the reader 36 suggested tours, nearly 400 hotels and guesthouses, a lively portrait of the country with special features on peasant society, religious traditions, the landscape and environment, winter festivals, music, food and wine and gives practical advice to help you organise your trip.

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Increasingly popular with independent travellers, Romania is famous for more than just Dracula's real-life ancestor Vlad the Impaler. Tourists are drawn to the melodrama of the medieval castles, the rich ornamentation of churches and monasteries, the charm of unspoilt villages where horse-drawn vehicles remain a common sight, and the magnificence of the Carpathian mountains and the vast Danube valley. In 2003 Romania saw more than 70,000 English-speaking visitors, and that number is expected to increase by 15-20 per cent per annum as more and more travellers explore the countries of Eastern Europe.