We left Sighisoara after a great stay and jumped on another train this time bound for Brasov. The scenery on this leg of the journey was starting to get more beautiful as we headed into the interior. The landscape was becoming much more mountainous and we trundled through forests with the autumnal trees creating a riot of colours of red, brown, yellow and green. We even spotted some wildlife from the train windows, quite a few deer and what we thought ( hope) was a wolf. It definitely wasn’t a domestic dog and it looked too big for a jackal so we believe it was a wolf even if they are very very rare.
We soon arrived in Brasov and jumped in a taxi to take us to our digs for the next 3 nights. Now, as I have said in previous tales, the taxi drivers in Timisoara are all brilliant, they always put the meter on and are very friendly. This guy said he would put the meter on but didn’t and then asked for a sum we knew was too much for the short journey. Oh well, first indication that we were on the tourist trail and we won’t make the same mistake twice by using Uber next time.
We had booked ‘Simon Brasov Apartment’, handy that Simon’s surname is the same as the town so no misunderstandings there then. Simon had a sent a video on how to get the keys so we were soon in and getting settled. It was another great place which was cosy but had a full kitchen so we could make some grub if needed. We were still worried that restaurants might be forced to close due to new covid restrictions so at least we would be ok on that front.
The location of the apartment was again great, located on a cobbled street in the old town and only moments away from the main square and all the sights. We headed down the main drag, Strada Republica to the central plaza, Piata Sfatului. We didn’t have to worry about restaurants as Strada Republica is a whole pedestrianised street with restaurants down the centre and the plaza was lined with more restaurants which were all bouncing on a Tuesday afternoon in covid times. Brasov really is a tourist town due to there being lots to see in the town and also the famous Bran Castle is not far away. I guess with it being fairly close to Bucharest that also means lots of visitors. We had a wander around and Brasov really is a nice spot with lots of restored buildings and the town is dominated by the enormous Black Church. Somehow, maybe because of the large number of tourists or the larger size of the city but it didn’t have as good a vibe as Sighisoara. As time was getting on now and the temperature was dropping we found a place to eat on the square and enjoyed some people watching. Well there were a lot of them to watch.
The next morning we decided to explore more of the city. We started off by climbing up to the citadel located on a hill overlooking the town. It was quite an impressive fortress and provided commanding views over the town. However, we were either too early for it to be open or it was closed due to covid restrictions. Oh well, it was a nice walk up and some lovely views. We descended back into town and decided to tour the edge of the city via the towers that remain from olden times. We headed up a steep staircase to the White Tower which is a large structure and again gave us a great view of the surrounding area. We then walked along a lovely forest track to the Black Tower for another perspective of the town. Unfortunately, both of these towers are closed to the public and have been for some time. We had hoped to learn more about the history of the fortifications but when we arrived at the Museum of the Barsa Land Fortifications to be greeted by a sign saying that all museums are closed due to the pandemic. Well at least we now know but a shame as Brasov boasts a number of museums. Never mind, we will still enjoy walking around the town taking in the buildings. We headed south of the old town to the Schei Quarter which has a lovely small plaza with lots of nice old architecture and churches of course. This area had a sense of being a real place with locals drinking coffee in the square rather than hordes of tourists. We meandered back into the old town via ‘Rope Street’ which is claimed to be the narrowest street in Europe and it was definitely quite a squeeze but more of a ginnel that a street in my book. After all this wandering and sightseeing we headed back to the apartment for a bite of lunch.
After lunch with the sun shining we decided to have a trek up Mount Tampa which looms over Brasov. There is a Hollywood style ‘Brasov’ sign at the top and most people usually get the cable car up but it was closed of course. Mount Tampa rises 967m above the town and there are several trails up the hill through the forested slopes. There were quite a few people enjoying the low level walks but we didn’t see many people as we made the climb up. It only took about an hour until we emerged at the viewing platform next to the Brasov sign. Here we were rewarded with the best views so far. We found a map board and it looked like we could take a different path down to make it a circular route so we went for it. This was great as we came out at a clearing in the forest with views out to the mountains on the other side of Mount Tampa. We then climbed down a steep staircase and then looped back to the start. A lovely walk and we rewarded ourselves for the hard work with a beer at a pop up café with table and chairs spread out near the city walls. Back in the old town we ate at ‘Pickles’ restaurant which is just down the street from the apartment. This was a good call as the food was excellent and much more reasonably priced compared to a lot of other places in Brasov. Restaurants here seemed a bit more pricy than anywhere else we had been on our Romania travels. Another great day on our trip and the plan for the next day was a day trip to Bran to visit the famous ‘Dracula Castle’. What else would you do with Halloween approaching?
