This is a summary of the primary Vlad sights:
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1. Bucharest - Fly in. Have some Romanian cash with you already - we had $200 from home. The airport has ATM's also and Bank exchanges, but those lines can be long. ATM's outside the airport may not be available outside main towns. Get rental car. We immediately headed north, but have put all the Bucharest sites here at the beginning to better suit the chronology. We actually spent our days in Bucharest at the end of the trip. Our usual practice is to save big cities for the end, and immediately aim for the countryside. Thus, the need for cash.
2. Lake Snagov. This is the possible-doubtful burial place for all or part of Vlad Tepes, beheaded on a battlefield, apparently. The burial is at a lovely monastery, not the original, but a smaller reconstruction. Parts may have been there, still lovely and worth being rowed over). Vlad. monastery island claimed burial place , and Lake Snagov; for details on Vlad, read the novel "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova -- definitely a novel, but a good read with interesting facts and factoids, see http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/1589/the-historian
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3. Bran Castle (not much connection in fact with Vlad, but it is tourist-convenient), Brasov. Bran Castle. The guides there will disavow any Vlad connection except perhaps an occasional overnight stay as a visitor. Tourism has taken over, but enjoy.
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4. Poinari Citadel, Poinari Citadel, at the Transfagarasan Pass. This pass takes you from Wallachia to Transylvania; on the way, through the steep and formidable vales, is the real castle, now a ruin but worth the climb. To make it easier, the climb is an easy series of switchbacks for walking, and a rail. Transfagarasan Pass. Take a few dollars for the guides up there. I understand that a dollar can buy a great deal.
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5. Sighisoara (birthplace), Sighisoara, a lovely medieval town, long staircases from one level of the town to another for protection, great timbers for the stairs. His birthplace is now a restaurant, and a good one.
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6. Bistrita (fiction author Bram Stoker and his "Dracula" site, tavern there). This gets to the fictional side of Dracula. The town is unremarkable except for the interest in how Bram Stoker, an Irishman, turned the historic Vlad into the vampire Dracula.
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7. Castel Dracula, at Piatra Fontanele. There is a new hotel here, serving not only the tourists who enjoy Dracula's story; but also serious hikers, climbers. This is where Bram Stoker's fictional character's castle supposedly located, in central hiking-outdoor-near wilderness type park, some kitsch but fine), Castel Dracula, Piatra Fontanele,
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8. Hunedoara. Town. Its castle is known as Hunedoara Castle, a/k/a Corvinilor Castle, or Corvinilor Castulul. It was built in the 14th Century by Hungarian John Hunyadi, ruler of Transylvania, sometime ally, sometimes enemy (he ordered the death of Vlad's father), see Corvin Castle, Hunedoara.
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Iancu de Hunedoara. Johannes Hunedoara. Spellings from different languages, make researching complex.
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9. Targoviste (actual court), the Princely Court, Targoviste, practice your browser's translation ability at http://www.targoviste.light-soft.ro/ For a touristy site but with a nice photograph, see http://www.draculasteps.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=55
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10. Bucharest (details at #1)
For those not interested in driving:
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1. Bucharest - Fly in. Have some Romanian cash with you already - we had $200 from home. The airport has ATM's also and Bank exchanges, but those lines can be long. ATM's outside the airport may not be available outside main towns. Get rental car. We immediately headed north, but have put all the Bucharest sites here at the beginning to better suit the chronology. We actually spent our days in Bucharest at the end of the trip. Our usual practice is to save big cities for the end, and immediately aim for the countryside. Thus, the need for cash.
- Curtea Veche (at Bucharest), an actual court of Vlad III Tepes, the "old court", is still being excavated), Bucharest court, Curtea Veche, see http://bucharest.romaniaexplorer.com/page_10857.html
- Dracula Club (Bucharest). This is a themed eating club, kitsch and fun, and clearly and appropriately geared for tourists. Dracula Club. Apparently the idea has caught on, see http://www.mysteriousjourneys.com/halloween-2011-transilvania/. When we were there, unfortunately at the same time as a promotional evening October 31 for tour guides from the US, some guides were commenting to each other that the distance between Vlad sites would be a detraction from tours just focused on Vlad, and we agree. So incorporate Vlad in everything else. Fried rats. Yum. Chicken breast covered with poppy seeds, tail of pasta, ears of pasta, whiskers, little beady eyes.
2. Lake Snagov. This is the possible-doubtful burial place for all or part of Vlad Tepes, beheaded on a battlefield, apparently. The burial is at a lovely monastery, not the original, but a smaller reconstruction. Parts may have been there, still lovely and worth being rowed over). Vlad. monastery island claimed burial place , and Lake Snagov; for details on Vlad, read the novel "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova -- definitely a novel, but a good read with interesting facts and factoids, see http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/1589/the-historian
.
3. Bran Castle (not much connection in fact with Vlad, but it is tourist-convenient), Brasov. Bran Castle. The guides there will disavow any Vlad connection except perhaps an occasional overnight stay as a visitor. Tourism has taken over, but enjoy.
.
4. Poinari Citadel, Poinari Citadel, at the Transfagarasan Pass. This pass takes you from Wallachia to Transylvania; on the way, through the steep and formidable vales, is the real castle, now a ruin but worth the climb. To make it easier, the climb is an easy series of switchbacks for walking, and a rail. Transfagarasan Pass. Take a few dollars for the guides up there. I understand that a dollar can buy a great deal.
.
5. Sighisoara (birthplace), Sighisoara, a lovely medieval town, long staircases from one level of the town to another for protection, great timbers for the stairs. His birthplace is now a restaurant, and a good one.
.
6. Bistrita (fiction author Bram Stoker and his "Dracula" site, tavern there). This gets to the fictional side of Dracula. The town is unremarkable except for the interest in how Bram Stoker, an Irishman, turned the historic Vlad into the vampire Dracula.
.
7. Castel Dracula, at Piatra Fontanele. There is a new hotel here, serving not only the tourists who enjoy Dracula's story; but also serious hikers, climbers. This is where Bram Stoker's fictional character's castle supposedly located, in central hiking-outdoor-near wilderness type park, some kitsch but fine), Castel Dracula, Piatra Fontanele,
.
8. Hunedoara. Town. Its castle is known as Hunedoara Castle, a/k/a Corvinilor Castle, or Corvinilor Castulul. It was built in the 14th Century by Hungarian John Hunyadi, ruler of Transylvania, sometime ally, sometimes enemy (he ordered the death of Vlad's father), see Corvin Castle, Hunedoara.
.
Iancu de Hunedoara. Johannes Hunedoara. Spellings from different languages, make researching complex.
.
- This site underplays his role with Vlad, see http://biography.yourdictionary.com/john-hunyadi; this Angelfire site goes too far into areas of the occult, see http://www.angelfire.com/realm/shades/demons/vampires/vladlifeofvlad3.htm
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9. Targoviste (actual court), the Princely Court, Targoviste, practice your browser's translation ability at http://www.targoviste.light-soft.ro/ For a touristy site but with a nice photograph, see http://www.draculasteps.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=55
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10. Bucharest (details at #1)
For those not interested in driving:
- If you prefer a formal tour, this one looks reasonably good if you like buses; but bus rides over long distances must get boring. See photos and narrative at http://www.covinnus.com/tours/tour005.html.
- Here is a site with a fine introductory set of photographs on Vlad Tepes sites - at http://www.richardleveson.com/Romania3.html/.
Campulung Moldovensc, Romania. Logging.