Romania

Sibiu's astonishingly beautiful old part is nicely renovated, the German name of the town is Herrmannstadt; before the Cheaucescu-Regime there were a lot of German-Speaking Romanians living there. The weather in autumn is mostly moderate, food is cheap, the most expensive part of the trip will be the hotel.

1 day is enough. Arrive in the morning and leave that evening. You can only buy your train ticket out of there an hour before the train leaves which is unfortunate when you're train is at 1am!

Dracula commercialism is a plenty! Bran Castle is stunning but there are talks of the owner taking back from the government (or whoever runs it) as the lease is nearly up.

Pleasantly surprised! Wide spacious streets. Upsetting to see the homeless/poor kids inhaling their bags of glue at the train station :-(

Got a good vibe from this place. It's a University town. great view of city from Fortress Hill. Rowing in the lake in the park can be fun too!

Stay at the Rapsodia Hotel. Nothing special but relatively clean and convenient to the action. Make sure to stroll out on the adjacent pedestrian area where everyone in town seems to come in the evenings. Enjoy the sidewalk cafes!

About Deva Deva (German: Diemrich, Hungarian: Déva) is a city situated on the left bank of the middle course of the Mureş river. It is the capital of Hunedoara county in Romania and has around 80,000 inhabitants, including subordinated villages. In Ancient Times it was a Dacian fortress called Singidava. Name The name Deva is considered to come from the ancient Dacian word dava, meaning "fortress" (e.g Pelendava, Piroboridava, Zargidava etc). Other theories trace the name to a Roman Legion, the Legio II Augusta, transferred to Deva from Castrum Deva, now Chester in Britain. On medieval maps, Deva appears as Deva or Dewan. History Documentary evidence of the city's existence first appeared in 1269. Under Voivod John Hunyadi, Deva became an important military and administrative centre. Partially destroyed by the Ottoman Turks in 1550, it was afterward rebuilt and the fortress extended. In 1621 Prince Gabriel Bethlen transformed and extended the Magna Curia Palace (also known as the Bethlen Castle) in Renaissance style. Economy Mining, foodstuffs, civil engineering, and power industries are important to Deva's economy. Education A private University of Ecology and Tourism was established in the city in 1990, and the academic centres of Timişoara and Cluj-Napoca have opened branches in the city. Deva is also the home of Romania's national women gymnastics training centre, Cetate Deva. Tourism Deva is dominated by Citadel Hill, a protected nature reserve because of its rare floral species and the presence of the horned adder. Perched on the top of the hill are the ruins of the Citadel built in the 13th century.

A clean, small and beautiful town...ZALAU...The archaeological discoveries proved that traces of humans in this area are to be dated back to the Neolithic, 6.500 years ago…Dacian coins discovered in the central and western part of the town as well as other "Gesta Hungarorum", -also called the Anonymous Chronicle-, offers the first written document regarding Zalau. The work was written around the year 1210. Even if there were found human traces dating to 900 BC, the first documented attestation appeared in 1200......Zalau has always been a central town and since 1968 it became the residence of the Salaj county. Ten years later it became the municipal town of the county. Today it is an important industrial center of the country with a life of its own…...Being a municipal town of the county, Zalau is also its cultural center. The cultural events take place in the Union Culture House, the Municipal Cultural House, the History and Arts Museum, " Ioan Sima' Gallery…...Financed by the city-hall the ensemble of the House of Unions, "Porolissum"- the professional ensemble, "Columna"- the youth folkloric ensemble, are very famous in Romania and abroad… Come to Zalau.... You are wellcome here!!

Nothing to see here, move along! (really)

A nice place to go, but not in high summer, too many mosquitoes and other bugs. Be sure to rent a barge to cruise down the Danube Delta and camp on one of the island along the way and have a barbeque. Check also before your departure if there have been (recent) floods.