BRAN Castle and Village Museum

The small town of Bran, located a whopping 30 kilometers from Brasov (making it a great day trip option), situated in the heart of Transylvania, is world-famous because of its Castle, and the Dracula-hype surrounding it. However, the castle doesn’t actually have any true connection to the author of “Dracula”, Bram Stoker, or the feared Vlad the Impaler, other than a painting of him which can be found in one of the castle rooms.

But the castle is still visited by a huge number of tourists each year, making it one of the most-visited places in the country. Dracula or no Dracula, in my opinion it is still one of the most beautiful and unique castles in the country. Today it houses exhibitions displaying pieces of furniture and art, which were collected by Queen Marie, the last Queen consort of Romania. 

Although the exhibition inside is nice and a definite must-see for anyone who plans to visit the castle and the area (entrance fee is 35 Ron for Adults by the way, around 8 Euros), I especially love to just sit down and admire the interior courtyard, boasting trees, old wells and scales, being surrounded by some of the most beautiful architectural pieces of Romania. I honestly just can’t get enough of the interior courtyard!

After you’re done with the interior, checked out all the furniture, smiled at Vlad the Impaler’s grimy face and threw a couple of lei in the well, you can move along to admire the lush garden area, right below the castle. Although charming and inviting during the summer, I am pretty sure that even in the cold winter months the garden has a little bit of magic to offer its visitors.

Now that you’re done with one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, how about checking out a lesser-known site? That’s right, Bran doesn’t only have ONE important attraction! The Village Museum, located right next to the entrance to the castle offers an insightful exhibition for anybody interested in local culture and folklore. For a minimal sum of 1.5 euros you can enter the open-air expo and admire 16 traditional houses which were brought in (that’s right, they moved in the HOUSES!) from various villages surrounding Bran and Brasov.

That’s right, these are real houses in which real villagers lived their daily lives! As you can see in the photo above, the houses were pretty tiny considering families back then were made up of 6-8-10 siblings, which all slept under the same roof together! Some of these houses are open, so you can enter and admire the many professions they knew, like weaving. Some houses also feature the shed where the animals were brought up. Besides every house there’s a sign in English and Romanian, describing the professions people had and the way they used various tools and utensils in their daily work. 

I was honestly very surprised in a positive way that we discovered this charming little attraction. We ended up spending almost 2 hours among these inviting little houses, reading every sign and learning about the history of the surrounding villages. I found it very interesting, and was also very surprised that I hadn’t discovered it sooner! I guess it’s overshadowed by the infamous castle, but in my opinion it really shouldn’t be, since it offers much more insight about local history and culture than Bran Castle!

Don’t forget to do a bit of Sightseeing in Brasov, enjoy at least one of the 4 Best Views of Brasov and also check out Rasnov Fortress while you’re visiting the area.

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