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Bran

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    • TravelerEuro Beer & Magnet Tour
      Day 31

      A Bus to Bran

      April 26, 2023 in Romania ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

      A lazy start on a grey morning. Summoned a bargain Bolt to the classy bus station to hop on the bus to Castle Bran, inspiration to Bram Stoker for Dracula.

      Some banter with a couple of young German legal eagles passed the journey nicely.

      The castle loomed majestically over the town below. The path below was full of souvenir tents, and there were far too many people - bus trips and lots of school children….but that didn’t detract from the Castle being a good day out.

      The torture rooms were well worth the extra money, and two young children were shrieking with delight at all the gruesome ways a human could be defiled in the name of extracting confessions! Their mum was squealing in horror as they chose their favourite punishment….

      The final part was dropping down a long lift, fitted inside the original well, on to the moderately daft ‘time tunnel’. At least it saved a long walk downhill!

      With temperatures remaining cool, we tried out Queen Marie’s Tea Room for soup, a drink, and a warm up.

      A grand day out!

      Return bus was due at 4pm, but we already knew that timetables in Romania were more of an aspiration than a fact….we passed the time chatting with an Aussie lady from Melbourne, travelling with her son.
      And of course indulged in a naughty but nice ‘chimney cake’ - a Transylvanian speciality 😍

      Back home, we had seen there was a small mural to visit near the station, but first dined well at FRACT - the ‘friendly restaurant and cozy terrace’. Felt like quite a swanky place, although since we were early, we had the sole attention of the proprietor and the maître d' 💪

      A stroll home admiring the fine old architecture (!) to close off our time in Brašov      Read more

    • Auf den Spuren Draculas
      Day 7

      Bran - Dracula besuchen

      May 5, 2023 in Romania ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      Der Ort ist unheimlich auf Touristen aus. Lauter kleine Läden mit viel Nippes, die Leute quatschen einen in allen möglichen Sprachen an. Der Parkplatz war unverschämt teuer, 10€! Das Schloss ist klein, voller Leute und nicht sonderlich prunkvoll. Claas mochte die Ritter Rüstungen und Schwerter sehr. Im Anschluss aßen wir noch Crêpes und Langosch, eine einheimische Spezialität, mit Käse und Quark. Dann ging es zum Kaufland einkaufen (ja es gibt fast die gleichen Ketten, die es in Deutschland auch gibt) und dann weiter nach Honigberg. Aber dazu an anderer Stelle mehr ;)Read more

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    • Romania 🇷🇴
      Day 4

      Castelul Bran 🏰

      May 22, 2023 in Romania

      We visited Bran Castle, wrongly named “Dracula’s Castle”, although there is no proof that Vlad Tepes (Dracula) ever stepped foot in the castle.
      Originally a medieval fortress build by the Teutons to protect the area from Otoman invasions, this is where Queen Maria, queen of all Romanians lived around 1920.Read more

    • Wandern in Rumänien
      Day 4

      Dracula

      September 9, 2023 in Romania ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

      In der "Vampirstadt" haben wir übrigens 2 Übernachtungen.
      Leider haben wir es nicht näher an das Schloss geschafft.
      An einem Samstag ist es allerdings nicht anders als in Berlin, nur Touris und die zu Hauf🤪Read more

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    • TravelerLand of Children of the Night
      Day 7

      Bran Castle

      September 9, 2023 in Romania ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

      Sometimes you just have to be a tourist and let yourself be lured into a trap. Bran Castle has become one of Romania's top attractions because it "resembles Castle Dracula, as described in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula (1897), in that both stand on rocky precipices and command spectacular views. But Stoker, an Irish writer, is not known to have ever visited Transylvania." Vlad the Impaler, the historical figure behind the fictional monster, didn't even reside in this castle, but was only held prisoner for some time in the dungeons.

      Nevertheless, a multitude of gift shops, restaurants and hotels plaster the foot of the hill and the castle is venue to a number of events, including a spectacular Halloween party that actually did sound quite enticing.

      The main attraction itself is a rather standard medieval fortress and the museum exhibits provide insight into the lives of Queen Marie and King Ferdinand. On the fourth floor, however, visitors get to encounter creatures and apparitions from Romanian folclore.

      A fun tidbit is the haunted house tucked away behind the many souvenir shops: An entertaining 15 minutes that only costs about €5 with the promise of live actors "trained to scare you". This live actor turned out to be some guy dressed up as a devilish vampire ready to scare the children and envelop women with his cape.

      Right before the exit, one of the mechanical creatures seemed to have malfunctioned - exposing visitors with the most terrifying sight of all: the local mechanic in a blue overall rummaging through the insides of a ghoul...      Read more

    • Darren and JanetBulgaria & Romania 2019
      3
      22
      Day 18

      Dracula unpacked

      June 3, 2019 in Romania ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

      After lunch we visited Bran Castle, aka Dracula's Castle. But how did it become so...
      Here's all the pieces to the puzzle....

      The castle is a medieval fortress built in 1382 in Bran Pass, a strategic location only metres from the border of Transylvania and Wallachia Provinces. Its main function was customs duty collecting and defending the border.

      Vlad Tepes III (Vlad the Impaler) was the King of Wallachia and famed for his favourite method of torturing his enemies by impaling them on greased poles, ensuring a prolonged death and a graphic display to any other invaders of their likely fate.

      Vlad's father (Vlad Tepes II) was admitted to the Order of the Dragon and was known as Vlad Dracul (dragon in Romanian), so his son became Vlad Dracula (son of Dracul).

      Vlad the Impaler only visited Bran Castle a handful of times with his father when he was young. The most time he spent there was 2 weeks... in the dungeon as a prisoner after he was captured by enemy forces.

      In Romanian mythology, the evil part of a dead person's soul (the Strigoi) doesn't leave the body until it is exhumed, and a wooden stake driven through the heart to release the spirit.

      Countess Elizabeth Bathory was a Hungarian noble woman, whose family ruled Transylvania for a time, who reputedly killed 650 young girls and bathed in their blood in an attempt to keep her skin young.

      Bram Stoker never visited Romania but took the bits he liked from all of the above, added a vampire and garlic, and Count Dracula was born ☺

      Stoker wrote that Dracula "inhabited a decaying castle in the Carpathian Mountains" - the Romanian tourism authorities in the 1970's thought Bran Castle fitted this description and encouraged the link in the pursuit of tourism dollars... which continue strongly to this day!      Read more

    • Kleiner OnkelSüdosteuropa
      Day 8

      Bran und Sinaia

      July 4, 2018 in Romania ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      Bernhard sein Vorschlag Schloss Bran,(das Schloss des Dracula) so früh wie möglich anzufahren, da im Laufe des Tages immer mehr Besucher kommen,hat sich bewahrheitet.
      Hier hatten wir den ersten Kontakt mit einer Griechischen Reisegruppe, sie waren echt Speziell.
      Von hier ging es weiter nach Sinaia da haben wir erst Fürstlich gespeist und dann das sehr schöne Schloss besichtigt,das beeinflusst von den Hohenzollern ist.
      Beim Kaffe am Schloss begegnen uns die Grichengruppe wieder. 🤔      Read more

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    • Balkantour
      111
      Day 6

      Drakula lässt Bitten

      April 20, 2022 in Romania ⋅ ⛅ -2 °C

      So Blut 🩸 hatten wir bereits in der Banka Transilvania abgegeben. Das Drakulaschloss Bran. die Fahrt dahin leider ohne Trasfargasan aber wir haben dafür Drei sehr schöne Passstraßen entdeckt mit wiedermal anspruchsvollem Offroad Anteil! Steigung bis 80%, 1. Gang Anlauf und Vollgas 😂🤣😂
      Nach kurzer Technikinspektion ging es weiter zum Schloss Bran-heutiges Tagesziel erreicht      Read more

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    • TravelerEuropa 2018
      Day 42

      Bran (Törzburg), Transylvanien

      August 3, 2018 in Romania ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      Schloss Bran ist vermutlich die große Touri-Attraktion hier in der Gegend, wird sie doch als die Burg beworben, welche Bram Stoker zu seiner Romanfigur inspiriert hat. Vlad Tepes, der Pfähler genannt, weil genau dies seine bevorzugte Methode der Hinrichtung war, gilt aufgrund seines Blutdurstes als weiteres Vorbild der Figur. Jedoch gibt es keine Hinweise, dass er Schloss Bran je bewohnt oder besucht hat. Aber genug des Relativierens. Eine tolle Burg in Transylvanien die Dracula alle Ehre gemacht hätte. Außen rum viele Souvenierstände, leider alles Schrott aus China. Ich hatte so hohe Erwartungen an mein Souvenirshopping 🙈 Jetzt müssen wohl Moldawien und die Ukraine weiterhelfen...
      Ich lasse die Geschichte der Burg heute bewusst weg. Dracula on my mind 😜      Read more

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    • TravelerKarpaten 2018
      Day 12

      Transsilvanien

      September 26, 2018 in Romania ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

      Das Hotel war bisschen Freaky und die Temperaturen im einstelligen Bereich. Dennoch, es geht weiter Richtung Süden, der zweite Teil der Schotterstrecke war im Aufstieg ziemlich schwierig und s`Käthy hatte etliche Bodenkontakt, aber es hat sich gelohnt, das Panorama war spektakulär. Zum Zelten ist es uns zu Kalt (below zerro! gegen 22h hatte es Rauhreif auf den CRF's), darum ziehen wir auch Heute in eine Pension.Read more

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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Bran, Törcsvár, Slottet Bran

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