'''Sinaia''' [http://www.infosinaia.ro] is one of Romania's finest holiday resorts, located deep into the Carpathian Mountains. In the late 19th century King Charles I of Romania chose Sinaia as his summer residence and built the fabulous '''Peles Castle''', which is today the city's best known landmark.

Understand

In 1690 a Wallachian nobleman, Mihail Cantacuzino, built a small monastery on the upper Prahova river and (inspired by his voyage to Mount Sinai) named it ''Sinaia''; a village developed around it. In the 1860's, attracted by the area's wild beauty, Romania's first king, Charles of Hohenzollern, decided to build here a summer residence, which would become Peles Castle (inaugurated in 1883). Soon the place became the favorite resort of the Romania upper class, who started raising their own luxurious holiday villas in the area. Impressive hotels, casinos, modern restaurants and shops followed, which, by the end of the 19th century, turned Sinaia from an obscure village into Romania's unofficial summer capital.

Get in

Getting to Sinaia is made easy by train, since it is on the main line between Bucharest and Brasov. All trains that go to Hungary pass Sinaia, as to those that service Oradea, Brasov and Cluj-Napoca. There are also many trains to and from Sighisoara, Timisoara, Iasi and Arad.

Note however that there are few trains on the Bucharest-Brasov line. Although there was meant to be many InterCity trains on this line, one will find that most of these trains have been cancelled. Trains usually depart Bucharest's Gara de Nord every 2-3 hours at best.

Sinaia is also accessible by intercity coach from Brasov, but train is the better option.

The closest airport to Sinaia is Bucharest.

See

  • Peles Castle. trada Pelesului 2. 40244 310 918. useum@peles.ro. ttp://peles.ro/. e - Su 9AM-5PM.
  • '''Pelisor Castle''' right next to Peles castle.
  • Sinaia Monastery. trada Soarelui 3. 40244 314917. The monastery has two sections: the original area (built 1690 -1695) and the newer one (1842 - 1846). The religious objects museum has a copy of the first Bible printed in Romania and an interesting collection of icons.
  • '''Orchids'''. The Brasov area has almost 40 species of endemic Orchids that can be seen. If you wish to see them contact the Romanian Orchid Lovers Club[http://www.orchidclub.ro], based in Rasnov 20 km from Brasov.
  • Do

    Buy

    Eat

    Drink

    Sleep

  • '''Palace Hotel'''. This hotel dates from 1901 and offers a feeling of grandeur, stepping back in time, that is really fun. And yet this can be done at highly reasonable prices. Go to the restaurant and enjoy the experience of good silver service and lack of pretence - these people know how to look after visitors.
  • Get out