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.
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.