Mara Ilie
Historian and city guide
Saxon Transylvania and the fortified church network. Brings the archive photographs.
Castles and the border they were built to hold
BrașovCultural & HistoricEasy7 hFamiliesFirst-timers
Duration7 h
GradeEasy
Good forMax 12Ages 6+
What the day is like
Bran and Râșnov without the vampire nonsense — the actual border history, told properly.
Bran gets called Dracula's castle. It has essentially nothing to do with Vlad Țepeș and rather less to do with Bram Stoker, who never visited Romania. What it actually was is more interesting: a customs post on a mountain pass, holding the border between Transylvania and Wallachia.
Both castles
Bran first, before the crowds, then Râșnov — a peasant fortress rather than a lord's castle, built by the villagers to hold out until relief arrived.
What we will not do
Vampires. If that is what you are after, this is the wrong tour and we would rather say so now.
The day, hour by hour
09:00Pickup in Brașov
Half an hour to Bran through the pass.
09:45Bran Castle
Inside before the coaches arrive. The real history of the pass, the customs post and the Queen Marie restoration.
12:00Râșnov fortress
On the hill above the village. A different kind of building entirely, and the better view of the two.