Itinerary: Bucharest – Curtea de Arges Monastery - Poienari Fortress aka The real castle of Dracula – Vidraru Dam - Transfagarasan Road – Balea Lake - Bucharest
Curtea de Arges Monastery: Located at the end of a boulevard with hundred of years old linden trees, this 16th century monastery is the most important pilgrimage and prayer place in Arges County. The unique building resembles a very large and elaborate mausoleum, built in Byzantine style with Moorish arabesques. The church also serves as resting place for the kings and queens of Romania.
Poienari Fortress - The Real Castle of Dracula: Is placed on the highest cliff around Arges river gorges at 850m (2800 feet), surrounded by a magnificent landscape and to get here you will climb 1480 steps. The first documents mentioning Poienari Fortress are from the 14th century when here was only a surveillance tower, this until Vlad decided to rebuilt it and use it as his main stronghold.
Vidraru Dam: along Transfagarasan Road, at about 40 kilometers far from Curtea de Arges, Vidraru Dam is considered by specialists a real jewelry of engineering. At the completion date, it ranked 5th in Europe, and 9th in the world. As specialists say, it is a double curved dam, its height is 166 meters and arch length 307 meters. Its outline is electrically lighted by night, so it can be noticed from the plane. Tourists can climb to Belvedere platform to admire the beautiful landscape.
Transfagarasan Road: Drive on the most famous and most windy European road. First stop will be at Vidraru Dam, built during the communist period, together with the road. You will have the chance to take photos of this splendid landscape. Driving to the mountain top, the landscape becomes more and more spectacular. After passing by beautiful waterfalls, we will go through the longest tunnel in Romania, for almost 1 km, reaching Balea glacier Lake. Brief stop for photos. On the other side of the mountain the drive will be even more impressive.
Balea Lake: is a glacier lake situated at 2,034 meters of altitude in the Fagaras Mountains, in central area of Romania. It is one of the most visited lakes in Romania. The lake is accessible by car on the Transfagarasan road during the summer, and the rest of the year by cable car.
