Romania is a fantastic destination for anyone interested in seeing Dracula’s Castle, aka Bran Castle in Transylvania and having an adventure in vampirial culture. Inspired of course by Irish Writer Bram Stoker who rose to fame after his novels on Dracula.
Bran Castle, situated near Bran and in the immediate vicinity of Braşov, is a national monument and landmark in Romania. The fortress is situated on the border between Transylvania and Wallachia, on DN73. Commonly known as “Dracula’s Castle” (although it is one among several locations linked to the Dracula legend, including Poenari Castle and Hunyad Castle), it is marketed for resale in 2014 as the home of the titular character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
There is, however, no evidence that Stoker knew anything about this castle, which has only tangential associations with Vlad III, voivode of Wallachia, the putative inspiration for Dracula. As discovered by the Dutch author Hans Corneel de Roos, the location Bram Stoker actually had in mind for Castle Dracula while writing his novel was an empty mountain top, Mount Izvorul Călimanului, (6,670 ft) high, located in the Transylvanian Călimani Alps near the former border with Moldavia.
Below is Dracula Beer in the town of Bran.
Who is the real Dracula? Legend has it that Vlad Tepes is the man that Dracula is based upon and most go along with this theory so we will stick with it. You will see his statue and head bust around parts of Romania.
Bran is in Transylvania in rural mountainous Romania. It’s a truly gorgeous spot.
The town of Bran itself is sometimes where travelers spend a night and aside from the castle, there are churches, a market, some monuments and lots of decent bars, cafes and restaurants to explore.
The highlight of any trip to Bran is Bran Castle.
Top photo credit only: Bran-Castle.com.
Jonny Blair is a self confessed traveling nomad who founded and blogs at Don’t Stop Living. He sees every day as an adventure. Since leaving behind his home town of Bangor in Northern Ireland ten years ago he has traveled to all seven continents, working his way through various jobs and funding it all with hard work and an appetite for travel. Don’t Stop Living, a lifestyle of travel’ contains over 1,000 stories and tips from his journeys round the globe. He wants to show others how easy it is to travel the world, give them some ideas and encourage them to do the same but most of all he aims to constantly live a lifestyle of travel. He is currently based in Hong Kong and on Twitter @jonnyblair.
