Autumn, October in particular, is one of the best times for photographers to visit Romania. Join us on this Autumn Colors Photo Tour of Romania and you will be in for a treat of colored leaves, from the red wild cherry trees, yellow birch to the evergreens. We will navigate the mountains and forests and very interesting communities of people will give you great photography opportunities. Much of the countryside is dotted with small family farms where hand tools and draft animals are still in use.

This Late Autumn Colors Photo Tour of Romania can be organized as a private or group tour. The group tour is planned for October 23-30, 2022. 

Please contact us if you are interested and we’ll discuss options.

• The explosion of colors in the deciduous forests in the Carpathian Mountains
• Sunrise & sunset shoots of the most picturesque landscapes in the country
• Capture quaint Transylvanian villages
• Photograph a coppersmith and glass makers  
• Visit medieval fortresses & castles

Welcome to Romania!

At lunch time we will meet in Bucharest and transfer with the group in the afternoon to a location near the famous Bran castle in the Carpathian Mountains, where you will spend the next 3 nights.

Overnight near Bran.

We will spend the next two days of this Autumn Colors Photo Tour of Romania exploring the mountainous surroundings and traditional Transylvanian villages.

You will be photographing landscapes both in the early morning light and in the afternoon. The warm light will highlight even more the beautifully painted forests in autumn hues or yellow, brown, orange, red and green. Compositions can include the towering nearby mountains, picturesque chalets, barns, wooden fences, haystacks, sheep, cows and farmers working the fields.

You will also capture from nearby and form a distance the famous Bran Castle at times of the day when there is good light on it and from a few different, well-chosen locations.

Overnight near Bran.

After another morning shoot in the mountains we will move to another part of Transylvania. On the way we will visit a glass factory where you will get to capture all the steps of the interesting process of making different glass objects.

Then we will travel on the Transfagarasan Road, the most scenic road in Romania, also known as “the road to the sky”. This will give you unique photography opportunities of the deciduous forests along the way composed with (hopefully) the snowcapped mountains.

Back in the valley we will continue our way to Sibiu, probably Romania’s most picturesque city, former European Cultural Capital in 2007 and European Region of Gastronomy in 2019. You will have a guided walk to familiarize yourself with the city followed by a blue hour photo session. The town itself is charming, having wonderful architecture, squares, defensive towers, walls and churches.

Overnight in Sibiu.

One of the highlights of this Autumn Colors Photo Tour of Romania might be the sunrise shoot of Biertan medieval village and its Fortified Church. It is one of the most picturesque Transylvanian village as it is being set on a hilltop in a valley and it will give us some of the best fall colors photos.

From a people photography perspective, we will have a very interesting visit to a Roma coppersmith family. They are practicing a craft that has been passed down from generation to generation and you will get to capture them at work. You will also have a lot of opportunities to capture portraits and different situations from their daily life such as children playing or women wearing traditional colorful costumes.

We will end our day with a shoot of Cisnadioara Fortress, the oldest Roman basilica from Romania, built in the 13th century. We will try to capture it from a distance with beautiful views of the Carpathian Mountains in the background.

Overnight in Sibiu.

We will start our day with a sunrise shoot of the beautiful mountainous landscapes on the way up to the mountains.

We will continue by traveling to a charming village set at the base of a mountain, where there is an effort to preserve the authentic rural heritage of the ethnic Hungarians living in Transylvania. We will be looking at the ruins of an old fortress from where you will have a splendid view of the village, the Szekler rock and surrounding area.

Overnight in Coltesti.

The Apuseni Mountains are one of Romania’s hidden gems particularly in terms of fall foliage landscapes.  So, we will start the day with a sunrise shoot in this area capturing the Mountains dressed in spectacular colors, dotted with barns and meadows with single trees.

For some great landscape photography we will go to a small waterfall located in a beautiful and wild natural setting.

Overnight in Coltesti.

Our Autumn Colors Photo Tour of Romania came to an end and you will be transferred to Cluj-Napoca Airport from where you will take your flight back home.

Daniel is a Romanian tour guide since 2011 and the very first tour he organized was for photographers. Since then he ran tours for several international photo tour leaders including a Pulitzer Prize winner so he became very aware of the specific needs of photographers.

He really loves the rural areas and people practicing traditional occupations and helps photographers interact with them. Previously he worked for Microsoft, Soros Foundation, Ecosistemi, Deloitte and AIESEC, lived in 4 different countries and traveled to another 30 on 4 continents.

This tour is not meant to be an intense photography workshop with non-stop shooting, editing and image reviewing. The pace will be moderate so you can actually enjoy it as a holiday and learn about the culture you are visiting.

The tour guide leading this photo tour has good knowledge of photography but he is not a professional photographer or teacher. So you will be able to have interesting discussions about composition and some technical aspects but you will not be able to have very in-depth technical discussions.

• Trip planning and assistance before and during the tour by email and phone
• Local tour guide services of English speaking licensed guide for 7 days. The guide has good knowledge of photography but he is not a professional photographer or teacher
• Accommodation for 7 nights in standard double rooms with breakfast (B) included
• Transfer along the itinerary by sedan or SUV car for a group of up to 3 people, by minivan for 4-7 people or by minibus for 8-12 people; accommodation and meals for the driver are included, as well as road taxes and parking fees
• Meals: 1 lunch, fixed menu, includes a soup or starter, main dish, desert and a drink.
• Private transfers from the airport on arrival and from hotel to airport on departure

Services which are not included in the tour price

• Entrance tickets to tourist sites. Per person you are likely to spend up to 50-70 EUR
• Meals, except those included above. On average you can pay for a meal 10-15 EUR

For prices, please contact us for details.