Easter in Romania is one-of-a-kind celebration which blends in hundred-year-old traditions with delicious authentic food. During this Easter Photo Tour of Romania, you’ll capture the intriguing customs that come alive at this time of the year while also visiting Romania’s most beautiful places in Transylvania, Bucovina and Maramures.

In the next years the Orthodox and Catholic Easter happen with one-week difference so you can experience both!

This Easter Photo Tour of Romania is planned for the following dates:

• 2022: 15th of April – 25th of April
• 2023: 7th of April – 17th of April

• Capture the most famous castles in Transylvania: Peles Castle and Bran Castle
• Taste a traditional Easter meal
• Attend local festivals and witness interesting customs such as the “shooting of the rooster”
• Photograph the specific architecture of the churches from Bucovina and Maramures
• Shoot a narrow-gauge steam train

Your Easter Photo Tour of Romania will start in Bucharest, the capital of the country. You will be transferred from the airport to the hotel in the center of the city.

Depending on the time of your arrival, you can go on a walk in the vibrant old town of Bucharest.

Accommodation in Bucharest.

Drive time: 30’

In the morning, you will travel to Brasov area, where you will be able to capture two of the most beautiful castles of Romania: Peles Castle, royal legacy and the finest castle in the country, and Bran Castle, one of the world’s most famous attractions due to its association with Dracula.

In the afternoon, you will catch the beautiful landscapes near Bran during the golden hour. In the area there are many traditional houses scattered around the hills and country roads bordered by wooden fences, a very good setting for practicing your composition skills.

Accommodation in Brasov.

Drive time: 3h

The morning will start with the Catholic Easter Mass at the Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral, Brasov’s only baroque monument, known for its exquisite interior decorations.

You will then travel to Apata to take part in one of the Hungarian community’s most interesting custom: “the shooting of the rooster”. The festival is more than 400 years old and it is seen as a vengeance on the rooster who, centuries ago, was calling back the invading Tartars who were about to leave the village after seeing it abandoned.

Nowadays, children dressed in traditional clothes are the participants in this event. It is a great opportunity to photograph them while they compete against each other and try their best to aim for the rooster drawn on a wooden target.

Accommodation in Brasov.

Drive time: 1h

Start the day by visiting one of Romania’s most authentic and beautiful villages, Viscri. Admire its colored houses of German-Saxon heritage and capture one of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites, the fortified church of Viscri.

Next on your day is Sighisoara, a medieval town with cobbled streets, colorful buildings and a pedestrian-friendly Old Town, with lots of architectural photography opportunities.

You might also witness an old Hungarian custom throughout the day: the sprinkling of the girls with water or perfume in order to wish for their wellbeing.

Accommodation in Praid.

Drive time: 3h 30’

On this day you’re going to discover the underground salt mine in Praid, a place where you can relax for a few hours and enjoy the benefits of the salty air.

Then, you will travel to Bucovina passing through the Bicaz gorges, a breathtaking 8-kilometers-long route through the mountains, with a lot of landscape photography opportunities. You can also stop for a short visit at the Neamt Citadel, a fortress filled with history, located on the top of the mountains.

Accommodation in Bucovina.

Drive time: 5h

Next on your itinerary will be Bucovina, the holy land of painted monasteries. Eight of them are part of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites and will offer you unique photo opportunities of well-preserved paintings of more than 500 years.

You first stop will be at Moldovita Monastery, one of the tallest churches in the region, known for its rare frescoes from the Medieval Ages.

A highlight amongst your Easter Photo Tour of Romania will be the visit to the Egg Museum. The museum features over 5000 eggs painted in beautiful styles using different techniques, all great to capture on camera.

In the afternoon you will be able to photograph other two of the painted monasteries of Bucovina: Sucevita, with the largest painted wall, and Voronet, widely known as “the Sistine Chapel of the East” due to its interior and exterior wall paintings.

Accommodation in Bucovina.

Drive time: 3h

You will start your morning with a special egg-painting workshop, where you will be able to learn more about this craft while trying your hand at different decorating techniques, and you will have the opportunity to capture the making off of the famous painted eggs.

Later on this day you will cross the mountains towards Maramures, one of the last truly rural places in Europe, also known as the land of the wood.

Accommodation in Vadu Izei (Maramures region).

Drive time: 4h 30’

As the Orthodox Easter approaches, people start getting ready for the holiday’s celebration. You will have the opportunity to visit a typical market in Sighet and see people buying everything they need for the holiday, such as lamb meat, eggs or sweet cheese.

Capture how the locals are getting ready for Easter: they prepare the food, dye the eggs, bake “pasca” – a traditional cake with sweet cheese, and sacrifice the lamb in order to prepare traditional dishes.

Accommodation in Vadu Izei.

Drive time: 1h

Today you will travel to Viseu to see Mocanita, one of the last fully functional narrow-gauge steam trains in Europe. You will capture some picturesque landscapes that will take your breath away, with the Mocanita in the foreground!

Next on this day, you will travel to probably the most colorful cemetery in the world, the Merry Cemetery from Sapanta. Here the crosses are painted in lively colors with scenes from the lives of the deceased and also with some funny poems. Another fascinating place to visit and capture is the Museum of the Victims of Communism, the former prison from Sighetu Marmatiei, the best place in Romania to learn about the impact the communist regime had on the country for over 40 years.

Accommodation in Vadu Izei.

Drive time: 2h 30’

You will go to church in the morning to witness the Easter Sunday mass. Locals dress up in traditional costumes and bring baskets full of homemade food to be blessed.  After the mass, you will have the chance to eat a traditional homecooked Easter meal.

You are in the land of wood so, in the afternoon you will visit two of the most famous wooden churches: Desesti and Budesti. The one in Desesti has some of the best preserved interior paintings, while the wooden church of Budesti is worth-admiring for its unique architectural style, giving you a great shoot opportunity.

Accommodation in Vadu Izei.

Drive time: 1h

On the last day of your Easter holidays in Romania you will have the chance to attend a festival known as “Udatoriu”, in Surdesti. This old agrarian tradition celebrates the most hard-working villager and it is full of the local people cheerfulness.

Then, you will travel to Cluj-Napoca from where you will take a flight back home.

Optional, you can prolong your tour with an additional day that will give you a chance to explore the Transylvanian capital or continue towards Sibiu-Bucharest.

Drive time: 3h 30’

* As we are already informed, in 2021 the Catholic Easter will not be one week before the Orthodox one so a night in Sibiu could be included, giving you the opportunity to visit one of the most beautiful and photogenic Transylvanian towns.

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 is a cultural tour which focuses on photography by putting you in contact with interesting locals and also planning visits around interesting events and the good times of the day to take pictures. This means that on some days you might wake up early for sunrise or stay up late for sunsets and the blue hour, it is up to each participant though.

It also means that the tour plan is flexible and can be changed depending on weather conditions and photography opportunities found on the way.

Besides the planned visits at places of interest and people we’ve also planned time for 2-3 stops/day as we drive around the countryside as there are always unplanned very interesting photo opportunities, especially focused on people. It will be the tour guide who will make the call where and when to make those additional stops.

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
• English speaking tour guide services throughout the program (accommodation and meals are included)
• Accommodation for 10 nights in standard double rooms with breakfast (B) included
• Transfer by sedan car for up to 4 people (Ford Mondeo or similar) or minivan for 5-8 people (Renault Trafic, VW Caravelle or similar; fuel, taxes and parking fees are included) on the itinerary mentioned above 
• Entrance tickets to the Workshop of painting eggs and the ride with Mocanita
• 7 dinners (D): 1 in Praid, 2 in Bucovina, 4 in Maramures
• 1 lunch: in Maramures, on Easter Day

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 USD
• Meals, except those included above. On average you can pay for a meal 10-15 USD

For prices, please contact us for details.