Fall Colors in Romania Photo Tour

Capture Romania under an explosion of colors

11 Days, small group

If you enjoy photographing the fall foliage, then this Fall Colors in Romania photo tour is right up your alley. That is because it takes you through Transylvania, Maramureș and Bucovina regions where picturesque mountain vistas, misty sunrises, medieval fortifications, and farmers harvesting their crops await.

It is the best time for landscape photography in Romania and there is a lot more in terms of people and travel photography. Join us for a memorable tour!

Tour dates:

October 13-23 2026
October 12-22 2027

Highlights of the Fall Colors Photo Tour of Romania

Photograph in the places with the best fall foliage in Romania
Photograph coppersmiths, blacksmiths and shepherds
Get immersed into the local culture in Viscri and Maramures
Visit beautiful medieval settlements
Sunrise & sunset shoots of the most picturesque landscapes in the country

This is a shared photo tour for a small group of photographers (3 to 6) and it can also be organized as a private tour.

Price

2300 EUR/person for a group of 4–6 participants if you sign up by December 30, 2025.
2500 EUR/person for a group of 4–6 participants if you sign up after January 1, 2026.
Single room supplement: 400 EUR/person.
For 3 or more participants signing up together, we offer a discount of 100 EUR for each participant.
Payment should be made by bank transfer. Payment by credit card or PayPal is possible, with an additional 5.5% transaction fee.

Suggested Itinerary

Day 1 Tuesday, 13 October 2026

Upon arrival in Cluj-Napoca and checking in at the hotel we will have a walk through the lively old center so we can get a feel for the place and see its beautiful architecture.
Cluj-Napoca is the largest city in Transylvania and certainly offers an interesting combination of Romanian, Hungarian and German culture.
Dinner in the city will give us an opportunity to sample some of Romania’s Balkan cuisine.

Overnight in Cluj-Napoca.

Day 2

Firstly we will visit the Maramures region which is certainly one of the most authentic rural areas in Europe. On the way to there we will get to photograph the mountains and the beautiful forests painted in yellow, copper and brown hues.
And you’ll also spot the first haystacks which are so representative for this region. Moreover we may see people loading hay by pitchforks or carrying it by horse carts. Village life is fascinating here as many things are still done the old way. Furthermore we may see people carrying pumpkins, tilling the fields or piling wood. The people are very welcoming and open to being photographed so we will stop along the way to meet them and capture their work.
We will spend two nights in this region exploring people’s way of life and the unique landscape of this region.

Traditional dinner
Overnight in Maramures at a guesthouse
Drive time 4h

Day 3

We will wake up early for our first sunrise shoot. We’ll be in a location with haystacks, mountains and tall wooden church steeples and hopefully we will have some mist.
Following that, we will visit the Barsana monastery from where we will be able to admire and photograph the surrounding countryside dressed in the colors of fall, as well as the impressive wooden buildings from the complex.
We will continue our day with a stop at the Merry Cemetery in Sapanta, which is probably the only “happy” cemetery in the world as the crosses are decorated with vivid colors and funny poems about the lives of the deceased.
We will also learn more about the authentic way of life of people in Maramures. We will go to a brandy distillery so we can see how locals prepare “palinca”, a strong local brandy that can never miss from locals’ table at a feast or important event.

Traditional dinner
Overnight in Maramures region at a guesthouse
Drive time: 3h

Day 4

We will cross the Carpathian Mountains to Bucovina, a colder region. Consequently we can expect the fall colors to get close to the peak. The landscapes here are certainly dominated by the mountains, small wooden cottages and hay stacks, which will provide plenty of creative compositions.
A very interesting and well-preserved craft here in Bucovina is the tradition of painting eggs, so we will visit a lady who paints eggs and photograph her at work. Above all will be a good opportunity both to learn about the rich local culture and to practice your people photography techniques.
Bucovina is also known for its painted monasteries, so in the afternoon we will visit the one in Sucevita, a UNESCO World Heritage.

Traditional dinner
Overnight in the Bucovina region
Drive time: 4h

Day 5

We return to Transylvania for a different kind of photography. We will be in the region with hundreds of fortifications and rolling hills. That is to say a very different landscape and also photo opportunities. In the afternoon we will arrive in a medieval village with well-preserved centuries-old buildings colorfully painted.
Moreover Romania is also associated with the Roma people (aka gypsy) and about 3% of the population is Roma. Therefore we will get to visit a family and get to know their culture and traditions. The men are coppersmiths while the women take care of the house and children. They are open to visitors, being photographed and proud of their work.

Overnight in Transylvania region, the town of Biertan.
Drive time: 5-6h

Day 6

For sunrise we will go up to the nearby hill to look at the village from above in all its splendor as the warm morning light touches the massive fortification set in the middle of the town. With great light this is a real postcard picture.
We continue with Brasov, a much bigger and charming medieval town enjoying a great location between the mountains. We will have a photo walk and try to capture the cobbled streets of the old town, the architecture of the German and Romanian quarters and the old historic buildings, defensive walls and towers.
In the afternoon we will arrive in one of the best areas for fall foliage in Romania. It is south of Brasov in an area with hills and mountains on both sides and where there a lot of birch, beech and cherry trees which turn bright yellow, brown and some red hues. Mid to late October is the time when the fall colors reach their peak in this region.

Overnight in Transylvania region, near Bran.
Drive time: 3h

Day 7

We will go out early for a sunrise shoot in the mountains in one of the most beautiful regions of Romania, between the Bucegi and Piatra Craiului Mountains. Therefore the photo opportunities for fall colors in Romania are remarkable. That us because the Carpathian Mountains offer great variety of scenes and subjects, for instance plunging valleys, mountain vistas, wooden barns and pastoral scenes. Their usual beauty is certainly enhanced by the spectacular colors of nature in fall.
Later that day we will shoot from a distance the famous Bran Castle, of which is believed that it matches the description of the Dracula Castle in the novel. Although it has no real ties to the vampire character, it certainly looks imposing and mysterious sitting atop a rock a couple of hundred feet high.
Optional: At the end of the day we can have a shoot with the castle during the blue hour.

Overnight in Transylvania region, near Bran.
Drive time 2h30

Day 8

In the morning, if light conditions look interesting or different than the previous day we can do another photo shoot in the mountains.
Then, we’ll head to the beautiful fortified church in Viscri. It is proof of the rich culture of the Transylvanian German Saxons, who used to inhabit this area before they moved back to Germany in the second half of the 20th century. We will also explore the streets of Viscri, lined with German-style colorful houses and we will go to a blacksmith to see him working the steel.
If the weather is favorable, we will take a step back in time by traveling to a nearby sheepfold. We will travel by horse cart, the way the locals do. If you’ve never been to a sheepfold before, you’ll find the experience fascinating: you will see how shepherds live, how they take care of the sheep and how they prepare the milk products. With some luck, we might also see how they milk the sheep.

Traditional dinner
Overnight in the village of Viscri
Drive time 2h30

Day 9

One of the most interesting experiences you’ll have during this Fall Colors of Romania Photo Tour will be a sunrise shoot in the village of Viscri because it is a place where the old way of life and traditions are still kept. Therefore we will be able to photograph the village waking up to life: hundreds of cows leaving to the nearby pastures to graze and villagers going to the milk collection center to leave the milk they’ve just milked from their cows.
Next we continue with the charming fortified hill town of Sighisoara where those interested in historic towns and street photography will have a great time.
Finally the last area we will visit during this tour will be the Western Carpathians, known as the Apuseni Mountains. Because it is lower than 1800m (6000 feet), these mountains are ideal for the fall colors as they are covered mostly with deciduous forests. We will get there during the nice late afternoon light.

Traditional dinner
Overnight at a traditional guesthouse
Drive time: 3-4h

Day 10

Firstly in the morning we will go out for a sunrise shoot in the mountains in a place where an underground river comes to surface usually creating mist almost daily. There is plenty to include in our compositions, for example: patches of golden birch trees, typical barns covered with hay, roads and leading lines, tree shadows and fences and even cows grazing in the fields. If conditions are right, it can be the highlight of the tour from a landscape photography point of view.
For the rest of the day we will explore more of the region, change locations and see some traditional spread villages typical of this area. Moreover we will see haystacks once again.
Finally in the evening we will travel back to Cluj-Napoca, where we will end with a blue hour session in the city center and a farewell dinner.

Overnight in Cluj-Napoca
Drive time 3h

Day 1 Friday, 23 October 2026

This marks the last day of your Fall Colors in Romania Photo Tour. You will be transferred to the airport so you can catch your flight back home.
We certainly hope you leave with unforgettable memories, enhanced your landscape photography skills, and digital cards full of stunning images!

Our interview for B&H Photo Video

In 2024 we contributed to a podcast hosted by the American company B&H Photo Video about picturing world cultures. We discussed what is interesting to photograph in Romania and you can listen to this podcast on the B&H site.

Suggested Itinerary Viewed On Map

About The Tour Guide

Since 2011 Daniel Rosca organized over 70 photo tours in Romania and more recently in Greece, Bulgaria, Poland and Czechia. Some of the photo tours were private. And most of them were done in partnership with well-known photo tour companies and tour leaders like Natural Exposures (Dan Cox), Jim Cline Photo Tours (Ralph Velasco, Tonya Colson, Jeremy Woodhouse), Strabo Photo Tours (Kathy Adams, Tom Bol), Light and Land (Paul Sanders, Astrid McGechan), Dan & Jill Burkholder, Julie & Alan Ross, Photo Quest Adventures (Deanne Fitzmaurice – Pulitzer Prize Winner and owner of ThinkTank, Mirjam Evers, Najat Naba), Raul Touzon, Beniamino Pisati, Tim Volmer, Juris Kornets, Sorin Onisor and more. From all those, Daniel learned, improved and developed his own approach to photography which is best described as travel photography. He enjoys experiencing and photographing traditions and old ways of doing things, quaint towns, sites of historic importance and charming landscapes throughout the seasons. He focuses much more on “seeing”, approaching people, capturing stories, composing and simply enjoying the place and focuses less on camera technicalities.

He previously lived in Belgium, Poland, Turkey, Egypt and worked for Microsoft.

About The Tour

This is a cultural tour which will provide additional opportunities for photography by putting you in contact with interesting locals and also planning visits around the good times of the days 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.
Since we include visits to people’s houses and their schedule is not totally predictable there might be cases when the people are not at home or cannot confirm being at home on the day for our visit.
Hotels and rooms will be booked after at least 3 people sign up.

Fall Colors Photo Tour of Romania: Included Services

Accommodation for 10 nights in standard double rooms (with private bathroom), breakfast included at 3* hotel in Cluj Napoca and rural guesthouse for 8 nights:
Meals: 8 dinners
Entrance tickets to tourist sites, including camera fees
Visits to craftsmen, workshops and communities mentioned in the itinerary
Local tour guide services of English-speaking guide for 10 days. The guide has good knowledge of photography and knows how to plan the day and where to take you.
Transfers along the itinerary from day 2 to day 10
- For a group of 4-6 or more by 9 seater minivan (Opel Vivaro, Renault Trafic or similar)
- For a group of 3 we will use a SUV car (Mitsubishi Outlander or similar)
Private transfers from the airport to hotel on the first and last day from airport to hotel as guests come in and depart, even if they are arriving or leaving at different times.

Excluded services:

Flights
Travel or medical insurance
Meals except the ones included (you will probably spend on average 15-20 EUR/meal, in some places it will be more and in others less.)
Other services not mentioned in the above sections

Price, Payment and Cancellation

Payment Terms

600 EUR down payment to confirm participation.
Remaining balance due 45 days before the tour start date.

Cancellation Terms

The down payment is non-refundable.
If canceling after full payment:
- 30% penalty if canceled 45–31 days before the tour.
- 50% penalty if canceled 30–10 days before the tour.
- 60% penalty if canceled 9–3 days before the tour.
- 75% penalty if canceled less than 2 days before the tour.
If we do not have at least 4 participants registered 3 months before the tour start date, we will notify you. You will have two options:
- Cancel the tour and receive a full refund of the down payment (we recommend booking flights after this date or choosing refundable tickets).
- Discuss converting the tour into a private tour — adjusting the itinerary and price accordingly (the price will usually increase for the same duration).

Traveler Reviews

Julie from Florida, USA
“Besides being extremely knowledgeable about “everything Romania”, our guide did an outstanding job of taking care of each person’s needs and desires. Because of his unique contacts, we were able to experience meeting a wonderful gypsy family who made a living as coppersmiths as well as enjoy a real farm to table breakfast with a most interesting family in a small Romanian town. Both of these examples made our visit to Romania that much more interesting and fun.

Linda from Canada
“Travelled for a little over two weeks, from the northernmost mountain villages, zigzagging south to Bucharest. Our guide was a wonderful ambassador for his country as he showed us the everyday life of the colorful Romanian people. He brought the country to life with his insights into daily life and the places he arranged for us to stay and eat. What a fantastic experience awaits you if you book with this company! ”