Four Days In Brasov, Romania With The Kids!

Our last stop in Romania was Brasov. Brasov is a beautiful and colorful city nestled in the Southern Carpathian mountains, making it a great place to go to if you are an outdoor enthusiast, as there are trails all over the surrounding hills and mountains. Overall, the city was very lively, full of restaurants, cafes and bakeries, and we thought it would be a lovely place to live!

This is some of what we did during our time in Brasov:

• We visited Dino Parc in the nearby town of Rasnov. When we first came up with the idea of this trip, we were looking at kid-friendly things to do in the region, and Dino Parc was one of the first attraction’s that popped up in our searches. We were very excited about visiting this park because it was one of the first places we told the kids about when introducing the idea of our “big trip.” To get to Dino Parc, we drove to the main parking lot and then took a little train pulled by a big tractor up the hill to the Rasnov Citadel, which is a big hilltop fortress (a lot of people combine a visit to both attractions). From there, we walked back down the hill for 10 minutes and waited for Dino Parc to open. The kids (especially Hugo) were super excited. The park has a fairly long looping trail through a forested hill with life-sized dinosaur replicas sprinkled throughout. It was good fun for everyone! It was also good that we arrived early, because we got the trails basically to ourselves (it got really crowded later). Afterwards, we spent some good time in the awesome dinosaur-themed playground—their sandbox has dinosaur bones buried in it so kids can help excavate them! 

• We visited Bran Castle (aka Dracula’s Castle even though Vlad the Impaler never actually lived there!). We toured the inside of the castle and it was very cool. There was a secret passage and good panoramic views of the valley. Once again, it payed off to get there early because the hallways and stairways in the castle were quite narrow, so it must be difficult to move around once the big tour groups arrive (and arrive they did, as we were on our way out!).

• After touring the inside of Bran Castle, we hiked a steep hill across the street from the castle to get the best view of it—some of us are always looking for the best photo opportunities! If you are ever visiting Bran Castle and want to find this amazing view, you walk past the castle and gardens, and continue walking down the road away from town. Cross the street as you go around a curve, and, on your right side on the hillside, you’ll see a white cross. That’s where you want to go! Cross the small bridge and walk across the field, then head towards the trail on the right. The trail is extremely steep but doable. Joe did it with Valentina on his shoulders and Hugo used his hands to crawl up “like a bear.” Once you reach the cross, the views are breathtaking! On the way back, Joe carried Valentina on his shoulders again, and Paola and Hugo slid down on their butts for part of the trail!

• When we asked our Airbnb host about a good hike in the area, he suggested we hike up (or down) Mt. Tampa, the hill that sits behind Brasov and that has the Hollywood-style sign of Brasov on it. We decided to take the cable car up and then hike down the side of the mountain. On this hike, we reached amazing views of the city and the Carpathian Mountains, and we got right behind the Brasov sign letters! At some point during the hike, however, we took the wrong turn and ended up on an unkept animal trail that was super challenging, especially after it had rained the previous night (a skinny dirt trail running along a very steep forested hillside). Fortunately, after a stressful bit of hiking, we realized we were on the wrong trail and were able to slide down onto the big path without anyone getting hurt (we literally mean slide, as it was too steep to walk down to the trail!). Once we got back to town (over 10,000 steps later!), we treated ourselves to some delicious Italian lunch and gelato!

• We walked around the old town, checked out the facade of the famous Black Church, looked for what is known as the narrowest street in Europe (it was closed for maintenance—doh!), and enjoyed seeing the colorful houses and unique gothic architecture.

We didn’t have time to check out other place like Super Land (a big play space for children) or the many playgrounds we saw around the city. We also were told there is a fun waterpark in the city. Maybe we’ll see those the next time we are in town!