Mama SRL

Visit Romania – Sinaia which is a small city in the Carpathian Mountains. 

It is close to Bucharest at 1,5 hours away by train or car. You can get there by car or train. If you’re ever a few days around Bucharest, you can easily get to Sinaia. It’s got great attractions for tourists: Peles Castle, Casino Sinaia, 1400m altitude view point, 2000m altitude plateau.

GETTING THERE

I recommend the car, since there are indeed so many rent a cars that you could easily enjoy the ride. You can also take the train as there are almost every half an hour trains to that destination. We have state owned or private trains. Strange enough the private ones are cheaper. Please keep in mind that you may have no seats sold, so you could end up traveling standing. If you go by the state owned trains, they are more comfortable and have seats. There are delays sometimes. So, balance the two pros and cons and choose what suits you best.

I took the train to see what I was missing. On one hand it was good because the kiddo kept my husband busy with the tones of questions. Also my husband enjoyed not having to look just ahead. And last but not least, we spent time together. As a learning we are not doing this very often.

FOR THE ROAD

Before going out on the road, grab some water and snacks. Usually when driving by car we stop and grab something from a gas station. In Romania gas stations are my best friend for the road. And they live up to Western European level. It’s amazing place to stop: you have food options, snacks, drinks and sometimes even essentials.

If you go by train, do not think that you will find the same options, because you will be deeply disappointed. In the Central Station of Bucharest, you can only find the primitive civilisation: big lines everywhere, no possibility to pay by card, unhealthy conditions for the food served, I would say it’s back in medieval times and then if you get on the train, there’s no other option of food or drinks. So you’d better get prepared. I will not comment further on the poor situation in the Central Station because I would expect the authorities to start doing something, not sit around.

ATTRACTIONS

Once there, you just go up the stairs and then reach the Casino Park. The old Casino is a nice place to visit, because you get to see an impressive ballroom in a smaller size from the renowned palaces in France or Germany. The place used to be a snooker place when I was younger and now it’s more of an event hall. You can pay a short visit, just to understand a little bit of the influence of royalty in the valley of the Sinaia river.

Further out there’s a funny train that takes you to the Telegondola and from there you are going up from 1000m altitude to 1400m altitude and then another cable car to 2000m altitude. Up at 2000m the air is so nice and cold, the land is so wide and spread that it makes everyone wonder why not investing in building something up there. And then I remember the snow storm up on the plateau and also the heavy snow in a spring that made my car invisible through the imense white landscape. It’s heavy snow up there, it’s wilderness and should remain as such.

PELES CASTLE

The castle was built by King Carol I and it is a real masterpiece up in the mountains with great German architecture influence, but blending Romanian into it. It’s a nice evidence that Romania has indeed made a great impression on the German heart. It was a funny choice that a German king would be named over a land that never had its own independence and sovereignty.

ROYALTY

It was actually what brought over our independence although we are educated with mixed feelings towards royalty. And he came over from a beautiful region in Germany and identified better with the mountain landscape than the dirty Bucharest. And he started building over here the castle, brought over tourists and now a days authorities have also invested in making Sinaia rise and shine. Visiting the palace gives you a few stories on the royal family, the beauty of the place, the influence of Romania in the Anglo-saxon world. We are lucky that there once was this decision made that a king would come and put some order into our country. Not only for the heritage left over, but also for the blooming of cultural and social life in Romania during those days.

More on the Romanian Royal Family here.

EATING

Cuib – a small hidden gem, which is in Cumpatu district of Sinaia. This is a very good traditional Romanian place with great choices for everyone.

Ioana – 5 star hotel with exquisite cuisine

Snow – Right as you get off the cable car, you can stop at this very snow oriented place – traditional food

Cabana Schiorilor – traditional Romanian

Taverna Sarbului – Serbian Cuisine – lots of meat

La Ceaunu Crapat – very special Romanian cuisine

ACCOMMODATION

Hotel International – 5 star hotel, good conditions, swimming pool, excellent for a relaxed evening after all the hiking or the snow

Hotel Alexandrion – it’s a good accommodation option

Hotel Sinaia – it’s a so-so accommodation. If you have high expectations comparing to the price, you will be disappointed. In reality the hotel has a few pluses – restaurant, pool, position, but it doesn’t offer the proper conditions for the price asked.

Ioana – it’s a boutique hotel which I loved very much in terms of the looks and the room size options.

PERSONAL LEARNINGS

One Saturday, I took the train and then took the cable car and then another cable car and spent some time on a hot 40 degrees down in Bucharest, while up there there were 15 degrees. Besides the low temperature, I find the mountain top to be a very comforting place to be to chill. If you ever want to reset what you are thinking about, take a hike and your mind will go from a panic mode to a different level of wild survival mode. It’s funny how we need body challenge to escape panic. One would think you need actually to feel safe and then you can focus on what really matters. In reality, we need a little bit of wild life to go into the actual hunter mood.

CONCLUSIONS ON SINAIA TRIP

I was shocked by the lack of education on the train: no respect for younger generation, animal like attitude and this is the soft tone to describe the panic in the eyes of regular human being. Remember how cows moo when they are desperate, how sheep do the same? Well, the same attitude you can find on any train in Romania – from all the 50+ generation and this is so saddening. I grew up loving my parents and all the education they have strived to share with me, but seems like they are so special that I grew up in a closed environment.

An older perspective on the Sinaia and Brasov region here.