Coming up, we take you on a tour of the infamous Dracula Castle. Learn about it's
bloody past, Vlad the Impaler and everything you shouldn't miss.
Good Morning! We've just spent the last two days in Brasov and now we're going to
give you a tour of Bran Castle the fictitious home of Bram Stoker's Dracula,
so stay with us!
Bran Castle or the more commonly known name outside Romania, Dracula Castle is
25 kilometers southwest of the city of Brasov. We visited there for two days so
make sure you check out that video on our channel. You can drive to Bran in
about 45 minutes. If you need public transport, then you can catch a bus from
bus terminal 2 in Brasov. Buses run every 30 minutes on weekdays and hourly at the
weekends. The ride is an incredibly cheap seven Lei per ride and that's about
three euros , two pounds. Parking can be a bit of an issue on busy days in high
season. There's not a lot of places to park.
We found two areas and you'll be charged 4 Lei for a couple of hours. The town is
pretty small with a few shops and restaurants. As you approach the castle
entrance you enter a labyrinth of touristy stalls selling all things
Dracula, and a ghost house attraction. Top tip, give it a miss and head straight
to the castle!
So we're in, it's 40 Lei each to get in. We did it online beforehand and we're
actually the first people to get in. There's a big queue of people back there and with
the very first people going up into the castle so it should be interesting trip
The construction dates back to 1377, built for its strategic location as well
as for economic customer trade routes from Transylvania in the outside world.
The blustery wind gave an eerie feel as we excitedly made our way up into the castle.
With hundreds of years of history which saw the castle fall into the hands of
many rulers from different countries the one character that stands out is
Vlad Dracul or Vlad the Impaler as he was most famously known.
Vlad had a taste for
blood and was a vicious ruler he often ordered people to skinned, boiled, decapitated,
blinded ,strangled, hanged, burned, nailed buried alive, I think you get the idea!
He never actually stayed in the castle it's the book that Bram Stoker wrote about
Count Dracula in 1897 which is loosely based around Vlad the Impaler and local
folklore around the undead. Bran Castle seemed to fit the best description of
the count's castle and ever since it's been associated with the
blood sucking ghoul.
This was one of the rooms used by Queen Marie of Romania, she lived in the castle
in her later life and was very fond of Bran. The current layout is close to how
it would have been while she lived here. After her death and during World War two a
casket containing her heart was held in the church at Bran. It was later moved to
a museum in Bucharest, but since November 2015 it's found its home at
Pelsior Castle, in the room she died in. We visited the region in another video so
you might want to check out the stunning summer residence of the
Romanian Royal family.
Back at Bran, we continued our tour around this mysterious castle,
boasting 57 rooms over 4 floors.
This secret staircase carved out of the
castle stone takes you spookily between the first and third floors.
Yeah it's pretty low!
Much of the interior of the castle reflects mainly the taste of Queen Marie.
Various rooms are decorated with furniture and objects from the family's
personal collection. There is a lot to see and read during your tour to learn
about the castle. You can take an audio guide as part of the ticket price if you
wish. It's also worth mentioning that filming and taking photos is part of the
ticket .Other Romanian attractions charge an additional fee of around 35 Lei
£6.50, 7 euros for photos or filming on top of the ticket price and
it's strictly monitored, so not easy to get away with.
The inner courtyard is
particularly beautiful and you'll find yourself walking around the different
levels a lot as many rooms and passageways lead back to the courtyard.
The creaking floorboards and seemingly infinite number of staircases, will have
you getting yourself lost but in a good way, searching out the next wonder.
We like that we weren't rushed at all at any point, so allowing yourself a good
few hours to take in all the famous property has to offer.
This was the room used by King Ferdinand husband to Queen Marie
it now holds replicas of his crown jewels
The castle also holds a small collection of weapons, medieval armor
and costumes from the period.
For an extra fee of 10 lei you can visit the temporary exhibition of medieval
instruments of torture. This is a collection of the most gruesome
implements used to extract information from captives brought together from
across Eastern Europe.
As you walk into the courtyard you can look down into the well used as the
castles internal water supply this has now been sealed up. It's conveniently
positioned next to the kitchens.
You might notice grapevines around the courtyard and these still grow. The grape
produce is made into local wine.
For an additional 20 lei you can take one final attraction, that of the
Time Tunnel This modern rather touristy tour is
really only for the kids to enjoy and last 10 minutes.
A small gift shop at the end of the tour directs you unceremoniously outside the
castle for views right up the side of the rock face.
That's it from Bran Castle,
hope you enjoyed the tour. Remember to Like and Subscribe so you don't miss out
on our other Romanian videos and from our travels all over the world, but until
next time happy travels from the Memoryseekers!