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Halloween in Transylvania (Southbound)

8 Days | Have a spooky Halloween in haunting Romania

4.9

Excellent

8 reviews

8 days

Start

Cluj Napoca, Romania

Finish

Bucharest, Romania

Trip Code

WMSH

Min Age

Trip Size

1 - null

Physical Rating

Meals

7 breakfasts, 1 lunch

Transport

Train, Private vehicle, Taxi

Accommodation

Hotel ( 7 nights)

From £1,562(8 days)

Trip Informations

Even without its bloodcurdling myths of Dracula, werewolves, haunted castles and curses, Romania is the perfect atmospheric place to spend an eight-day trip in October. You’ll be introduced to the beauty of ancient Bucharest, the haunting mythology of Sighisoara and the nostalgic atmosphere of Bran Castle (aka Dracula’s castle) in Brasov. Take a daytrip to the Hoia Forest, steeped in legend and ghost stories and dress up for a party after sundown with your fellow travellers. For a spine-tingling adventure this spooky season, don’t look past Transylvania... mwahahaha.

Why you’ll love this trip

Visit the 12th-century town of Sighisoara – the birthplace of Count Dracula (allegedly). Things are about to get medi-evil.

Break out your scariest costumes for a spooky Halloween party, where haunted tunes will echo through cobweb-covered corridors and lanterns will light up the foggy night.

Protect yourself against devils and demons with a visit to the Turda Salt Mines – a fascinating museum and underground amusement park showcasing the history of salt in the region.

Take a daytrip to the spooky Hoia Forest, known for ghost stories, UFO sightings, strange trees and questionable photos showing things unseen to the naked eye. You’ll meet with a local guide for a 4-hour hike packed with legends.

See the traditional Saxon village of Viscri for some traditional Romanian hospitality and some finger-licking home-cooked food.

Is this trip right for you?

Autumn weather in Romania can be cooler than expected, especially at higher altitudes. Please remember to pack some warm layers.

Hotels in Europe often don't have double beds, but rather two single beds that can be pushed together if you'd like to get cosy. Many hotels and guesthouses only offer shared bathrooms rather than ensuite facilities.

This trip takes place around Halloween in October. If you would like to visit Romania during a different time of year, you may want to check out our trip Budapest to Bucharest or the epic Eastern Europe Explorer, which continues further south into Bulgaria.

It’s recommended you pack light and smart for this trip, as you'll be required to carry your own luggage between train and bus stations and hotels, which can include going up and down multiple flights of stairs and across cobblestones.

Itinerary

DAY 1
Day 1 • Cluj Napoca
Buna Ziua! Welcome to Cluj Napoca – the unofficial capital of Romania’s Transylvania region. Your adventure begins with a welcome meeting at 6 pm tonight to meet your trip leader and fellow travellers. If you arrive early, you might like to explore this 2000-year-old city on foot or hit up the famous Piezisa Street for a drink.
Accommodation
Hotel (1 night)
Meals
There are no meals included on this day.
Included activities
Transylvania - Halloween Party
Special information
If your trip starts on 31 October 2025, your Halloween party will be today.
It’s very important that you attend the welcome meeting as we will be collecting insurance and emergency contact details at this time. If you are going to be late, please let your travel agent or hotel reception know. Ask reception or look for a note in the lobby for more information on where the meeting will take place.
DAY 2
Day 2 • Turda Salt Mines / Cluj Napoca
This morning, visit the Turda Salt Mines – a former salt mine converted into an underground amusement park. Maybe hire a rowboat, go bowling or visit the museum showcasing salt mining in the region – the options are endless! Salt is thought to be a protective tool against all sorts of evil beings and legend has it that if you pour an unbroken line of salt across the entranceway to your house, vampires and demons won’t be able to get in. After your salt mine visit, return to Cluj for a city tour with a local guide. The remainder of the day is yours to explore at your own pace.
Accommodation
Hotel (1 night)
Meals
Breakfast
Included activities
Turda - Salt Mines Tour
Cluj Napoca - Walking Tour with Local Guide
Optional activities
Cluj Napoca - Museum of Transylvanian History - RON10
Cluj Napoca - Botanical Garden - RON15
Special information
If your trip starts on 30 October 2025, your Halloween party will be today.
DAY 3
Day 3 • Cluj Napoca
Today, you’ll head out for a daytrip to the Hoia Forest – a famous haunted forest with reports of ghost stories, apparitions, faces identified in photos and UFO sightings. Over the years, locals and tourists report anxiety and the feeling of being watched in this forest and the local vegetation features strangely shaped trees and charring on tree stumps and branches. The forest became famous in the late 1960s when a military technician took photos of a UFO above Poiana Rotunda (Round Meadow). If you’re lucky, the forest may even be covered in mist! After a short transfer from your hotel, you’ll meet with a local guide for a 4-hour hike within the forest, along gentle hills and valleys. Listen to the legends and visit the Round Meadow where the first UFO was sighted. After, head back to your hotel for a free afternoon.
Accommodation
Hotel (1 night)
Meals
Breakfast
Included activities
Cluj Napoca - Hoia Forest Guided Trek
Special information
If your trip starts on 29 October 2025, your Halloween party will be today.
Your travel time today will be approximately 1 hour.
DAY 4
Day 4 • Sighisoara
Travel by train through pastoral fields and untouched Saxon towns to the 12th-century town of Sighisoara. Medieval Sighisoara is likely to seduce visitors more than any other place in Romania. The town is famed as the birthplace of Vlad Dracul III, better known as Vlad the Impaler, the ruler of Walachia province from 1456 to 1462 and whose name was the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s iconic Count Dracula. Walking through the town is like taking a trip back in time to the medieval age, and it’s easy to image streets crowded with vampires, evil counts, wolves, peasants riding through the untamed countryside on horse-drawn carts and crooked old men doddering along the narrow streets. Head out with your leader for a quick orientation walk, then spend the rest of your day exploring in your own time.
Accommodation
Hotel (1 night)
Meals
Breakfast
Optional activities
Sighisoara - Church on the Hill - RON5
Sighisoara - The Clock Tower - RON16
Sighisoara - Church of the Dominican Monastery - RON10
Sighisoara - Covered Stairway - Free
Special information
Your travel time today will be approximately 3.5 hours.
DAY 5
Day 5 • Viscri
After a free morning in Sighisoara, you’ll travel to Viscri – this small Transylvanian village was originally inhabited by Saxons from the Luxembourg area, and the whole scene is picture-postcard rural. This idyllic village of red tiled roofs is also a UNESCO World Heritage site, virtually unchanged for 900 years. After a home cooked lunch at the house of a local family, you’ll visit the town's fortified church (thought to be the oldest in Transylvania), and learn about the Sock Project, which supports the local Roma community. Continue to the 13th-century city of Brasov in the afternoon. Also known by its German name of Kronstadt, this town flanked by mountains and city walls was once a major medieval trading centre.
Accommodation
Hotel (1 night)
Meals
Breakfast
Lunch
Included activities
Viscri - Fortified Church
Viscri - Sock Project Visit
Viscri - Local Home Cooked Lunch
Special information
If your trip starts on 27 October 2025, your Halloween party will be tonight.
Today you will visit Viscri's Sock Project. It involves approximately 125 women knitting 10,000 pairs of socks a year earning around 45,000 Euro for the village!
DAY 6
Day 6 • Bran Castle/Brasov
No trip to Romania would be complete without a visit to the famous Bran Castle. The castle was built by the Saxons in 1382 to defend the Bran pass against the invading Turks. With its fairy-tale turrets and whitewashed walls, it's far from menacing and spooky, but is undeniably impressive, sitting on a high cliff top and surrounded by pine trees. After, return to Brasov for a guided walk around town, checking out the ornate churches, townhouses, old city walls and squares surrounded by gingerbread-roofed merchants' houses. Visit Brasov's main attraction – the gothic Black Church (Biserica Neagra), which took its name from its blackened appearance after a fire in 1689.
Accommodation
Hotel (1 night)
Meals
Breakfast
Included activities
Bran Castle - Tour
Brasov - Walking Tour with Local Guide
Optional activities
Brasov - The Black Church - RON20
Brasov - Cable Car to Mt Tampa - RON50
Special information
If your trip starts on 26 October 2025, your Halloween party will be today.
DAY 7
Day 7 • Bucharest
This morning, travel by train to Bucharest. Often called the 'Little Paris of the Balkans', Romania's capital is known for its Belle Epoch architecture, thumping nightlife and communist sites. Meet your local guide for a private tour of the city, starting with the recently restored Old Town of Bucharest, then some of the more significant sites of the revolution of 1989, which culminated in the ousting and execution of communist leader Ceausescu. Visit the huge Piata Unirii – one of Europe's largest squares – and the Ceausima – Bucharest's 12-storey Palace of Parliament. The palace is the second largest building in the world, after the Pentagon. The former dictator ordered the construction of this monster, a building of staggering scale and opulence that includes 1100 rooms and 4500 chandeliers.
Accommodation
Hotel (1 night)
Meals
Breakfast
Included activities
Bucharest - Walking Tour with Local Guide
DAY 8
Day 8 • Bucharest
With no further activities planned, your trip ends today and you can depart your accommodation at any time. If you want to stay longer in Bucharest, just speak to your booking agent ahead of time to organise additional accommodation. If you have some extra time, why not take one of the daytrips offered by Urban Adventures. Check out urbanadventures.com for more information.
Meals
Breakfast
Optional activities
Bucharest - Bike Tour - EUR25
Bucharest - Palace of Parliament Tour - RON60
Bucharest - Romanian Athenaeum - RON10
Bucharest - Former Ceausescu Residence - RON65
Bucharest - Village Museum - RON30
Special information
If you have some extra time in Bucharest why not take one of the day trips offered by Urban Adventures. Check out urbanadventures.com for more information.

Inclusions

Meals

7 breakfasts, 1 lunch

Transport

Train, Private vehicle, Taxi

Accommodation

Hotel ( 7 nights)

Activities

Transylvania - Halloween Party

Turda - Salt Mines Tour

Cluj Napoca - Walking Tour with Local Guide

Cluj Napoca - Hoia Forest Guided Trek

Viscri - Fortified Church

Viscri - Sock Project Visit

Viscri - Local Home Cooked Lunch

Bran Castle - Tour

Brasov - Walking Tour with Local Guide

Bucharest - Walking Tour with Local Guide

Dates and availability

Starting

Ending

Remaining

Prices From

Sunday Oct 26, 2025

Sunday Nov 02, 2025

Trip size max: - 14 spaces left

£1,562

Monday Oct 27, 2025

Monday Nov 03, 2025

Trip size max: - 15 spaces left

£1,562

Wednesday Oct 29, 2025

Wednesday Nov 05, 2025

Trip size max: - 16 spaces left

£1,562

Thursday Oct 30, 2025

Thursday Nov 06, 2025

Trip size max: - 12 spaces left

£1,562

Friday Oct 31, 2025

Friday Nov 07, 2025

Trip size max: - 15 spaces left

£1,562

Friday Oct 30, 2026

Friday Nov 06, 2026

Trip size max: - 15 spaces left

£1,749

Saturday Oct 31, 2026

Saturday Nov 07, 2026

Trip size max: - 16 spaces left

£1,749

Important notes

1. This itinerary may have multiple departures on the same date. Your group size will still be capped at a maximum of 16 travellers; however, in some locations, you may overlap with other groups, such as in overnight stays and, of course, at the Halloween party itself.

2. To give your creativity free reign, we recommend you bring along your own costume for the party. Costume hire opportunities on-site are very limited.

3. A single supplement is available if you’d prefer not to share a room on this trip. The single supplement applies to all nights of your trip and is subject to availability. Please speak to your booking agent for further information.

4. Depending on the start date of your trip, your Halloween party will be held on 31 October in either Brasov or Cluj-Napoca. Please review the Itinerary for more details.

Reviews (8)

5 stars

4 stars

Martha

Nov 08, 2023

This trip could have really been cheesy and focused on only the Dracula legend but instead i was immersed into the culture like a local. Having lunch in a home cellar in Viscri was the cherry and could not have gotten that if i would have booked an independent trip. The tour leader went above and beyond to make sure we had options to try on our free time and inside tips to make the most of our time.

Christie

Nov 06, 2023

A fantastic and beautiful taste of Transylvania myths, legends, and history.

Melissa

Nov 12, 2022

My sister and I loved our Transylvania tour! So much history and so much included in the itinerary. I loved the variety of the cities/towns we visited. Great guide Anastasiia, fun group, and a wonderful week!

Brigid

Nov 08, 2022

This is not a trip for anyone with mobility issues. Lots of walking and steps. Some hotels don't have lifts, all have lots of steps. Cluj Napoca is aovely place, shame there was no snow. The trip to the Turda salt mines is very interesting, as is the trip to the small village, Viscri, where we had a Romanian lunch. The citadel of Sighisoara is beautiful and interesting. Brasov is interesting, the guide told us that if our phones buzzed it was either a bear alert or an earth tremor, we had neither. Apparently brown bears are known to visit the outskirts in search of food. Lots of restaurants, coffee shops and amazing cakes. Never seen so many pharmacies... We didn't like Bucharest, just another city. The old architecture in all places was impressive. The Halloween party was held in Cluj, just round the corner from the hotel, it could have more Halloween atmosphere. A trip worth doing, shame it wasn't longer to see more of this lovely country.

Holly

Nov 07, 2022

The "Halloween in Transylvania" trip ( 7 days in Romania) was amazing! Our group leader, Anastasiia was excellent- fun, responsible, creative and relaxed at the same time. I had a great time and will remember the places I visited (Cluj, Sighasoara, Viscri, Brasov, and Bucharest) for many years ahead!

Dena

Nov 07, 2022

This is my first solo trip. It exceeded my expectations. I will definitely travel with Intrepid again. Our guide Anastasia was superb.

Bethany

Nov 05, 2022

This trip was so much fun! You really get to see some beautiful parts of Romania. My favourite place was definitely brasov there was so much to see!

Lauren

Nov 07, 2022

Excellent seasonal tour, especially for those who have not previously visited Romania. My highlights were the Halloween party, Bran Castle and the home-cooked meal in Viscri.

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