Bucharest: Dracula's Castle, Peleș Castle & Brașov Tour

Early morning departure from Bucharest heading northwest through the foothills of the Carpathians toward Transylvania. Your guide introduces the history of Transylvania — the former Principality that sat between the Ottoman and Habsburg empires for three centuries — and the Dracula connection: Bram Stoker's 1897 novel was researched from library books in London and Whitby, never from a visit to Romania, yet his description of the fictional count's castle closely matched Bran's profile.

Bran Castle rises on a 60-metre limestone rock at the Bran Pass between Transylvania and Wallachia — a series of levels connected by narrow staircases, wooden galleries, hidden passages and a shaft through the rock to an underground well. The rooms are furnished with Central European antiques from the 14th to 19th centuries. The castle's most poignant resident was Queen Marie of Romania, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, who fell in love with Bran in 1920 and restored it as her summer residence. Her golden heart casket is displayed in the castle chapel. Entrance ticket: included as add-on at booking, or payable on site (subject to availability).

Peleș Castle in Sinaia is Romania's most extraordinary palace — a neo-Renaissance mountain residence built for King Carol I between 1873 and 1914, with 160 rooms decorated in a fusion of European styles: Flemish tapestries, gilded ceilings, Moorish halls, and an armoury housing the royal weapon collection. The grounds alone are magnificent. Note: Peleș is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays; on those days visits are limited to the exterior and grounds. Entrance ticket: included as add-on at booking, or payable on site (subject to availability).

Free exploration of Brașov, one of the best-preserved medieval Saxon cities in Eastern Europe. Walk the cobbled Strada Republicii to Council Square (Piața Sfatului), visit the Black Church — the largest Gothic church in Eastern Europe — and take in views over the red-roofed old town from the city walls. The city was founded by Teutonic Knights in the 13th century and retains its medieval street plan largely intact.