Romania - Myths and Legends

Romania remains one of Europe’s most underrated and rewarding destinations, offering a rich mix of history, natural beauty, and vibrant local culture — all without the crowds or price tags of more frequented tourist hotspots.

For lovers of the great outdoors, Romania is a dream. The Carpathian Mountains offer some of Europe’s wildest and most scenic hiking, where you might spot bears, wolves, or lynx in their natural habitat. In contrast, the Danube Delta, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, is a paradise for birdwatchers and nature lovers, with over 300 species of birds and a maze of lakes, channels, and reed beds.

Romania’s towns and cities are equally captivating. Bucharest, the capital, is dynamic and full of contrasts — grand boulevards and Belle Époque buildings sit alongside brutalist communist architecture and a thriving café culture. In Transylvania, you’ll find towns like Brașov, Sibiu, and Sighișoara, with colourful facades, cobbled streets, and Saxon fortifications.

What makes Romania truly special, however, is its warm hospitality, hearty cuisine, and sense of authenticity. It’s a place where traditions are still alive, landscapes are unspoilt, and travellers are genuinely welcomed. Let the Time-Pressed Travel team create your ideal Romanian itinerary.

Dracula and Romania: Unravelling the Myth

It may be something of a cliché to mention Dracula when writing about Romania — largely because the connection has been overused, often reducing the country to gothic stereotypes. However, few myths are so deeply and enduringly associated with a single place. The Dracula legend has taken on a life of its own, spawning countless films, television series, and horror novels. While the story is more fiction than fact, its grip on the global imagination has made Romania — and particularly Transylvania — synonymous with eerie castles, misty mountains, and the supernatural.

Few fictional characters have become as globally iconic as Count Dracula, the bloodthirsty vampire first introduced in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. With his aristocratic charm, Transylvanian castle, and thirst for human blood, Dracula has become a staple of horror fiction and film. But while the Dracula legend is unmistakably fictional, it has left a lasting — and often misunderstood — association with Romania, particularly the region of Transylvania.

At the heart of this connection lies a historical figure: Vlad III, also known as Vlad Țepeș ("Vlad the Impaler") or Vlad Dracula. He was a 15th-century ruler of Wallachia, a principality that forms part of modern-day Romania. Vlad was known for his fierce resistance against the Ottoman Empire and, more infamously, for his brutal methods of punishment, including impalement. His nickname, “Dracula,” derived from his father’s membership in the Order of the Dragon (Dracul), a chivalric order. In Romanian, “Dracula” means “son of the dragon” or “son of the devil.”

Bram Stoker likely borrowed the name and some inspiration from Vlad's fearsome reputation, but the vampire Count Dracula is largely a work of imagination. Stoker never visited Romania and based his descriptions of Transylvania on books and second-hand accounts. The now-famous Bran Castle, often marketed as “Dracula’s Castle,” has only a tenuous connection to Vlad and none to Stoker’s novel. Nevertheless, it has become a popular tourist attraction, feeding into the mythology and drawing thousands of visitors each year.

The Dracula myth has been both a blessing and a burden for Romania. On the one hand, it has helped put Transylvania on the map, attracting tourists intrigued by misty mountains, gothic castles, and vampire lore. On the other hand, it risks overshadowing the region’s rich and nuanced history, diverse cultures, and natural beauty.

Transylvania is a land of fortified churches, Saxon villages, and medieval towns like Brașov and Sighișoara (the latter being Vlad Țepeș’s actual birthplace). Its real appeal lies not in horror fiction but in its architectural heritage, dramatic landscapes, and local traditions that pre-date and outshine any vampire tale.

Interestingly, Romania’s own folklore contains numerous supernatural beings — including strigoi, the undead spirits believed to rise from the grave and haunt the living. These legends, deeply rooted in rural beliefs, may have contributed indirectly to the vampire archetype, but they are distinct from the Dracula of English Gothic literature.

In the end, Dracula’s link to Romania is no more than a literary coincidence. Still, the myth has created a fascinating cultural intersection — where history, fiction, and tourism collide. For travellers, exploring this legacy can be a starting point, but the real reward comes from discovering the rich tapestry of Romanian culture that lies beyond the vampire's shadow.