0 0

Visiting Dracula’s Castle was always in my plans for Romania. Dracula is a mythical character, written by an Irish writer who had never visited Romania. Just the fact that there are links between Ireland and this Castle made it a must-see for me. I was also keen to visit the nearby Brasov, so working a trip to Bran Castle into my itinerary was simple. Bran Castle is where the inspiration for Dracula’s Castle came from, and today it thrives on the tourism from this connection. Visiting Dracula’s Castle was easy. But whether a visit, in the end, was worth it was another matter. Below I have explained how to get there and how I felt about my visit. After reading this, I hope you will be able to decide if you too should go there.

Currency Converter – 10RON = €2.15/£1.90/$2.45

Getting There

Getting to Bran and Bran Castle is simple, as you are most likely going to be travelling from Brasov nearby. You might be staying there for a few nights (you should) or you may have arrived from another part of Romania solely to visit the Castle. In Brasov, make your way to Autogara 2, a small bus station to the North-West of the city. A bus service runs from there every half an hour to Bran. Tickets cost 8RON each way and can be bought on the bus. The journey takes about 40 minutes and leaves you at a bus stop in Bran. When the bus pulls away, you’re left with a super view of Bran Castle.

At The Castle

After paying the 40RON entrance fee, we climbed the short hill to the castle itself. (You may also purchase an audio guide for 10RON if you want). The first thing that struck me was how small the castle is. On entering, we were faced with a short history of the residents of Bran Castle. This stretched from Ordinul Cavalerilor in 1211 to today’s owner, the Archduke of Austria-Tuscany. Amongst the residents was Vlad Tepes, who I will talk more about soon.

The castle is laid out for visitors to follow a certain route. This brought us into the first-floor lobby, once an apartment for Queen Mary of Romania. Then we made our way into the Room of Castellans. A castellan was the chief magistrate of a district who had military and administrative jurisdiction in their districts. Next, we climbed up the narrow ‘Secret Staircase’ to the Music Hall, Library and Loggia. The Loggia was arranged as a summer dining room during the interwar period. Today the room is filled with trinkets and antiques. A jug in the form of a rooster and four little bells made from bronze were my favourites. The next part of the tour brings you outside and into the courtyard. It was a crisp November afternoon, but from the terrace, we got one of the best views of inside the castle grounds.

We then made our way back inside the castle and out of the snowy conditions. We were in the room of Prince Nicholas of Romania. This fourth-floor room was arranged as an apartment for the Prince during the interwar period. To my surprise, it was only after visiting this room that Dracula was first mentioned.

Most of the information we found was about either Vlad Tepes or Bram Stoker. Of course, neither Dracula nor vampires are real. Therefore any information was to tell visitors how Bram Stoker thought up the Dracula character and why he chose Transylvania and Romania as the location. There was also information on why Bran Castle is labelled as Dracula’s Castle, despite Stoker never visiting the castle. With only some small extra information regarding mythology in Romania, concerning the living dead, it was no surprise that the visit to the Castle lasted just an hour. This ended any information on the Dracula story. Moving on, we made our way into the bedroom of King Ferdinand I of Romania before finding ourselves in the castle’s courtyard. A quick look around there and our visit was all but done.

What I Learned

If I’m honest, the visit wasn’t overly informative or overly impressive. However, I did manage to take away some information. Vlad Tepes, the inspiration behind Dracula, was the ruler of Wallachia. He was depicted during that time as being a blood-thirsty and ruthless leader. (Hence the vampire similarity).

The name Dracula comes from the Crusader Order of the Dragon, which both Vlad Tepes and his father were associated with. Despite this and many other similarities between Vlad the Impaler and the Dracula character, Stoker at no point suggested that there was a link between the two.

Bran Castle is labelled as Dracula’s Castle because Stoker based the imaginary castle that he created on a description of Bran Castle that was available to him at the time. This means there are many striking similarities between Bran Castle and the illustration found in the first edition of “Dracula”.

Was It Worth The Trip?

As a day trip from Brasov, most definitely. If I had travelled a further distance just on the intention of visiting Dracula’s Castle then I am not so sure. It was a beautiful castle visually, there is no denying that. Also, to be able to say that I have visited the castle that inspired Stoker all those years ago was probably worth the admission fee alone. It was slightly disappointing that the tour lasted just one hour. However, there was no point dragging it out for the sake of it, especially in the freezing temperatures that I visited in. Whilst I would recommend a visit to anyone who is in the area, it is best to remember that Dracula is a fictional character. So, my friends, do not go there expecting facts and historical information, at least not about Dracula!

Why not read my full Romania Travel Guide, you can do so by clicking here.

Like It? Pin It!

About Post Author

The Roaming Irishman

roamingirishman@gmail.com

Happy

0 0 %

Sad

0 0 %

Excited

0 0 %

Sleepy

0 0 %

Angry

0 0 %

Surprise

0 0 %