Looking at a 10 day trip in April, and Romania looks like a contender. Seems like a few days in Bucharest then up to Bucegi to do some hiking are the immediate tempters.
Anyone been and got any tips or big opinions? Definitely looking to do a decent amount of outdoors stuff and hiking on the trip but probably won’t have a car.
It’s great. Probably one of my favourite countries. Friendly people, beautiful countryside. I wasn’t that fussed on Bucharest, but Cluj and Iasi are really good fun if you happen to be going in the vicinity of either of those. I can’t really advise on hiking, though, I’m afraid, as I’ve always stuck more to the cities (other than on trains between them).
It’s a lovely country. We really liked Bucharest and drove up to Brazos for snowboarding. It’s old down is lovely.
We went out to see Dracula’s castle as well which is a fun few hours.
That’s about all I’ve go though.
Brasov is great to spend a couple of days.
There’s a bear sanctuary not too far from there which is amazing
Sighisoara is really pretty. Has those houses with windows that look like eyes. Get a taxi driver or coach to drive you through the Transfagarasan
Id looove to go back and spend a couple of weeks around the danube delta looking at wildlife and that but have heard it’s not easy without a car
Went a few years back and loved it - been meaning to go back for ages. If I was doing a fresh itinerary, I would train it from Bucharest to Budapest I think, doing stops in the Transylvanian Alps, Cluj (where a friend of mine now lives but I’ve not been to) and Timisoara (where the revolution started, for fans of modern history).
When I went last time, spent a few days in Bucharest then trained it up to Brasov and then did various hikes/explorations around Rasnov and Bran. Then trained over to Constanta and spent a few days in Mamaia. The Black Sea coast is very beautiful. After that, we then headed on to Moldova which is obviously a different trip but was AMAZING. Recommend Moldova to everyone if you get the chance.
Travel-wise, did mostly everything on the train which was super easy with a little bit of bus thrown in. Would not be super keen on driving as some of the roads look pretty sketchy, particularly up in the mountains 
EDIT: this is an entertaining read if you wanted to get in the mood…
Thinking of going to Romania next year. Rough plan is maybe spending a week there in March - Bucharest for a few days and then to Brasov for a night or two as well to do the castles etc.
Is it relatively easy getting transport around the Brasov area? Never a massive fan of guided tours etc but I don’t drive so maybe best to go for one up there?.
I travelled around Romania for four weeks (admittedly back in 2006, so my information is not particularly up to date) entirely by public transport and found it very easy, including around the Brasov region. Trains are straightforward and local buses relatively simple to figure out. I do drive, but I would think twice about driving around large swathes of Romania (again - my info might be out of date) 
Had a copy of this for about two years now and still not around to reading it…
Romania is rad and their folk music absolutely slaps.
Was the first place I went with plastic bank notes. They had a little window in them. Great stuff.
Nothing more useful to add at this time.
Oh yes, one more thing to add - The Colourful Cemetery!
Brightly painted headstones with absolutely banter memorials such as
“Ioan Toaderu loved horses. One more thing he loved very much. To sit at a table in a bar. Next to someone else’s wife.”
ZING!!!
Always fancied checking out Romania
Really liked Romania. The old town in Brassov is lovely, Bucharest is surprisingly pretty and Ceaușescu’s palace is well worth a loot around.
It’s been ages since we were there but recommend looking up a free walking tour. The one we did was great.
The locals were lovely. Bran’s castle is a bit of a let down though.
Would have thought all the jewels and stuff had been pinched long ago 
We’re going to book something next week. Decided to switch to May for the better weather.
I went to Romania maybe 25 years ago on a trekking trip with Exodus in the Carpathian Mountains, climbing (well walking) the highest peak. At that time, it was just on the cusp of Romania becoming a travellers buzzword. I think its probably better now, back then tourist infrastructure was pretty non-existent (which is fine and one of the reasons I went) but parts of it were ruined by locals leaving huge rubbish dumps in national parks. It was kind of epidemic and tarnished many places. That probably doesn’t happen now as tourism is probably quite important to the country so I guess the government has took action on it. I definitely experienced a country that wasn’t really in modern times but to be honest a week in the mountains of Scotland would have been better, or Wales. It wasn’t mind-blowing for the effort if you get my drift. I think in my minds eye I was conjuring up images of a mystical, supernatural place, even the name Carpathians sounds spooky, but what I got was something pretty average. I bet its a lot different nowadays, and maybe for the better.