Beyond Bucharest: Dracula's Castle, Peles & Brasov Journey

Long day of travel. Coming back took us 4 hours due to the traffic. The places to see was nice but not enough time especially in Sinaia. Plus the weather was so hot.

Overall very good the guide was very helpful and knowledgeable. Preferred longer at Dracula’s castle and less at Bracovv and the first castle we went.

Very good, Sonia was amazing.We had a good time and was very informative. Its worth to take the trip if you visit Romania

Overall I enjoyed the day. I sent a pin on WhatsApp asking if I was in the right place- as the guide had sent a link the day before which didn’t work. So I was checking so I didn’t miss the bus. The tour guide responded I was in the right place- when in fact the bus went from the opposite side of the road I was on- so it was good I checked as the buses came in or I would have missed the trip- despite checking with the guide whether I was in the correct location It started off with the tour guide apparently being shocked I was on my own- asking twice - one ticket! Like it was shocking They then nearly left myself and another woman at the first stop- despite- as they had requested- we had WhatsApped because we were stuck in a queue for the loo- but the tour guide did not read the message. He had said multiple times in the first part of the journey he would call people multiple times before leaving. He had not rang either of our phones at all. And we were 4 minutes late. We also had to go to the loo at the stop as there wasn’t one on board and we were told then next stop would be another hour or more, and the queue was long and slow to move. We waited for about 20 mins of this break to use the loo so not like we were rushing last minute and had texted the guide 10 mins before the departure time saying we would be late as the queue was long and not moving fast so he had plenty of time to read the message and respond - which he did neither. Also at every stop he was giving a short guide before we had time to explore. He walked off and did this with half the group missing at each stop and so I didn’t get to hear what was being said , and would move on without clear instructions. He could do with making sure the group is together and maybe a stick or flag like a lot of other tour guides do as this was very unclear and hard to see him in a crowd. At one point half the group appeared to be left with an Italian group who were also at one of the castles and we were confused where our guide had gone. The castles and scenery were beautiful and the bus was clean and the driver appeared safe and efficient. However - I wasn’t personally that impressed with the tour guide at all. Probably would have picked a different one if I did the trip again

We travel a lot and unfortunately we found this trip a little overrated! The Dracula’s castle is totally overrated not much to see frankly. Our bus tour guide was pretty serious and sounded a little boring.

Very unprofessional, tour guide was rude and called someone on the tour fat, driver pulled over and arguing with police because he was illegally parked. We got back 3.5 hours later than expected, making it a 15.5 hour tour with 11 hours of that spent sitting on a coach, with no apology, they were reluctant to stop for toilet breaks despite driving 5 hours. Wouldn’t recommend to anyone, get the train and do it yourselves.

Be prepared for a very long day. Long drive and limited time so no messing about. Temperature about 6-7 degrees lower. The guide was good and helpful, bus clean. There was no toilet on the bus but guide arranges all so no preasure. The only dissapointment was not visiting Peles Cartle but Pelesor instead as tickets was sold out. Strongly suggest to by ticket un advance. Guide provided all information on the way so do not expect guided tour inside castles. I enjoed visiting both castles Pelesor and Bran. Brasov beautiful small town. Returned very tired but happy.

Took this trip whilst on a mini break in Bucharest. We were told to arrive at 6.30am but trip didn’t leave until 7am which was annoying. The trip was a very long day but good stops along the way. Brasov is a beautiful town, wish we had longer here! The castles were also great, lovely tour guide and driver. Marius and Florin. Thank you.

The tour operator does not make it very clear up front that you need to pay castle entrance fees and that tickets numbers are restricted to a quota per hour slot. Inevitably they sell out quickly especially for Peles. They tell you this too late to book entrance tickets in advance. Our tour was badly managed. No real monitoring of people on the bus so some missed their bus. Our guide was lazy and clearly wasn’t prepared to meet her group out in the rain at the starting point. She didn’t have a name badge or sign indicating the tour operator. Her commentary in the city was perfunctory and quite basic. No context given for the castle visits. The journey could have been far more interesting and entertaining. She rushed people and didn’t wait for the slowest members of the group. Overall she was a very poor example of good guiding and the management of the trip was definitely lacking. Think twice about booking even if the price seems a good one. It’s 12 plus hours which could have been more enjoyable.

Great day, long but good to see so much in a short space of time. Would have been useful to know approx arrival time in each place to help work out meal timings.