Transylvania beyond the spooky castles: a family adventure in Romania’s mountains

Forget the vampire tales – the Eastern Carpathians deliver dramatic peaks, roaming bears and deep solitude As the sun disappears behind the high tree line, our campfire spits and crackles.

Four plump trout are sizzling on a flame-heated slab of rock, a cooking technique used by people in the Gurghiu mountains, part of Transylvania’s Eastern Carpathians, for centuries.

Apart from gentle birdsong, it’s the only sound up here, 1,550 metres above sea level and far from any town or village.

“This area is very wild,” says Samir Teslovan, who drove us up through the densely forested peaks from his guesthouse in Toplița.

“When I come here to the mountains, I charge my battery, charge my soul.

I feel free, like the wind.” Continue reading...