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Romania lies at a crossroads in Europe and it is easy to reach from any cardinal point, by trans-European railways and roads, by air, or by waterways (the Danube and the Black Sea). The country's harmonious relief, featuring plains, hills and mountains, makes Romania ideal for tourism.
The Romanian Carpathians - the southern chain of which the French geographer Emm. de Martonne, would call "The Transylvanian Alps" - feature a unique landscape in matter of variety. An exquisite diversity of shapes can be seen here, from peaks and valleys reminding of old glaciers to the fantastic scenery of the deep caves.
Tourists can spend memorable holidays in mountain resorts, some of them famous all over the world. Vatra Dornei in the North, Slanic Moldova, Borsec and Sovata in the central area of the mountains, Poiana Brasov, Predeal, Sinaia, Busteni, Caciulata and Calimanesti in the South, Muntele Mic, Semenic and Baile Herculane (the Herculane Spa) in the South-West, Stana de Vale in the North-West are only some of the resorts of a widespread tourist network providing high-standard accommodation.
Almost 200 resorts have been developed in the mountain, hill and plain areas (which places Romania among the first countries in the world in this field). These resorts and spas are, medically speaking, a genuine pharmacy of nature, due to the waters used for treatment. A large number of diseases are successfully treated in these spas, sometimes with miraculous results.
Deers, bears, wolves, foxes, wild birds, hares, quails, etc, can be hunted everywhere across the country, in all seasons.
The sea shore - one of Europe's widest seacoasts - features a large number of resorts spreading over 90 kilometres, each special in its own way, offering tourists wonderful holidays.
North of the seacoast there lies the Danube Delta. Situated in the Central-Eastern part of Romania, the delta is enclosed by the three branches of the Danube, flowing into the Black Sea (out of the 2,000 kilometers of the great European river, 1,075 kilometres are on the Romanian territory). The Danube Delta is unique in Europe. Its beauty, the unique landscapes, the rich fauna etc. (also appreciated by Jacques-Yves Cousteau) made UNESCO declare it a preserve of the biosphere.
The castles and citadels of Rasnov, Bran, Hunedoara, Sinaia, Suceava, Neamt, Alba Iulia, Sighisoara, Histria and many others, represent an open history book. Romania has many monuments of art and architecture, vestiges of the ancient world and tokens of the modern world. To further illustrate this, the tourist is invited to visit the painted churches in Northern Moldavia, which the art historians consider as masterpieces of a refined and unique civilization (Voronet, Arbore, Sucevita, Moldovita etc.). The "Golden Apple" distinction of the International Federation of Tourism Journalists and Writers (a UNESCO office), was granted to these monasteries.
The strategy of tourism development was re launched in 1997 and has sped up the privatization of tourism companies. Half of the projects in tourism are financed from the funds granted by the European Center of Resources for Tourism, set up in Brasov, in March 1997 by FIMAN.
Resorts
Romania has approximately 1700 springs and lakes of a therapeutic value, spreading in 157 resorts and spas.
Museums and Collections
In every county, there is a county museum displaying exhibits belonging to history, arts, ethnography, science, etc. In many towns and communes there are collections (most of them private) with a specialized profile: records, memoirs, folklore, natural sciences, archaeology, etc. On the whole, one can visit in Romania over 400 museums and collections preserving Romanian cultural and spiritual values spread in 300 localities all over the country.
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