• Bran Castle (Dracula’s Castle) - Bran Castle was first mentioned in documents in 1377 when it was built by the Saxons of Kronstadt at their own expense and labor force. But this beautiful medieval castle is older than that. Initially, it was built as a wooden castle guarding an important mountain pass by the Teutonic Knights in 1212, but it was destroyed by the Mongols in 1242.

Bran, Brasov County

As time passed, and military conflicts intensified, the castle was heavily fortified and was used over the ages as a defensive position against the invading Ottoman Empire. Despite popular belief, Vlad the Impaler had little to do with the castle, although he passed through the area occasionally.

Besides playing an important military role, Bran Castle also had a commercial purpose. Being placed at the border of two important regions, it provided safe passage from one location to another, thus improving the relations and economic development of both Wallachia and Transylvania.

In 1920, after the Treaty of Trianon, Bran Castle became a royal residence within the Kingdom of Romania, and it quickly became Queen Marie of Romania’s favorite home, who ended up renovating it. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and she married Prince Ferdinand in 1893.

Queen Marie did not like much the court life in Bucharest, and she used to ride unattended through the streets and throw roses at the citizens during carnivals. She appointed herself a colonel of the Red Hussars, but her popularity started declining in 1919 when she announced at a peace conference in Paris that she should be the new face of Romania.

During World War II, the castle was used as a hospital by Princess Ileana, Queen Marie’s daughter, but in 1948 it was seized by the communist regime.

Dracula’s Castle today

In 2005, the Romanian government passed a special law that allowed restitution claims on properties illegally seized by the Ceausescu regime, and in 2006 the castle was awarded to Princess Ileana’s son, Dominic von Habsburg, and in 2009 it was transferred to his sisters, Maria-Magdalena Holzhausen and Elisabeth Sandhofer. In June 2009, the renovated castle was opened together with the Bran Village in order to preserve and boost the Romanian tourism and to improve the economic situation of the region.

Furniture inside Bran Castle

Furniture inside Bran Castle

Today, the Castle is a private museum that displays art and furniture collected by Queen Marie. Thousands of tourists visit Bran Castle each year for an authentic vampire experience, and they are not disappointed. The castle was restored several times, and now it looks very much like it used to during the time of its famous residents.

Surrounded by towers and ramparts, this “pugnacious little fortress”, as Queen Marie called it, is a truly stunning castle, especially against the beautiful background dominated by the Carpathian Mountains. Several locations near Bran Castle as well as Bran itself are also home to a Halloween party on the last day of November, so if you want a truly extraordinary experience, make sure to book ahead of time.

Bedroom inside Bran Castle

Bedroom inside Bran Castle

One of the tunnels inside Bran Castle

One of the tunnels inside Bran Castle

But Bran has more to offer than the splendid Bran Castle. You can take a trip to the open-air Village Museum, which is located in the park near Bran Castle. Here, you will find 18 examples of traditional Romanian households, as well as other wooden constructions, such as a sawmill, a fulling mill, which was used to manufacture wool, both powered by water. South of the Village Museum you can find the Ancient Customs House Museum, that displays several examples of foreign goods which were traded through this pass, such as an English clock or a Canadian traveling trunk.
*Starting from May 2019 you can have a Dracula’s Castle tour by night.

• On-board WiFi
• In-vehicle air conditioning

• entrance fee