Maramures Mountains Holiday in Romania

Romanian Vacation with Beautiful Scenery and Wooden Churches

Jun 2, 2007

Travel to Romania to the Maramures Mountains. Magical wooden churches and traditional agriculture - rural Romanian culture largely unchanged since the Middle Ages.

Travellers seeking an authentic holiday in Romania find the Maramures Mountains offer genuine hospitality (accompanied by home made plum brandy!) beautiful scenery and traditional wooden churches, built with nothing but community spirit. The Maramures Mountains offer the ingredients for an unforgettable vacation in the Romanian countryside.

Romanian Culture in the Maramures Mountains

The Maramures Mountains have remained essentially unchanged for centuries. A vacation in the Maramures Mountains is a trip back in time to a land of hand-built haystacks, simple wooden houses and folk traditions that are very much a part of everyday Romanian life. The local architecture is perfectly integrated into the landscape, and all agriculture is “organic and local” through simple necessity – the Maramures Mountains are still remote and difficult to reach even today. Farmers cut hay with fearsome looking scythes and great skill while their wives rake it into stacks; great rows of beans grow for use dried in the winter, and the nearby pig will no doubt be salted and smoked for the winter too.

Genuine Hospitality in the Maramures Mountains

It is not unusual to be invited in to share plum brandy and roasted aubergines by a friendly family because you happen to be walking by; genuine hospitality is second nature in the Maramures. There is no better way to end a day of hiking in the mountains! And if you don’t happen to share a language? Well, there is always animated sign language and enthusiastic curiosity!

Maramures Wooden Churches

Every village in the Maramures has its wooden church, built entirely of wood down to wooden roof shingles. Many are centuries old and still central to the local community; however wooden church building is a living tradition. If a Maramures village loses its church due to a fire, or in one case the former communist government simply took a church away for a museum in Bucharest, a neighbouring village will build them a new church. They are delightful buildings, with a tall wooden steeple and decorated inside with traditional hand woven cloth embroidered with the simple local traditional designs.

Hotels and other Accomodation in the Maramures Mountains

There are no starred hotels in the Maramures; accommodation is often basic, but always welcoming. You will probably share a bathroom with other guests or the host family, but the water will be hot thanks to simple wood fired boilers. The food offered in Maramures accomodation is generally simple, and sometimes excellent, such as green beans cooked in the pod with tomato, onion and smoked pork.

To reach the Maramures from Bucharest, visitors travel through Transylvania, although the region is in fact closer to Budapest for international travellers. A James Bond-style first class sleeper cabin for two on the state owned railways costs under 100 euros one-way from Bucharest to Viseu de Sus in the Maramures Mountains, or why not spend a day or two in the fascinating cities of Brasov and Sighisoara en route to the tranquillity of the Maramures Mountains?

The Maramures mountains are green, often covered in forest, and very picturesque; a wonderful peaceful haven a long way from the preoccupations of everyday life, a great destination for a vacation in traditional Romania.

The copyright of the article Maramures Mountains Holiday in Romania in Romania Travel is owned by Joanne E. Brannan. Permission to republish Maramures Mountains Holiday in Romania in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.