The building of the castle began 1873 under the direct order of the Viennese architect Wilhem Doderer and was inaugurated in 1883.

The castle was built in wood, stone, bricks and marble and comprises more than 160 rooms. The representative style used
is German Renaissance, but one can easily discover elements belonging to the Italian Renaissance, Gothic, German Baroque
and French Rococo style.

The first documentary attestation of Bran Castle is in 1377.

The Fortress had an essential role in protecting the Hungarian king from the Ottomans and Tartars' invasion, coming from Wallachia through Rucar Pass.

In the 18th century the fortress was the house of the Austrians frontier guards. In 1836 Bran became the official border and the defense role of the fortress was no longer a priority. In 1920, the Brasov Town council donated Bran Castle to Queen Maria of Great Romania, who lived there with the royal family till 1947.

Sighisoara is one of the 7 fortified Saxon cities in Transylvania, known as "Siebenburgen", together with Brasov (Kronstadt), Cluj (Klausenburg), Sibiu (Hermannstadt), Bistrita (Bistritz) Medias (Mediasch), Sebes (Mühlbach).
The chronicler Krauss lists a Saxon settlement in Sighisoara by 1191. It was destroyed by a Tatar invasion in 1241, rebuilt, and in 1280 documented as Castrum Sex (citadel number six).

The town was the setting for George I Rákóczi's election as Prince of Transylvania and King of Hungary in 1631. Sighisoara suffered military occupation, fires, and plagues during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Brasov was first mentioned as "Corona" ( which means, crown, hence the coat of arms of the city which is a crown with oak roots) in 1235, when the Saxon population settled here.

For centuries, the city was (and still is) Transylvania's gateway towards the South and East. As the renowned Harvard professor Samuel Huntington shows in his work "The Clash of Civilizations", this is where (ideologically) Europe ends.

The fault line between the western and the eastern civilization runs indeed through Brasov, separating Transylvania from the rest of Romania.

Known in German under the name Hermannstadt, Sibiu has always been the most important center of the German minority in Transylvania. The first documentary mentioning referring to the Sibiu area dates back from 1191.

Brought here by the Hungarian kings, the Saxons were granted numerous rights and benefits in exchange for their help in defending the lands against the attacks of the Tatars and Turks.

They created ‘the land of the 7 fortresses', 7 fortified cities, as well as numerous villages in which fortified churches were erected to serve as a shelter in the event of an attack.

Known as the biggest salt mine in Europe, Slanic Prahova stands today for one of the most important watering and climatic resorts in Romania.
"The Salt Mountain", unique in the entire world and "The Bride's Cave", are just some of the resort's attractions, which, according to the documents, for more than 300 years represented an important salt extraction center.

Among the natural treatment factors, we have to mention here The Old Salt Mine, which was transformed in a sanatorium, at 210 meters deep, for the treatment of pulmonary diseases in a saline air microclimate.

The Bucegi mountains own their fame to the spectacular landscapes and the accessibility of their routes.
Well known for hiking, winter sports and climbing, these mountains are high compact blocks, edged by steep slopes which dominate the Prahova Valley, a popular land for its mountain resorts (the cities of Busteni, Sinaia and Predeal).

At a higher elevation is the Bucegi Plateau, where wind and rain have turned the rocks into spectacular figures such as the "Sphinx", a rock with the shape of a human-like face, with a lingering and enigmatic smile and "Babele" ("The Old Ladies").