We were speechless when we first set our eyes on the perfect Cinderella castle. With its pointed roofs, rounded turrets and wooden accents, Peleș Castle was exactly the castle we were hoping to see in Romania.
To reach Peleș Castle from Bucharest, we drove through Valea Prahovei (Prahova Valley) in the Carpathian Mountains. It was autumn and the colourful forests that blanketed the mountains made it a spectacular drive.
Peleș Castle
With towers, turrets, fabulous woodwork designs around the windows and balconies, the German Neo-Renaissance design makes it the perfect castle for a fairytale princess. Its position atop a knoll enveloped in the fall colours made it even more picturesque.
In 1866 King Carol I was brought from Germany to rule Romania. Peleș Castle was built as his summer residence. He continued to be the monarch of Romania from 1866 until 1914 when Romania consisted of Moldavia and Walachia. They were autonomous regions, but were still vassals of the Ottoman Empire. In 1877 Romania became an independent and sovereign nation after the Russo-Turkish War.
The statues on the castle grounds and paintings on the clock tower add to the magical feel of this castle.
To enter the castle we first walked into the inner courtyard that is cocooned by four-story walls. One wall has scenes painted on it. One is of a musicians and jesters another is a mural of hunters killing a bear.
Inside, the castle feels very medieval even though it’s much younger. On the first floor decadent marble pillars with golden accents are so large they almost fill the room.
On the upper floors we were treated to elaborate wooden carvings, stained glass windows and a spiral wooden staircases hanging from above. There were armament rooms, music halls, dining halls and meeting rooms. It was all over-the-top indulgent.
Pelișor Castle
Only a hundred meters away from Peleș Castle is the less flamboyant Pelișor Castle. Built by King Carol I’s nephew and heir to the throne, Prince Ferdinand and his wife Princess Marie. She is the granddaughter of the UK’s Queen Victoria, we’ll tell you more about her in our Bran Castle post.
Built roughly 20 year later, Pelișor Castle is much less striking than its neighbour. Brown wooden trim and window shutters cover most of the building’s exterior.
Princess Marie was apparently very involved in the decorations. Compared to Peleș though, the décor was rather ordinary. It didn’t feel like a palace at all.
Beside the castles is a stone gate that leads to Middle Ages-style buildings. They are now used by busy tourist restaurants.
Sinaia Monastery
Below the castles is Sinaia Monastery. The old monastery church was built in the late 1600s in the Brâncovenesc style. This is a traditional Romanian architecture style from the 17th century that is said to be a fusion of Ottoman, Byzantine and local Romanian styles. It is known for its delicate stone carvings and ornate embellishments. We saw more of this architecture style at Horezu Monastery. You can read about the monastery in our post Driving the Transfăgărășan.
The New Church at the monastery was built in the 19th century and since it is down the street from the castles, it was used by the royals. Surrounding it are the white buildings of the monastery. The monastery may not be worth a trip on its own, but definitely worth a stop if you visit Peleș Castle.
Sinaia
Located on the main highway between Bucharest and Brașov, the town of Sinaia is surrounded by the forested mountains of Valea Prahovei. It can be used as a base to explore Peleș Castle. The homes however, don’t look like what we would expect in a typical mountain town. Instead, they look like they were torn from the pages of a scary novel. Maybe its because we were in Romania, the land of Dracula, but Sinaia felt spookier than we had ever imagined.
How to visit Peleș and Pelișor Castles
Without a car, getting to Sinaia would be very difficult. It’s located on the main highway between Bucharest and Brașov, but the best option to visit these sites is to take a tour or rent a car.
There is not a lot of parking at the castles so it is best to park in Sinaia and walk up. You will walk right passed Sinaia Monastery on your way.
Predeal
After visiting the castles we were back in the car on our way to Brașov. The drive continued up the pretty Valea Prahovei. A great stop on the drive to Brașov is the ski resort town of Predeal. It has a cute setting in a small valley, but most of the Bavarian style ski lodges are in need of a few updates and repairs. We can’t complain though since this was the view from our hotel.
The best reason to come to Predeal is for the views from Trei Brazi Hut. From the open slopes we looked out across an open valley, toward the rocky mountains. In autumn there is a blanket of orange, yellow and green covering the rolling hills.
The Bucegi Mountains between Predeal and Bran Castle are very pretty. The highway climbs up and down the hills with a few nice lookout spots. The views on this drive gave us a good reason to return. We stopped at a spot on the other side of the valley where we looked back up to Trei Brazi Hut.
Thanks to our friend Florin at Născut Pe Lista Neagră (Born on the Blacklist) for his help in planning our trip to Romania.
Click on the link to read our Travel Tips For Romania.
To read more of our adventures in Romania, click here.
Coming Next – Dracula’s Bran Castle
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To read about more of our adventures go to Destinations.
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