Arrivals to 

Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport

We pick you up from airport any time day or night and transfer you to our start hotel. 

AM – walk to introduce the city and history of Romania. It is exciting to be in a new place, let our guide fill us in on the history, we’ll find a few spots to stop and sketch as we go.

Morning tea at the beautiful Bere Café along with an introduction session from Susan. 

The pace is slow, but we will be wandering and sketching throughout the day. The architecture of Bucharest is so interesting. Much that will catch your eye is in New Romanian Style- it is a local vernacular influenced by Art Nouvelle of the west and Ottoman style from the east. 

We will return to the hotel in the afternoon- or you can find a place to sketch. 

Welcome dinner in the evening. 

B , AM tea, D

This morning, we will head out to the Open-Air Village Museum via metro. It has a good display of traditional houses in a pretty village setting. Anca will join us here to model a Traditional Romanian Costume and give a brief talk of its relevance to Romanians The Romanian Blouse now has world heritage status and a very passionate people honouring it. 

We’ll have a delicious lunch at the museum, one of their buildings is an Old Inn, still serving the hungry public.  

Returning to the Old Town, let’s visit the New Georges Church. Romanian Orthodox Churches are completely covered in rich murals- a feast for the eyes. The foundations of the church have been dated back to the 15 Century although much of it was built around 1670.  

Evening free.

B, L

The drive is about 4 hrs on a good road through beautiful countryside to Sibiu.

We’ve found a beautiful Monastery – the Cotmeana Orthodox Monastery. Let’s pick up some pastries and fruit on the way- it is an excellent spot to break the journey, picnic and sketch.

Sibiu Old City is on the tentative list for World Heritage with many beautiful houses and buildings. Famous for the ‘Eyes’ in the roofs of the houses. Afternoon at leisure to find a good vantage point to catch those Eyes.

We will have dinner together in a traditional Romanian Restaurant- bring your appetite the food is filling and delicious.

Before dinner let’s have a share and review session with Susan.

B,D

Day trip to the ancient fortress – Castelul Corvinilor (Corvin’s Castle) Fairy book style Castle with gothic towers, a moat, and huge walls. Slow day, time for sightseeing and to sit and sketch.

B

This morning, we will visit Victor and his family. He is an EU recognised Roma Traditional Coppersmith. He will show his trade and talk about Roma culture. Experience their warm hospitality.

Sighisoara is a World Heritage Medieval Town- so sweet and a million views to sketch. When the area was part of the Hungarian Empire it was settled by Saxon Settlers and dates to the 12th Century.  

Lunch and afternoon are free to explore. Beautiful tall, old houses and narrow cobbled alley ways, so many interesting nooks and crannies.  

We will meet up again for dinner, good time to share our work too.

B,D

On the way to Brasov, we will visit the World Heritage village of Viscri for the day. Famous for its Fortified Saxon Church, it is a quaint little village. The village is so beautiful- a full day here will just leave you wanting more.  

Lunch will be in one of their famous Farm-to-Plate Restaurants, named Viscri 32.  

We will meet up at The King’s House, to check it out- the foundation’s work is inspiring.  

Arrive Brasov by 4pm Brasov is tourist central- Perhaps people watching will be the theme today? Great central square to have an ice-cream or coffee and sit in a café and sketch.

B,L

We will start the day with a visit to Bran Castle and lay to rest the story of Dracula. Vlad Tepes, typically blood thirsty for his times is a true hero of Romania, fighting off the Ottoman yoke for a period of time. Bran Castle was the favourite summer residence of Queen Mary of Romania.  

We are visiting a family home to take a workshop in Egg Painting- this is a much-loved traditional craft of Romania.  

Lunch will be a homecooked family meal.  

Sinaia is the location of Peles Castle. We are staying close to the Castle which is set in a beautiful forest. You can sketch the castle and surrounds from the outside.  

Meet up later in the day with Susan, to share work and brainstorm.

B,L

Visit inside Peles Castle this morning- it is amazing complex and beautiful. We will arrange a meeting time; you will have a ticket to enter and will need to make the decision how much you sightsee or stop to sketch.   There are beautiful architectural details, fabrics, furniture as details to concentrate on if the lavish rooms become overwhelming.

Return to Bucharest in the afternoon and our Farewell Dinner.

B,D

Departures from 

Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport.

We will drop you to meet your flights.

B

Approximately A5 (148 x 210 mm, or 5.83 x 8.27 inches) hardback sketchbook or travel sketchbook. Minimum 140gsm and plain smooth paper that will work for a variety of mediums such as pencil, pen and watercolour. We will be carrying this around everywhere for the trip so you need one with enough pages to last a trip like this.

Examples:

I like the large Moleskin hardback sketchbook

The Pith Tangelo Sketchbook

Seawhites A5 landscape board sketchbook:

– A small selection of pencils including a soft pencil e.g. 2B

Fine liner pen (I like the UniPin 0.5mm pen) or a Fountain pen

– Travel watercolour set (12 small pans is fine) or small selection of watercolour tubes. E.g. Windsor Newton watercolours

– A few watercolour brushes (or a travel watercolour brush that holds the water in the pen itself)

– Rubber

– Pencil sharpener

– Glue stick

– Small roll of masking tape or washi tape

– A spare sketchbook should you want to do more sketching throughout the trip. If you prefer to work smaller or larger than I have suggested, please feel free to bring your preferred size of sketchbook with you. Do bear in mind that you will need to carry this as we travel about, so I wouldn’t recommend going too big.

– Any other art materials you like to use such as coloured pencils, crayons, watercolour pencils, brush pens, gouache paint etc that you can carry around with ease. Make sure these are portable and easy to use on the go.

ALL your materials should fit into a small pencil case or portable bag. The idea is to travel light and use a small selection of materials to record our travels.