Top 100 attractions in Romania

A medieval fortress built by the people of Brașov on a rock in the Bran Pass, later Queen Marie's summer residence and known around the world as “Dracula's Castle”.

A glacial lake at 2,034 m in the Bâlea cirque of the Făgăraș Mountains, at the top of the Transfăgărășan; reachable by car in summer and by cable car all year round.

Europe's largest wetland, a biosphere reserve and UNESCO site: channels, lakes, reed beds and over 300 bird species, from pelicans to egrets; visited by boat from Tulcea.

John Hunyadi's Gothic residence, on a rock above the Zlaști river and reached by a long bridge on stone piers; inside, vaulted halls and towers from the 15th century.

The Unirea mine, dug between 1938 and 1970, is a string of 14 salt halls over 50 m high, 208 m underground, which you reach by minibus; 100 km from Bucharest.

Romania's highest road: the DN67C climbs from Novaci over the Parâng Mountains to 2,145 m at the Urdele Pass and drops past Lake Oașa to Sebeș, 148 km above the clouds.

The DN7C crosses the Făgăraș Mountains for 151 km, from the Vidraru dam up to the glacial Bâlea Lake at 2,042 m, then winds down in hairpin bends into Transylvania.

King Carol I's summer residence, built between 1873 and 1914 at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains in Sinaia, with carved wooden interiors, armouries and stained glass.

A Saxon-built, still-inhabited medieval walled town on a hill above the Târnava Mare, with guild towers and the famous Clock Tower; a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999.

The church founded by Stephen the Great in 1488, painted on the outside with the Last Judgment on a background of "Voroneț blue"; a UNESCO site near Gura Humorului.

The Baroque palace of Governor Samuel von Brukenthal on Sibiu's Great Square has housed Romania's oldest museum since 1817: a gallery of European painting with van Eyck, Titian and Bruegel.

The second resort of the Romanian coast, on the strip between the Black Sea and Lake Techirghiol: three kilometres of fine sand and a sapropelic mud cure a few hundred metres from the waves.

The travertine gate carved by Constantin Brâncuși in 1937–1938 at the entrance to Târgu Jiu's Central Park, part of the “Heroes' Way” ensemble, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Romania's largest year-round spa resort, 8 km from Oradea: thermal springs of up to 49 °C, open-air baths that run all winter and a reserve of water lilies and thermal lotuses.

Romania's most visited cave: 488 m of lit galleries beneath the village of Chișcău, full of stalactites and stalagmites, with the bones of some 140 cave bears left where they were found.