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Arrive
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Day 1 Cross the Carpathians
Cross the Carpathians on a day-long
excursion with your private driver, stopping to explore en route. Around three
hours from Sibiu, Sovata and Praid are known for their salt mines, where you
might head underground for lunch. In the Bicaz Gorge, the road wends its way
between moss-covered mountain faces into Bucovina. On the way, Neamț County is
dotted with monasteries that set the scene for your time in Sucevița, a small
village where you will stay at Casa cu Cerbi, a traditional house that has been
respectfully restored with recovered furniture, old carpets and local
photography.
Overnight: Casa cu Cerbi
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Day 2 Bucovina's Monasteries
The 15th and 16th-century
painted monasteries throughout Bucovina are UNESCO heritage sites, and their
frescoes are wondrous to behold. The Eastern Orthodox Sucevița monastery is a
Byzantine and Gothic structure covered in ornately detailed frescoes, some
typically Moldavian, thanks to the boyar family that built it in 1585; a little
further north, the Moldovița monastery is a Romanian Orthodox example from 1532
that is no less colourful and striking. Fully appreciating these scenes demands
inspecting them up close.
Lunch might be in Moldovița, a picnic from
local markets, or at your next destination, Gura Humorului. Here, two further
monasteries boast even more impressively preserved murals, some from the 1400s.
Return to Suceava for a night at the modern Hotel Sonnenhof, with Austrian
flair, a beautifully kempt summer garden and restaurant with an international
flavour.
Overnight: Hotel Sonnenhof
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Day 3 Suceava and fly home
Take some time to learn some of Suceava’s
interesting central European legacy and about its varied rulers – from Stephen
the Great to the Habsburgs – before your flight home.
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Depart