The Winter Season Means Big Business for the Rural Tourism

Christmas and New Year holidays turned into a real business opportunity for the owners of B&Bs or rural cottages.
Of the 3,000 such tourist accommodation classified by the Ministry of Tourism, some 80% are already booked out for the winter season, as the traditional good food and celebrations are in high demand among Romanians.

The low rates prompted this rush towards rural tourism too, some people booking their seats one year in advance.
However, "The best and most expensive seats were taken early in the year," said Marilena Stoian, president of the National Association for Rural, Cultural and Ecologic Tourism. sANTREC, www.antrec.rot

One could still book in advance to spend the Christmas holidays in Covasna and Brasov counties, in regions like Poiana Marului, Rasnov, Prejmer, Bunesti and Bran-Moeciu.
"In the Bran-Moeciu area there are some 120 seats available in homes classified as two-daisy accommodation units, at 40 to 70 euros per day, which includes two meals per day and the festive Christmas dinner," explains Maria Visan, head of the ANTREC subsidiary in Brasov Country.
Prices for other villages in Brasov County range from 35 to 40 euros per day. A lot of events in the area will supplement the offer for entertainment, like traditional folk festivals, carols festivals, picnics on the snow, and riddles and songs gatherings in Poiana Marului.

In Neamt County the locals cash on the rural traditions and scenery, as well as their historic monuments

Generally, prices this winter season vary between 15 and 50 euros per day, pending on the services provided.
For instance, a three-day full-board stay at Cetate, some 10 kilometers away from Lake Saint Ana, costs 95 euros, in a three-daisy home, or 70 euros, in a two-daisy home.
If your Christmas is best spent along friends, then you could bring 10 people in a villa in Covasna, which rents for 600 lei s171 eurost per day. In Sibiu County, one could still get accommodation in a four-daisy home, paying between 735 and 805 lei s210 to 230 eurost for a half-board four-day package. I

n Praid, the land of salt, you could get a treat on the New Year’s Eve. For a four-day full-board package in a two-daisy home one pays 760 lei per person; the same package costs 960 lei in a three-daisy home.
Part of the program is watching how the swine is sacrificed the traditional way for the Christmas dinner; a visit to Beizid, the village that collapsed in the salt mine, and one in the village of Criseni, where the Straw-hat Museum is located. Festive dinners, with traditional meals and local wine, plus a party in the former salt-mine are part of the program too.
In Praid you could still rent a villa for a group of ten people, for 180 euros per person, which covers a full-board four-day stay in a two-daisy home.

In Moldova region, two local festivals show-casing winter rituals should be on your agenda: the one in Vatra Dornei and the one in Ciocanesti.
There are still available rooms in two-daisy homes in Pojorata and Vatra Moldovitei, at 35 to 40 euros per day, full-board included.
Like Suceava County, the Neamt County is also providing a large range of tourist venues: one could visit the Royal Court in Piatra Neamt; the memorial house of writer Ion Creanga, in Humulesti; the monasteries of Bistrita, Pangarati, Agapia, Varatec, Neamt, Secu, Sihastria, Razboieni and the fortress of Neamt.
"Some 20 homes still have places available for tourists, at prices which range from 27 to 50 euros per day and person," said Lucia Muj, president of the Neamt subsidiary of ANTREC.

Those in love could opt for a romantic winter holiday at the sea-side. Still available are places in two-star and three-star homes, at prices going from 124 to 160 euros per person, for a tree- to five-day package.
Father Christmas will meet the children in the Children’s Park in Constanta City; the fiery Black Sea makes for a romantic stroll on its shores in winter time, and the Techirghiol Monastery is close-by for visiting. In Constanta one could also visit the Aquarium, The Planetarium, the Museum of Natural Sciences, the Museum of Folk Art or the Museum of the Romanian Navy.