Valea Bârgăului

The Bârgău Valley, in Bistrița-Năsăud County, stretches along the Bârgău river, on the road that climbs from Bistrița toward the Tihuța Pass, a gateway between Transylvania and Bucovina. This is the valley that inspired the Irish writer Bram Stoker to set here, in his novel "Dracula," the traveller's road to the vampire count's castle, though the author never visited the places. The real landscape, however, is gentle and pastoral: villages scattered on the slopes, traditional homesteads, meadows and fir forests climbing toward the ridges of the Bârgău Mountains, in a quiet atmosphere far from the world's turmoil.

On the height of the pass, a hotel built in neo-Gothic style during the communist era plays on the literary legend. The valley remains an authentic area, where pastoral traditions and crafts have been preserved. Practical note: drive toward the Tihuța Pass in spring or autumn for the finest views, and stop in the valley villages to discover rural life.