Dracula Never Slept Here — Go Anyway

Let's get one thing straight right away: Bram Stoker, the author who wrote "Dracula," never actually came to Romania. And Vlad III Dracula, the real-life prince whose nickname inspired the book, probably wasn't ever locked up in Bran Castle. He might have just passed by it. The castle really only got linked to the world's most famous vampire because it looks exactly like the kind of castle you picture when you think of Dracula. And it really does. Bran Castle sits high on a rock at the entrance to a mountain pass between the regions of Transylvania and Wallachia. With its steep red roofs and slender towers, and the impressive Bucegi mountains behind it, it’s quite a sight. The local people of Brașov, who were of German descent (Saxons), built it in the 1370s. They paid for it themselves to get a tax break. The castle's main purpose was practical: it was a customs checkpoint. It collected a three percent tax on everything that traveled along the road. Many old fortresses in Europe were actually more about collecting money than scaring enemies. The most interesting person to live here wasn't a fierce prince but a queen. Queen Marie of Romania was Queen Victoria's granddaughter, a nurse during wartime, and a very skilled diplomat at the 1919 Paris peace talks. The people of Brașov gave her Bran Castle in 1920, and she made it her personal escape. She brightened the place up, adding lots of windows, laying beautiful carpets from Turkey, and painting the courtyard. When she passed away in 1938, her heart was removed, as she wished, and kept in a chapel near the castle. The rooms you explore today mostly reflect her style, not Vlad's, and they are filled with light.

The castle itself is wonderfully complex, like a winding puzzle. You'll find a secret spiral staircase hidden in the wall, a jumble of small rooms spread across four floors, and a deep well in the courtyard. From the top windows, you get a clear view down the pass, instantly showing you why this spot was so strategically important. Try to go early. The castle opens at nine, but the tour buses from Brașov usually arrive around eleven, and then the narrow staircases can get quite crowded. Even better, stay overnight in Bran or the nearby town of Râșnov so you can be at the gate right when it opens. After your visit, there's more to see nearby: Piatra Craiului National Park is just twenty minutes away, the Râșnov citadel is a fantastic half-hour visit, and in the summer, you can even reach the famous Transfăgărășan mountain road. If you enjoy a lively atmosphere, visit in late October. But if you want to see the castle covered in snow with hardly anyone around, February is the time to go – that's when it truly feels like a scene from a book.