Christmas in Transylvania? Count me in
HOPE WOOLSTON puts the Yule in Dracula on a festive trip to the home of Stoker’s iconic vampire
MENTION Transylvania and thoughts turn to Dracula – but don’t count it out as a post-Covid Christmas destination. Because the mountain-bordered region of Romania deserves to be famous for more than just being the home of Bram Stoker’s nefarious Count.
I headed to Sibiu, a city packed full of culture with a lot of real-life stories to tell, and fact that is often stranger than fiction.
With a fascinating history, it’s leading the way in wooing Brits, not least as the first city in Romania to host a Christmas market.
The Sibiu Christmas market started in 2007 as a modest affair. Today, it proudly fills The Grand Square. And while there may well now be similar markets across the country, Sibiu remains one of the most popular.
It’s easy to find the market at night. All you have to do is follow the sound of Christmas music, and the aroma of mulled wine and roasting chestnuts. It boasts an array of stalls offering a dizzying variety of food and drink, as well as plenty of shopping opportunities.
The Germanic-style stalls create a festive scene, and the vast collection of lights really get you in the Christmas mood. When I visited, every building surrounding the square had different light shows projected onto them, adding to the Yuletide atmosphere.
All of the stalls sit beneath a huge canopy of twinkling lights, giving the market a warm glow, and providing some amazing photo opportunities.
My partner and I visited a couple of days after Christmas, in fact, and our visit proved a great way to extend the seasonal celebrations.
The weather obliged by setting the scene, snow falling as we moved from stall to stall. This is not uncommon in Sibiu in December, so it’s a great choice if you’re dreaming of for a white Christmas.
From when the market opens in mid-November, there are 100 stalls on offer. You can buy a huge variety of gifts ranging from traditional Romanian souvenirs to personalised Christmas decorations, and plenty of jewellery. What’s more, most of the things on sale looked to be good quality, and reasonably priced too.
The market stays open until just after the New Year, although the number of stalls tends to reduce as January approaches.
Whenever you visit, Sibiu definitely comes alive at night. The rows of stalls are packed full of visitors sipping hot chocolate, mulled wine or whatever else takes their fancy.
The atmosphere is great, and it’s somewhere you could spend a very merry evening with friends.
Once you’ve had a look around the stalls and maybe sampled some of the food on offer, including giant hot dogs, chimney cakes and plenty of sweet treats, there’s still more to do.
The ice rink offers another dimension to this winter wonderland, and there are skating aids available for younger children.
Festive fun: Sibiu Christmas market
There are a few small children’s rides and even a ferris wheel, which gives you a great view of all the stalls.
During the day, the market is far quieter and if you aren’t too keen on crowds this is the time to do your shopping, taking in the city sights along the way.
Over the years, Sibiu has been governed by several different countries, and Hungarian,
German and Austrian cultural influences are all mixed together in its buildings and eateries. You’ll
soon start filling up your mobile’s memory with snaps and selfies. There’s such a lot to take in that I would recommend employing a tour guide to help you see the best of the city. Our guide, Marius, was extremely knowledgeable and you could tell he was very proud to be show us his home town. It’s not a big city, and you only need a couple of hours to walk around and see the main attractions including the churches, watch towers and the famous Bridge of Lies, just around the corner from the Christmas market.
The city’s register office is in the same square as the bridge, and it’s a tradition for couples set to be married to stand at opposite sides of the crossing, and exclaim their love for one another. According to the folklore, if the bridge starts to shake then one of them has been unfaithful.
Museum lovers also have plenty of choice in Sibiu, with a large number of history, art and cultural exhibits to see.
Just a short drive from the city centre you will find the popular Astra open-air museum, a display of what traditional Romania once looked like.
Next door is Sibiu Zoo, with white tigers, arctic wolves and brown bears all in residence.
I took one last breath of the snowy, wintry air as we stepped
There are rides for the kids
Sibiu’s market has grown considerably since its creation in 2007
Tasty treats are never far away
Bela Lugosi as Dracula
onto the plane, knowing that I was returning to a wet and windy UK.
When we returned from our trip, many people asked us if we saw any vampires while we were away. We didn’t, but we had far more interesting things to tell them about the real Transylvania.
We didn’t get chance to visit the literary home of Count Dracula, Castle Bran being more than two hours away. There was more than enough to keep us occupied in Sibiu.
Stoker didn’t go there either, the author never even set foot in Transylvania.
Like his creepy creation, he seemed to prefer being in the dark when it came to this part of the world.
Shame, he didn’t know what he was missing.