Travel: Romania

So what happened to summer this year then? Is it ever going to stop raining? That’s the last we’ll see of the sun ‘til next year…

It’s ironic that as a nation, we’re renowned for our obsession with the weather, or rather, lack of sunshine, yet we also quite like to be cold. Who doesn’t enjoy chucking snowballs around or lying on the ground waving their arms to make snow angels? Even as adults, we still find snow and ice and freezing conditions rather fascinating, one reason why the BBC’s amazing Frozen Planet series is attracting such high viewing figures.

These days there are a number of ice hotels where we can satisfy the urge left over from childhood to spend the night in an igloo, huffing frozen breath into the air, wrapped up in a sleeping bag. It’s a good excuse to snuggle up together.

Some of them are seriously expensive, however. Not so the Ice Hotel Romania. This relatively new addition to the market opens every winter high up in the Fagaras Mountains on the frozen shores of the glacial Balea Lake.

You only need the one night in the Ice Hotel (and in the unlikely event that you can’t put up with the cold, there’s a very snug wooden chalet hotel onsite, too).

But Romania has some other great places to visit, and in four days, tour operator Untravelled Paths can put together a gorgeous little itinerary encompassing some of that aforementioned snowy experience – more of which later – medieval city sightseeing, a bit of wildlife and even some vampire tracking. Castle Bran, near the picturesque, medieval city of Brasov, is on every tourist itinerary. Why? Perhaps because it is also known as Castle Dracula.

Sadly, it has nothing to do with either the vampire created by Bram Stoker, or the real Vlad Dracula, actually a Transylvanian nobleman who was a national hero and very good at fighting invading Turks. There is a spooky staircase and a few stalls outside flogging Dracula tee-shirts, but that’s it.

The handsome castle was the favourite residence of Queen Marie of Romania, who was a Brit, and her life story, which is explained in Bran alongside artefacts, is jolly interesting.

A lot of Romania’s most renowned sightseeing is medieval, including some of the best bits of Bucharest, the capital. In fact, the city is a mix of architectural styles, despite deposed Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu’s efforts – historical and residential areas were bulldozed to make room for his massive Casa Poporului, or Palace of the Parliament.

Understandably, Romanians find it hard to even look at it now, but it is an enormously impressive building.

Brasov, a handsome Saxon merchant town with bastions, a huge Council Square and dramatic Black Church, has to be one of the country’s best-looking cities though.

Known as the Prague of Romania, it also has plenty of traditional restaurants serving solid dishes such as ewe’s cheese dumplings, tripe stew, splendid sausage and a kind of pork scratchings – perfect fuel to prepare you for a day in the forest.

There is a good chance of seeing black bears – Ceausescu liked to keep the woods well stocked so he could shoot them – but Untravelled Paths can also arrange for an expert guide to take you out to look for lynxes.

Some reports claim there are more than 2,000 of these fluffy wildcats in Romania, the largest population in Europe outside Russia.

Sadly, many hours of sitting still on top of a precipice later, we’d seen nothing – though there was a fair amount of scary rustling going on down below so maybe something saw us!

You have to pick your moment if you want to see Romania’s Ice Hotel, too. It’s built in winter, of course, from many tonnes of pristine ice sliced from the lake. It shimmers through the cold weather before gradually melting away in April.

You reach the Ice Hotel Romania by road from Bucharest, then by cable car up the Fagaras Mountains to 2,034m above the clouds. It’s quite a magical journey itself – one minute the landscape is green and brown, then suddenly you’re in a winter wonderland, thick snow all around you.

The first ice house you see is the picturesque chapel – it’s becoming an extremely popular place for weddings and proposals, too. The Ice Hotel itself has 14 rooms, each artily lit for maximum “wow” factor and decorated with ice sculptures, fur throws and cushions.

Outside temperatures can drop to a finger-nipping -20°C but inside the hotel, temperatures remain a steady -2°C, with animal skins, woollen blankets and arctic sleeping bags providing cosy comfort.

Snow activities on offer include ice skating, sledging and snow-mobiling. If that’s not enough to thaw you out, guests can enjoy warming, colourful vodka cocktails in ice cube glasses in the ice bar before sitting down to a four-course dinner served on specially carved ice plates. It’s all very twinkly and pretty, the perfect romantic mini-break destination.

And actually, not that cold. But don’t tell him that …

• THE FACTS

Untravelled Paths (0871 662 9521, www.untravelledpaths.com) offers a four-night bed and breakfast trip to Romania from £370pp, including two nights in Bucharest, one night in Brasov and one night at the Ice Hotel Romania including transfers, an excursion to Bran Castle and a guide. Hotels on offer include Casa Wagner (www.casa-wagner.eu) in Brasov and the Rembrandt Hotel (www.rembrandt.ro) and Z Hotel (www.zhotel-bucharest.com) in Bucharest. The price excludes flights. Blue Air (0871 744 0104, www.blueairweb.com) offers flights to Bucharest from London Luton from £55pp return. EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) flies from Edinburgh to London Luton from £20.99 one way; flights from Inverness, Glasgow and Aberdeen are also available.