Traditions in Bucharest: Village Museum and Wine Tasting

Your tour guide will pick you up from your accommodation and take you on a private guided tour that includes 3 stops. The tour ends in the city center, within walking distance of the “Old Town” area. The first stop of the tour is at the National Village Museum, the second largest open-air museum in Europe and a perfect reconstruction of the authentic Romanian village of the 18th and 19th centuries. “The architecture of a country is, perhaps, the most accurate expression of its history” (Matei Cantacuzino). Built in 1936 inside King Michael Park, the museum has over 300 highly preserved buildings that were brought here from all across the country and reassembled on spot. This is the ideal place to discover the local folklore and distinct architecture of each historical region of Romania, from the wooden churches and mountain cabins of Transylvania to the large inns and mansions of Wallachia and Moldavia or the windmills and thatched roof houses of the Danube Delta or near the Black Sea coast. The second stop is at a local art & craft shop, where everything is handmade. You can admire traditional Romanian blouses called “ie”, glass painted icons, exquisite Easter painted eggs from Moldavia, famous Horezu pottery from Wallachia, wooden masks and trinkets from Transylvania. There are also Dracula themed souvenirs, books and traditional sweets such as knot cookies or “chocolate nuts”. After architecture and craftsmanship, next comes gastronomy. We believe that knowledge of a country’s food and wine is intrinsic to understanding its culture. Thus, the third and final stop is at a local wine bar. Romania is the world’s 12th largest wine producer with centuries of viticulture tradition. At the wine bar you will enjoy 3 glasses of Romanian wines alongside a small plate with cheese & charcuterie. Your tour guide will tell you about the history of local wines, about the industry’s revival in the last decades and help you discover the distinctive “terroir” of famous wine regions like Dealu Mare and also local varieties such as Feteasca Neagra, Tamaioasa Romaneasca or Negru de Dragasani. After the wine tasting the tour comes to an end and you can either choose to spend more time at the wine bar on your own or ask your tour guide for directions back to your accommodation or to the nearby Old Town area.