Painted Monasteries of Bucovina and Maramureș

Bucovina and Maramureș · Romania

Easy8 daysEurope~£900 est.

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Overview

In the far north of Romania, entire churches wear their theology on the outside: Voroneț's west wall carries a Last Judgement on a blue so distinctive it has its own name, Sucevița's Ladder of Divine Ascent shows angels and demons contesting every rung, and Moldovița's siege of Constantinople turns Ottoman history into fresco propaganda — all painted in the 1500s and still vivid after five centuries of weather. This eight-day drive loops from Cluj or Suceava through two of Europe's most intact rural worlds. In Bucovina you visit the great painted monasteries (Voroneț, Sucevița, Moldovița, Humor) and the black-pottery village of Marginea; over the Prislop Pass, Maramureș answers with its UNESCO wooden churches at Bârsana, Ieud and Poienile Izei, hand-carved gates taller than houses, hay meadows cut by scythe, and the Merry Cemetery at Săpânța, where painted oak crosses tell each villager's life in cheerfully blunt verse. Stay in family guesthouses — dinner is whatever the garden produced, plus horincă plum brandy you cannot politely refuse twice. Roads are slow; budget driving time generously. May to September is the season. About £800–£1,000 for eight days with car hire.