Day Trip: Local Culture & Village Life in Sibiu Countryside I had a very interesting day with Adela visiting villages around Sibiu! She is like an encyclopedia with lots of interesting things to tell me about old and recent history of the area, and could answer all my (many!) questions. Romanian Friend is a very useful site, with lots of info and helpful staff on the chat! A great asset in planning a trip to beautiful Romania!

Photography Tour of Romania: Traditional Villages & Local Life I decided to visit Magura village, and wanted to hire a guide for the day to maximize my chances of getting good images. While doing research for my travels, I came across Romanian Friend where local photographer Vlad offered a photography tour around Brasov. I'm very happy I decided to hire him as he is not just an excellent guide but also a very genuine and easy going person. I had a great time, went to places I wouldn't have found on my own and took some great shots! I highly recommend booking Vlad via Romanian Friend if you're looking for a great time in Transylvania. / Fredrik from Sweden

History Day Trip: Corvin Castle & Alba Iulia Citadel Marius - thanks for all your help. Your website was very professional, clear and easy to navigate. You responded to my email quickly and accurately. We loved our Corvin Castle tour and our guide Florin was amazing, fun and very knowledgeable. He arrived on time, energetic and ready to go, being a history major at university, he was a wealth of information about everything. He made us feel comfortable and answered all our questions and had a great sense of humor. He gave ample time to see everything and took us to a great place for lunch with a cool Romanian atmosphere. We would highly recommend Romanian Friend to anyone traveling to Romania or Cluj-Napoca!!!

Picturesque Hiking Trails: Apuseni Natural Park & Rural Village Life Sergiu was fabulous. And to think this picturesque hiking tour in Apuseni was our second choice! We are really happy that we chose this trip (albeit a little hesitant at the beginning). This was really the experience we were looking for. Away from the hustle and bustle of London. Clean air and a truly local experience. We would never have found this area on our own. The guide was wonderful and tailored the trip to suit us and although he's a true mountaineer, that was never intimidating. We had a lot of laughs and Annette absolutely loved the mud! He even thought of everything including a perfect snack pack. We are very happy to recommend Romanian Friend to anyone wanting a local experience in Romania. I also want to thank you for all the information and help you gave before we left for our trip. And for encouraging us to go hiking in the mountains. Cheers!

Guided Walking Tour of Timisoara: History & Main Sights Without doubt the most interesting part of my visit to Romania was taking a guided walking tour of Timisoara, and I would strongly recommend Romanian Friend’s tour. Marius from Romanian Friend was incredibly helpful overall with planning my trip to Romania, and also in connecting me with the historical encyclopaedia that is Mark-Alex, a local resident and tour guide. During his walking tour I learnt so much about not only Timisoara and Romania, but also Europe’s history; and how the city played such a crucial part in that. This extensive and fascinating tour taught me more about European history than I ever learnt in school and Mark-Alex’s knowledge and enthusiasm for his home city was just staggering!

Photography Tour of Romania: Traditional Villages & Local Life I have traveled around Romania twice (once as a single woman and now married) and have never felt as welcome as when I was with Vlad on the photography tour. While I am not a professional photographer by any stretch of the imagination, I truly enjoy seeing the more real side of small town life. And Marius from Romanian Friend replied to my request IMMEDIATELY upon receiving it and within the hour on the SAME DAY I was on a private tour of the most beautiful villages with the most real and generous people, the guide included! If you are looking for a way to get beyond the basic tourist attraction, Romanian Friend is the way to go!

Road trip on Transfagarasan Highway We had a great day driving with Bogdan on a tour to see Transfagarasan Highway. The mountain scenery was spectacular in the autumn colours. Bogdan was an excellent guide during the whole day. Very friendly and knowledgeable, with a good sense of humour and a keen eye for Romanian landscape and photo opportunities. Thanks to Bogdan we came back a lot wiser on Romanian history as well. We can wholeheartedly recommend taking this ride and we will definitely contact Romanian Friend again next time we visit Romania!

Horse Riding & Village Life in the Carpathian Hills The horse ridding trip in the Romanian countryside was one of the the highlights of our 10 days in Romania trip. After putting our bag aside, we helped prepare fresh food. Peppers, tomatoes home-grown and home made cheese, some meat and other fresh delicious snacks were served on the big wooden table outside. After that we went for a horse ride for the first time. Mariuka, the host, knew exactly which horse matches our character/personality best and showed us from the beginning how to say hi and make first approaches to build a relationship with the horse. The first ride was amazing in the forest in the middle of the nature! On the second day we had the best coffee brewed with fresh warm milk from the cows. Rares, Mariuka's boyfriend, who was also taking great care of us, joked around with the horses and it was a very nice atmosphere and absolutely stress-less. If you go there in expectation of a hourly time schedule, you will be see that you have to be flexible - it is all more or less spontaneous. But in any case it was a wonderful experience and I would go there anytime again!

Agro-Tourism in Transylvania: Food & Village Life at a Local Farm I really thank you, my Romanian Friend! You have made my stay in Romania special memory. Romania has impressively beautiful nature and villages. I wanted to see real Romania and Iulia granted my wish :) Even horse ride came true while staying at a rural farm in Transylvania! I came from Tokyo- crowded, sleepless, the largest city in Japan. The life felt very different when visiting traditional Romanian villages. It felt calm, delightful, simple, traditional, happy.... :) that's what I wanted to see long time! Without you, my trip to Romania wouldn't be very different from the trip to other European countries. I fell in love with authentic Romania and will be back for sure. Murtumescu!