The Beat That My Heart Skipped – A blog dedicated to daily design inspirations. By Rohini Wahi.

Gorgeous mountain views – tick
The most hysterical tourist tat in the world – tick
Warm, fresh cows milk  – tick

Surrounded by the Carpathian mountains, the Transylvanian countryside is stunning. Far from the vampire-esque dark and broody film and literature connotations, there are lush green mountains, flowers, horse and carts and streams running through the villages. The scenery is literally breathtaking.

To get there, you can catch a train from Bucharest to Brasov, one of the main villages in Transylvania. From there, you can visit the neighbouring historical towns like Bran [Dracula’s castle], Sibiu and Sinaia. I would recommend staying in the mountains if you can, and to stay away from the touristy Bran.

We stayed in Moeciu which is about a 45 minute taxi ride from the train station [including time for the taxi driver to get lost] and straight up a mountain [yes, it’s actually a mountain]. This family run farm will make you’re entire trip to Romania worthwhile. While it’s not the easiest place to get to, the mountain views are phenomenal (especially the one from the toilet), the hosts welcoming and the rooms cosy, clean and cheap. If you do stay with Josef and his family, make sure you try the homemade breakfast, complete with a warm glass of milk straight from the cows you can hear mooing while you eat.

From Josef’s Moeciu farm, you can walk down the mountain [30 minutes even with a short cut] to the neighbouring village of Bran. The walk once you’re at the bottom is 45 minutes with beautiful scenery all the way. Once in Bran, you’re immediately surrounded with Dracula tat. It’s expected but awful. I didn’t even bother going into the Bran castle as I had heard it had been decked out with modern furniture and fluorescent lighting.

In the mood for picnicking and relaxing, we headed back up the road in search for lunch items to take with us back up the mountain. An unfortunate, but consistent occurrence for tourists in Transylvania is getting ripped off by the locals. We found food which was clearly marked at a certain price, was then tripled by the time we went to pay. It’s not a huge problem but something to be wary of.

After arming ourselves with breads, cheeses and crisps, we headed back up the mountain to find an appropriate picnic spot. With views of rolling hills, cows and not another person in sight we settled there for the afternoon before heading back to Josef’s for a home cooked meal and game after game of cards.

A couple of days in Moeciu with a good book and even better company is all you need to recharge. The rest of Transylvania may need longer as well as a car to get around as the trains are a little unreliable [like two hours late]. Like the whole of Romania, this area requires a little more effort than usual, but it’s well worth it.