Travel guide Romania

They're an emblem of the Romanian countryside. Although their numbers are declining, you'll still come across many of them on the country's roads. Pulled by horses adorned with red pompoms, loaded with hay or farm equipment, the wooden carts(căruță) symbolize the small-scale, unmechanized farming that still exists in Romania.

Influenced by Turkish chorba and Russian borsch, ciorbă is a flagship dish in Romanian cuisine. It is available in a thousand ways, always full of flavour: with vegetables, meatballs, beans, fish... not forgetting the famous ciorbă from burtă, with tripe. We often add borș, fermented wheat bran that gives a sour taste.

Romania has lost about 4 million inhabitants since 1989, from 23 million to less than 20 million. Every family has at least one member who has gone to work abroad, mainly in Italy and Spain, in search of better wages. This diaspora, which contributes strongly to the economy, is making a big comeback for the holidays and during the summer.

Close to the Portuguese saudade, this word, which has no equivalent in French, refers to a state of mind, a complex feeling, a mixture of nostalgia, melancholy, joy, lack, yearning and pain. The doina, a word from the same family, is a traditional song, a kind of improvised lyrical melody, very representative of the Romanian soul.

The famous vampire lives in the Romanian Carpathians: it is there that his creator, the writer Bram Stoker, located his castle. He was inspired by a 15th-century voivode, Vlad Țepeș, who had a reputation for bloodthirsty vampires, but also by the local beliefs of the time around the ghosts, the strigoi. For Romanians, Dracula is above all a tourist attraction.

Romania and France forged a strong relationship in the 19th century, when part of the Romanian elite came to study in Paris. French remains the second foreign language taught and many Romanians know a few words about it. A minority speaks it fluently. Romania is a member of the International Organisation of the Francophonie.

It's no legend: Romanians hold high the values of hospitality and are often very welcoming, especially in the countryside where warmth and generosity are the order of the day. You'll always find someone to show you the way, help you out if you need it, enthusiastically strike up a conversation, or even offer you a țuică!

This is the name given to the traditional feminine blouse. Finely embroidered, it is adorned with traditional motifs of symbolic significance.Ies have come back into fashion in recent years, in a modernized form. Many Romanian women have them in their wardrobe and wear them proudly. The ia even has its own day, celebrated on June 24.

This very popular musical genre developed from the 1990s onwards in the Roma community. It draws its roots from the traditional lăutari and mixes oriental influences, disco, rap or electro. The lyrics, simple and vulgar, talk about money, women and sex. Among the stars of the manele are Florin Salam and Nicolae Guță.

Hungarians and Saxons in Transylvania, Lipovenes in the Danube Delta, Turks and Tatars in Dobrogea, Houtsulas in Bukovina and Roma all over the country... At the crossroads of the Slavic, European and Eastern worlds, Romania has a diversity of minorities, which cultivate their particularities and contribute to give it its character.

Romania's subsoils are brimming with salt. For centuries, salt has been extracted from vast mines: many of these have been converted to welcome the public, who come to explore these gigantic underground galleries, enjoy their leisure facilities (sports grounds, bowling, games...) and take salt air cures.

It's the national drink! This plum-based brandy is served in many restaurants. In the countryside, many still distill their own țuică (known as "tssouika") and it's not uncommon to be offered some. Be careful, it's strong! There are also variants, more full-bodied(palincă, horincă) or fruity(afinată with blueberry...).