Visiting Peles Castle in Romania

Do you conjure up images of castles when you think of Romania? is that one of the things that comes to mind when you think of this country? Romania is so much more than Transylvania, Dracula and Bran Castle but you have to admit that it would be cool to visit a castle if you had the chance.

Now I wasn’t sure I would have time or should I be more specific in saying I wasn’t sure I would be able to make my way out of the city without getting lost. If that happened, then I know getting to a castle, any castle, would be out of the question.

After figuring out the metro system, somewhat, then I knew there would be a chance to head to Sinaia. This is where Peles Castle is located. You guessed it; decided on a city that wouldn’t take forever to get there. I would have loved to visit Bran Castle but that would have been over three hours to get there and that didn’t include the time it would take to head back to the city. That was out of the question….

Now I am one of those people that tend to organize some of what she wants to see. So you would be surprised to know that Peles Castle was a last minute decision. When I say last minute, I really do mean last minute. Literally down to the wire on making the train that would take me to Sinaia. Basically I walked down to Parcul Izvor where I knew where the metro was, took it to Gare du Nord, bought my ticket and made it to my seat on the train with minutes to spare.

How is that for being spontaneous and not planning on when I would be going or buying my train ticket in advance?

I should probably preface this to say that I only had one day to visit Peles Castle if I was going to do it. It wouldn’t have been a problem to go any of the days I was there if I wasn’t switching rooms in the middle of my stay. I was going to be switching from a dorm to a private room and didn’t want to leave my luggage in the reception area all day. That is why I only had the one day to visit.

How can I explain my visit to Sinaia and by extension Peles Castle? First off, I didn’t think it would be that difficult to find the castle. You would think it would have been on the top of a mountain or hill and you could see it as you arrived into the village. Not the case… Upon arriving at the train station, I walked up the steps that I saw leading from the since I figured they had to lead somewhere. This took me in the direction of a restaurant where I had lunch before heading back out to try and find the castle. It was mind boggling how confusing it was to find the castle. I only saw a couple of signs for it and had to ask directions twice before I even saw the signs in question.

If you know me then you know it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t get lost or go in the wrong direction trying to find my way there. Yes, I went in the wrong direction through no fault of my own. I didn’t see any signs at this point when I got turned around but I did find Sinaia Monastery so I was able to get pointed in the right direction.

The Castle is hidden from the view of the village below and that is why you won’t see it from the train station when you first arrive. I couldn’t believe it when I finally found Peles Castle; it was more beautiful than I could have imagined.

Seeing it for the first time was awe-worthy! Made me feel like I had fallen into a fairytale.

I decided to take a tour so that I could learn more about the history of the castle. Good thing I did because I would have been lost walking through each room and not knowing anything about it. Each room was very detail oriented.

The first thing I had to do was put slippers over my shoes before going into the castle. It was to help preserve the wood and rugs that are throughout the entirety of the buildings. I can understand this because of the intricate detail that went into creating every piece.

How can I describe everything that I got to see on the tour?

• Balconies as you first walk into the castle; one of the balconies had a narrow staircase going up to the next floor
• Kings study
• Music room
• Library with 500 books but total of 30,000 books that are housed in Bucharest. Has a  secret room that is sealed. If it wasn’t sealed than it would take you up to the next level towards the bedroom
• Mirror hall for housing receptions
• Dining hall that can be used for up to 36 people. It was only used for dinners
• Arabic room
• French room
• Theatre which held early paintings from 1884
• Second level concert room where the queen would give symphonies. Chairs and piano in the room are not original since concerts are held here in the summer
• Queens office located on the second floor
• Royal apartments
• Royal dressing room and bedroom. There are two entrances that will get you into the bedroom. One of the entrances is narrow and was the servants entrance
• Breakfast room where the King would sign letters in the morning
• Separate room for the Royal Guard
• 30 bathrooms and 60 bedrooms
• Apartments for important guests
• Smaller apartments for servants of guests

I highly recommend going to see Peles Castle on your own without booking one of those group tours through Viator or any of those places that will drive you from Bucharest to the castle. The reason I say this is that I took the train from Gare Du Nord in Bucharest which cost me $18 for the round-trip ticket. Then all I had to pay for was the ticket to get into the castle. I ended up purchasing the ticket for the ground level and Royal Apartments which cost $13. Now you can see why I say to do this on your own instead of taking any of the tours you might see online. Any of the ones I had seen online were not set up for single people but for two people so I would end up having to pay double what I was paying on my own. I found it was a lot more fun to rush to get to the train on time, take the train to Sinaia and get lost on my way to the castle than if I was on any type of tour.

Overall, my time in Sinaia was amazing. Absolutely the cutest village I have ever seen. I would go back to Romania if only to see this place again. What about you? Have you visited this enchanting place? What did you think of it if you’ve been here? I would love to hear from you if you have visited or if you are planning on taking a trip here.