On the Trail of Dracula
Touring Romania With Vlad On the Mind
WORDS: Peter Starr PHOTOS: Peter Starr & Zed Zawada
hen the Irish novelist Bram Stoker
wrote the dark Gothic novel Dracula
in 1897, the world of mysticism, the
occult, and belief in the underworld were held
in a very different regard than today. His novel
dabbled in the unknown and was indeed made
of scary stuff. Doubtless he would be amazed
that his fictitious vampire character not only
spawned numerous cult movies but also an
entire tourism industry for the district of Transylvania
in Romania.
So who was Dracula and where might I
find him or evidence of him? My quest first
took me to Bucharest where I picked up travel
partner Zed Zawada, guide Gabriel Jderu, and
a couple of BMW motorcycles.
Old Town Bucharest with its cobbled
streets, quaint hotels, and outdoor cafés
provided the perfect atmosphere from which
to launch our journey. We left on Saturday,
perhaps not the best idea given the two-lane
main roads and abundant weekend tourist
traffic. But with our guide, a very experienced
rider who happened to have a PhD in motorcycle
sociology, we were able to run down the
outside of sometimes miles of stationary car
traffic with little or no hindrance.
The real life Dracula was Vlad Dracula or
Vlad the Impaler (because of his well-earned
reputation), who lived between 1431 and
1476. He was the son of Vlad Dracul. Dracul
can be interpreted in two ways: Dragon or
Devil. Dracula has been interpreted as “Son
of the Devil,” but I am told that was not until
after his death.
Evidence of Dracula’s castles are scattered
all over Transylvania and our first stop
was the elegant Peles Castle some 75
miles and two hours of easy riding north of
Bucharest. Built in the late 1800s, this castle
is relatively new. But it was on an existing
medieval route linking Transylvania to the
north with Walachia to the south, which quite
likely would have been defended by Dracula
in his day. However, there was no evidence of
his presence at Peles Castle or its environs,
so our trio headed north to the next castle, the
much more famous Bran Castle.
The August weather as we headed into the
mountains was clear and hot. The sinuous
roads made wonderful riding and once off
the main north/south highway the traffic was
light. Our respite that night was at the modern
and architecturally dramatic Hotel Orizont in
Predeal, leaving us a fast and twisty 20-minute
ride through the mountains to Bran the next
morning.
Bran Castle, which has become the center
for “Dracula tourism,” lies 18 miles south of
the city of Brasov. Those who visit Romania
in search of vampires and Dracula are told to
visit Bran. The small town has welcomed the
myth with open arms. As our castle guide told
us, if they had asked Disney to invent such a
marketing tool, it would have cost millions.
Bram Stoker’s novel and a plethora of movies
starring Bela Lugosi as Dracula in 1931 and
Christopher Lee’s portrayal in the late 1950s
created a major tourist attraction for free.
Finding hard evidence that Vlad spent any time
at Bran Castle is difficult, but many historians
agree he could have spent some time there en
route to Brasov.
With our bubble burst and no empirical
evidence of Vlad Dracula, we headed north to
Brasov. Romania is a country in transition. It
is scrambling out of the repressive communist
regime into a free market capitalist system.
But growth and change are not without their
own struggles. Sometimes old habits are
hard to break and old demons hard to shake.
Whatever the eventual outcome, I found
the people to be one of Romania’s greatest
assets. We were welcomed and befriended
wherever we went.
Every town in Transylvania can trace its
heritage back to the time when Leif Eriksson
landed in America circa 1000. And many of
the foundations of the original buildings can
be identified and even viewed. The very narrow
roads are for the most part paved, but cobblestone
streets can still be found and make for
interesting riding.
Our first experience of Brasov, where
Vlad was said to have led raids against the
Saxons merchants, was a visit to an artisan
motorcycle builder called “Basty,” short for
Sebastian. He has a very eclectic collection of
his work on display and is quick to show you
his “Polski Zaklad Lotnicze” (Polish Aircraft
Works) radial aircraft engine. Imagine that in
a chopper frame! Basty built our guide’s bike,
and it was here where Gabriel left us to return
to Bucharest. Zed and I were now on our own.
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This is potentially the greatest road hill-
climb track anywhere. Standing at the top of
the Transfagarasan pass can make any road-
racer salivate. Bring toe sliders!
Old Brasov, founded by Teutonic Knights
in 1211, sits protected in a valley about 110
miles north of Bucharest and is the most
visited city in Transylvania. In its beginning,
Brasov was located at the intersection of the
trade routes linking the Ottoman Empire and
Western Europe. The old city is well preserved
and can be seen almost in its entirety by
taking the cable car to the top of Tampa
Mountain. For us, drinking a local beer in the
town square after a full day of riding in the
heat was a delight. As the sun disappeared,
the sidewalk cafés blossomed to the sound
of universally identifiable music. And the
summer antics of the “young at heart” filled
the cooling air.
After a night’s rest at the Villa Prato
boutique hotel, a walking tour of the “old
town” and still no empirical evidence of
Dracula’s presence, we took to the winding
roads in the direction of Sighisoara. Once
out of town, the roads were free of traffic
on this weekday, allowing us to enjoy the
long sweeping bends as motorcyclists
often do. But there is one caveat. Never
assume that there is not a tailback
around a blind corner, as my friend
Zed found to his chagrin. Several
trucks and cars were backed up
The Castle is the centerpiece
of the small town of Bran,
which has wholeheartedly
adopted the modern-day
legend of Count Dracula.
The essence of Dracula is everywhere around
the town of Bran. Kind of like Mickey Mouse
and Anaheim, but driven by historical tradition,
not the Disney marketing machine.
trying to get around a horse and cart. That’s
why they call it adventure touring!
I was excited at the prospect of spending
the night in the citadel at Sighisoara, not the
least reason being that it is the birthplace
of Vlad Dracula. But first we took a 5-mile
detour down a narrow and mainly unpaved
road to Viscri. It was a challenging road, but
given that Britain’s Prince Charles has bought
and restored two 18th-century houses in
this Saxon village, I felt the effort was worth
it. The central attraction, however, was the
fortified church built in 1100 AD. There were
three or four other motorcycle tourists there
when we arrived including a family with an
Africa Twin with sidecar, which made for some
good stories. Many people in Romania speak
English, making communication easy for
us monolinguists. With more miles to
go we headed north, dodging the sheep
and other farm animals meandering
across and along the dirt road, and
set our sights on Sighisoara.
Sighisoara is a fine example
of a small, fortified medieval
Casa Vlad Dracul is a restaurant located in
the house where Vlad Dracula was reputedly
born. There are, however, no bloodthirsty
items on the menus.
town that sits on the banks of the Târnava
Mare River and has been inhabited since the
6th century BC. It is also the birthplace of the
object of our quest, Vlad Dracula III. Finally
some hard evidence! At the city center on a
hill is the walled citadel, or the old fortress
town. We entered through a portcullised
gate, and it was as if 21st-century people
had suddenly descended on a 12th-century
community replete with spired towers, cobblestones
and central drainage. Walking through
here is like stepping back in time, and only
a little imagination is required to visualize
the mystical days of yore. When Vlad III was
born, Sighisoara, Transylvania, was a part of
the Kingdom of Hungary. There is much to
see here from the ancient graveyard that is
adjacent to the almost equally ancient church
at the top of the hill to the 175 steps in the
wooden covered stairway that leads from the
town to the church.
The real history of Count Dracula can
be gleaned from the records housed in
Sighisoara. But although he was born here,
much of Dracula’s cause célèbre was earned
in other cities. So after a restful stay at the
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In the medieval village of Viscri, we ran
into a family with their Honda Africa Twin
touring sidecar. Sidecar touring is still quite
popular in eastern Europe.
delightfully unique Fronius Residence, we
headed southwest to Sibiu with a planned
stop at Biertan to find another of Romania’s
fine fortified churches. The interesting thing is
that although there are many tourists seeking
to delve into this medieval history, those on
motorcycles always attract the attention of
the local children. Biertan’s inquisitive urchins
were no exception.
There are no freeways in this part of the
country, which means motorcycle riding the
way I like it, with all of its rural challenges. The
roads are generally good as long as you stick
with the ones more traveled. From Biertan we
rode the less traveled road and found a dusty,
dirt-only track that climbed from the valley
back to the main road to Sibiu.
There are many aspects of Transylvania
that make it a popular motorcycle tourist desti
nation; the challenge of constantly twisting
The folklore associated with the beautifully
created Lovers Bridge in Sibiu is that if you
tell your lady that you love her and you lie,
the bridge will collapse and bring you to
your early demise!
A true motorcycle artisan, “Basty,” creates
a variety of motorcycles from whole cloth,
which means just about anything he can lay
his hands on. He lives in Brasov.
roads and sparse traffic being two. Another is
the availability of local motorcycle tour guides
like Claudia Palfi, who also has a stock of
the latest BMWs. Claudia rode the two hours
down from Turda to meet us and presented
us with her special “I survived Transylvania”
certificate. Claudia knows south-eastern
Europe very well.
As interesting as towns and architecture
can be, it is the people I met who provided
me with the variety of character that brings
it all to life. Across from the Imparatul
Romanilor hotel, Zed spotted a purple Harley
parked in front of the Transylvania Tattoo
Parlor. Curiosity, not being the sole domain
of cats, led us to introduce ourselves and
that led to more tales of motorcycle culture in
Transylvania courtesy of Ovidiu, master tattoo
artist and Harley partisan.
A one-day round trip from Sibiu to
Hunedoara proved to be the hardest single-day
ride of our trip. But it rewarded us with a visit
Our guide for the first two days was Gabriel
Jderu, Professor of Sociology at the
University of Bucharest. His Ural-powered
chopper was built by Basty.
to a known Dracula castle: the picturesque,
Gothic-style Corvinilor Castle built in the 14th
century, where Dracula was imprisoned for
crimes against the Turks. Legend has it that
it was here Dracula designed the punish
ment that made him the scourge of the Turks,
honing the bizarre rituals of blood and torture,
extending them to rodents but making friends
with the bats. He continued to eat rare meat
that still had blood remaining in it.
By now the heat was having its effect,
and it felt much better to ride. So ride we did,
south to Petrosani and then east along a very
narrow, twisty, mountainous road to join up
with the northbound Transalpina highway back
toward Sibiu. The altitude gave us a much
cooler ride. Although the Transalpina highway
was declared open, it is far from finished. It
is not so much of a problem for cars, but the
unpaved, crossroad culverts can come as a
surprise to a motorcyclist, particularly if one is
appreciating the wonderful scenery when you
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BMW-mounted Police check out my
International Drivers license. They were
polite but very professional. Fortunately, I
had not broken any laws.
should be looking forward. Quite exhausted,
we got back to Sibiu for our second night at
the elegant Imparatul Romanilor hotel.
Our final day of riding was the 56-mile
Transfagarasan pass that links Transylvania
to Walachia and climbs to almost 7000 feet
before passing under the mountain peak
through a half-mile tunnel and down the other
side. The BBC television show Top Gear called
it the best road in the world, and the featured
section on the north side of the pass is quite
wonderful and exciting by any standard. I
have no idea if Dracula ever made it over this
pass. But I am glad to say that I did, and I
enjoyed every rising foot of it. The down side
of the pass is longer and travels along the
Arges River and the 6.5-mile-long Vidraru
Lake through forests, and as such lacks the
sheer vistas of the north slope. But it is an
engaging road that will keep you amused and,
depending on skill level, challenged.
A relic of the communist regime, this
Antonov An-2 is displayed near Petrosani.
Interestingly, these circa-1946 utility
airplanes still fly in some countries.
Just as I was wishing for somewhere to
stop, we arrived at a watering hole without
which I might have ridden right past the last
of Dracula’s castles and the one that firmly
established Vlad the Impaler as Eastern
Europe’s most feared leader. Poenari Castle,
considered to be the authentic Dracula’s
Castle, sits on top of a peak that is impossible
to see if you are traveling south. The
parking lot at the base leads to a 1480-step
staircase to the castle. This wasn’t something
we wanted to do in 100 degree heat and full
riding gear, but perhaps something we might
have done at the beginning of the ride.
Poenari is where Vlad III put into practice
the punishment of impaling, which he had
learned from the Turks during captivity in his
youth. After marching the boyars 50 miles
Complete with portcullis, this main gate
wall fortified the citadel of Sighisoara,
birthplace of Vlad Dracula. Cobblestone
streets are everywhere.
without rest, he ordered them to build a new
fortress on the ruins of the original Poenari
Castle. Those who were old and weak he
impaled for any advancing army to see. It was
a great deterrent to potential invading forces
and his own citizens. Almost any crime could
be punished by impalement, yet Vlad III was
looked upon as a hero by his people because
crime and corruption ceased while commerce
and culture thrived.
There is much known history yet much
speculation about the life of Vlad Dracula.
After six days, almost 900 miles, plenty of
memories and Poenari behind us, our six-day
quest was almost over. All that was left was
the 100-mile ride to return to Bucharest to
spend one more day enjoying the remarkable
city that is spearheading Romania’s transition
from repression to freedom. So many roads
to ride and so many reasons to put riding
Romania on your bucket list. MC
Nicolae Ceau.escu was the last Communist
leader. His house included 1100 rooms, one
as big as a football field, four underground
levels and 3,700,000 sq.ft. of floor space.
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