Bucovina

Bucolic Bucovina is dotted with slant-roofed village houses and lovely groves of beech trees (indeed, the name 'Bucovina' derives from the ancient German and Slavic roots for beech). As in neighbouring Maramureș, across the mountains, you'll encounter old women in colourful traditional dress, fearless children riding bareback on horses, and enterprising locals scouring the forest for some truly massive mushrooms. It's an ornery place, and both public transport and foreign languages can be lacking, but Bucovina is nevertheless highly worthwhile for hill walks, cycling, rural idylls and, of course, taking in those unforgettably colourful monasteries.