Over 40 years, dozens of builders, artists and wood-carvers brought Peleş Castle into existence. The neo-Renaissance masterpiece was commissioned by…
Getty Images/Dorling Kindersley
Sinaia
Nestled in a slender fir-clad valley, Sinaia teems with hikers in summer and skiers in winter. Backed by the imposing crags of the Bucegi Mountains, it's a dramatic place for a to hike for the day, or, using the network of cabanas open to walkers, several days.
The town itself is a melange of crayon-coloured wooden houses contrasted with the 'wedding-cake' style of its grander 19th-century buildings. Once home to Romania’s first king, Carol I, who created a summer retreat here, Peleş Castle is a dream of hidden passages, fairy-tale turrets, vertiginous galleries and classical statues; it's so beguilingly imaginative, it could raise a swoon from the most hardened cynic.
Sinaia is administratively part of Wallachia but is most easily reached from Transylvania.
Explore Sinaia
- Peleş Castle
Over 40 years, dozens of builders, artists and wood-carvers brought Peleş Castle into existence. The neo-Renaissance masterpiece was commissioned by…
- PPelişor Palace
It’s hard to believe that Carol I’s nephew Ferdinand (1865–1927) could have been unsatisfied with lavish Peleş Castle; nonetheless, Pelişor Palace was…
- SSinaia Monastery
The church and monks’ cells on this site during the 17th century weren’t ample enough to accommodate Sinaia’s growing religious community, so in 1846 this…
- FFoişorul Hunting Lodge
At the western end of the Peleş estate is the Swiss-châlet-style Foişorul Hunting Lodge, built as a temporary residence by King Carol I before Peleş…
Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Sinaia.
See
Peleş Castle
Over 40 years, dozens of builders, artists and wood-carvers brought Peleş Castle into existence. The neo-Renaissance masterpiece was commissioned by…
See
Pelişor Palace
It’s hard to believe that Carol I’s nephew Ferdinand (1865–1927) could have been unsatisfied with lavish Peleş Castle; nonetheless, Pelişor Palace was…
See
Sinaia Monastery
The church and monks’ cells on this site during the 17th century weren’t ample enough to accommodate Sinaia’s growing religious community, so in 1846 this…
See
Foişorul Hunting Lodge
At the western end of the Peleş estate is the Swiss-châlet-style Foişorul Hunting Lodge, built as a temporary residence by King Carol I before Peleş…
Guidebooks
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