Interesting things to do in Bucovina
What is Bukovina (or Bucovina in Romanian language)?
Before we get into the best things to do in Bucovina, I feel like a small introduction is necessary.
Bucovina is one of those places in România that gathers the perfect combination of stunning landscapes, virgin forests, traditional rustic houses, rural idylls, unique monasteries, and delicious foods.
I spent my honeymoon (one-week “honeymoon”) last year in Bukovina and at the end of my trip, I didn’t want to pack my stuff to return home. I promised myself that one day I will come back because I feel like I didn’t explore everything that this place has to offer.
After several months spent in quarantine with confusion, fear and anxiety, staying in a place with a lot of greenery, awe-inspiring views, delicious foods and kind people was exactly what we needed.
In Bukovina, there is a lot to see, so if you are a “do-it-yourself” kind of traveler just like me, you can do your research and plan your trip according to your preferences. In this case, I hope you will find this article about Bucovina helpful. If not, there are a lot of agencies that offer tours which you can book in advance.
All this being said, in the following articles, I want to share with you all the things that I love about Bukovina, starting with a “must-see” kind of post. I want to bring you alongside me to this magical land to visit monasteries and rural households, explore some breathtaking roads and eat some amazing dishes. I hope you are ready to get into the list with interesting things to do in Bucovina.
If are a foodie, just like me and plan to visit Bucovina, check out this article, with the best places to eat traditional food in Bucovina.
Fun fact: Did you know that one of the most popular traditions in Bukovina is the art of egg painting using natural colors or bee-wax?
Just to let you know… This post (probably) contains affiliate links, including Amazon Associates links, and I may receive a small commission when you click on the links. This is at no extra cost to you and allows me to keep running this website. How cool is that?! I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own.
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If you don’t have a car, or don’t want to rent one then take into consideration in booking a guided tour that will include many amazing places in Romania, beside Bucovina. Here are my recommendations:
- 12 Days Private Tour in Romania from Bucharest (it included Bucovina as well)
- Private 8-Day UNESCO Tour Maramures and Bucovina Painted Monasteries.
Interesting things to do in Bucovina
Visit the famous painted monasteries
Hands down, visiting the painted monasteries in one of the most interesting things to do in Bucovina. A lot of Romanian people go to Bukovina just to take a tour of these unique religious sanctuaries.
I discovered that every monastery I visited in Bukovina usually has the same scenery: small and pretty buildings that serve as homes for monks and nuns, colorful and well-tended gardens with elegant flower arrangements on window sills. You get the feeling that a monastery looks like a well-kept household.
If you search for monasteries in Bukovina, you will find a very long list, but I would like to suggest the following ones, which I consider the most impressive and known: Sucevița, Moldovița, Voroneț, Putna and Humor.
If you are planning to visit most of these monasteries, keep in mind that you will need a car. Check out the prices for renting cars here.
If you don’t want to bother with renting a car, or don’t have a driver license, then you can book this guided tour.
Explore Transrarău
If you love the mountains and like discovering amazing road trips that offer iconic views, then plan going to Transrarău on your list with things to do in Bucovina.
Transrarău is a paved mountain road crossing, approximately 25 km long and it connects Chiril village with Pojorâta village and climbs up to an elevation of 1.400 m above sea level. Depending on your accommodation or your location, pick the starting point closer to you.
It took us approximately 2 hours to go through it because we made a lot of stops to enjoy the landscape as much as possible. Also, because the road is narrow and curvy, the driver wouldn’t be able to enjoy the scenery, otherwise.
Transrarău will surprise you with unexpected scenic overlooks and you should take your time and take some amazing photos while breathing în the fresh air. The landscape is unbelievable, the tall coniferous trees and the mountains displayed all around you will give you a feeling of freedom and peace.
If you like hiking I suggest you do the hike to the natural monument named “Lady Rocks” (Pietrele Doamnei). Unfortunately, we couldn’t do it, because we didn’t have hiking equipment with us (the truth is we were lazy, but don’t tell anyone, this is our secret). But I encourage you to put the laziness away and include this hike on the list with things to do in Bucovina.
Explore Tihuța Pass and Castle Dracula Hotel
If you add these places on your list with things to do in Bucovina, you are going to thank me.
Tihuța Pass is a beautiful road located at an altitude of 1227m and you can find it on Google Maps, where Transylvania meets Bukovina. I was simply amazed by the idyllic landscape of picturesque houses, animals, sheepfolds, flowers and a lot of greenery. We parked our car at some point and started to explore on foot and I got that feeling of exploring traditional lands. It was pretty amazing.
Along this road, another known landmark can be found and even if it was closed at that time, we made a stop at Hotel “Castle Dracula” (nope, this is not the famous Bran Castle). I found the style and architecture of the hotel really interesting and the location offered a great panorama. Of course, if you want to stay overnight you can book a room at this hotel and go on a hiking adventure because there are some great hiking trails from Tihuța Pass. But, do your research before your trip.
These places are one of most beautiful things to do in Bucovina.
Ciocănești Village
I found out about this place by mistake, while doing research for my honeymoon trip and browsing different travel blogs. This village was such a beautiful surprise and I don’t think that it’s promoted well enough. In my opinion, Ciocănești Village is one of Bukovina’s hidden gems and you will see why in the photos I took.
This village seems to be an open-air museum, with over 600 houses that have walls painted in traditional motifs. This tradition is an old one, and the locals took it from their ancestors and painted their houses with brightly colored folk motifs even today.
What is very interesting to me, is that every symbol has a very important meaning, for example, the square means intelligence and the circles symbolize infinity and eternity.
Visiting this unique village is one of those things to do in Bucovina, that will make your trip even more special and memorable.
Discover a hidden gem: Dorna Arini and The Wooden Monastery
If you are always looking around for hidden gems and discovering those places that are gorgeous but unknown by many people, than put Dorna Arini on the list with things to do in Bucovina.
This place is located 5 km from Vatra Dornei and I can describe it as an oasis of peace and serenity. The Wooden Monastery from Dorna Arini is placed on a hill and the view from this scenic overlook is spectacular. We took some time and simply roamed the surroundings of the monastery.
We took advantage of this incredible location to take beautiful photos and before we left we also went to the souvenir shop. If you visit Vatra Dornei, I highly recommend you include Dorna Arini on your travel list.
Visit The Museum of Painted Eggs by Lucia Condrea
Maybe this is not a favorite for some travelers, but you need to put this on the list with things to do in Bucovina. Let me explain why.
Let me begin by saying that this museum is amazing and similar to Ciocănești Village, it is underrated. But trust me that it’s one of the places that you must visit in Bukovina. In the Romanian customs (due to the Christian religion), there is a tradition of painting eggs during Easter. Once we heard that there is a museum where a simple custom of painting eggs was raised at an artistic level, we had to see it.
The Museum of Painted Eggs is located in Moldovița Village and has over 5000 exhibits arranged by various themes. Lucia Condrea is the artist who developed this impressive art of painting eggs and this is why the museum took her name.
It was a rainy day when we visited this museum, but honestly it was a better experience, because we were the only ones visiting at that time (maybe the pandemic had something to do with this, and not the weather per say).
After we paid our tickets, a guide welcomed us and explained everything, starting from the various themes approached by the artist, followed by the description of each egg painting technique. We also learned that Lucia Condrea’s work can be found în a lot of famous museums of the world and royal houses.
Besides this, several art pieces were from various places around the world, as we learned from the guide, Lucia actually exchanged techniques and painted eggs with other global artists.
The whole experience was educational and really interesting, to the point that we stayed at least an hour in the museum studying every corner and shelf. The details painted on every egg are so hard to describe in words, only a creative mind can do this, it’s so beautiful. The combination between the drawings and colors was absolutely stunning and made the eggs appear similar to jewels.
That being said, if you want to see interesting and unique places in Romania, then add this museum to things to do in Bucovina.
Fun fact: Lucia Condrea uses seven techniques (yep…7 different techniques) in making these masterpieces.
Book a trip with Mocănița Huțulca
I feel like this may sound like one of the most exciting things to do in Bucovina and if you are thinking that, you are right. Even if my experience wasn’t perfect (I will tell you in a moment), you need to book a trip with Mocănița Huțulca.
Now, maybe you are wondering what “mocănița” is. As you can see from the pictures is an old type of train with a steam locomotive, that practically is using wood aș its fuel. “Mocănița” is a generic name used in România for trains running on narrow railways.
Mocănița Huțulca has become a very important attraction în Bukovina and many tourists want to experience a trip with it. If you want to try it, I recommend you reserve your seat a few days before your trip, because the tickets are sold really fast every day. We found the schedule and phone number from Facebook and booked our seats a day before.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about Mocănița Huțulca for many reasons. The whole experience is unique and wonderful because the train will traverse some picturesque landscapes. At some point, I got the sensation that we are going to pass through people’s households, which was funny and scary at the same time.
The trip ended in a place where people were awaiting us with amazing and delicious foods cooked outdoors. I love eating like the locals, and this spot offers a lot of traditional recipes. We eat homemade desserts, the best-grilled polenta with bellow cheese and french fries. For me, this was the best part of the whole experience. After this glorious buffet, the train took us back to the station.
That being said, there were some things that I didn’t enjoy, at all. First of all, because of the whole pandemic situation, we needed to keep our distance from other people, but the organizers tried to put as many people as possible in every carload even if many tourists were visibly disturbed, including us.
The organizers were rude and told us that if we wanted to maintain the proper distance, we should leave the train (after we already paid for our tickets). Honestly, I got the impression that they only cared about money and not our safety. Second, there were moments during the trips the smoke was too intense and it was kind of hard to breathe and that was not fun at all.
Don’t let this story influence you, the whole vibe traveling by this old train is very interesting and it’s something that I recommend you give a try. As you can see we took some gorgeous photos along the trip. But, I think that it is really important to share our experiences in different places, so people can know what to expect, and maybe the organizers will improve their behavior in time if they see a lot of negative feedback.
I hope that you enjoyed this article and find it useful! It was a lot of fun for me to write it, for sure. Now you have an interesting list with things to do in Bucovina, so start planning that trip to Romania.
If you have any questions regarding Bukovina, do not hesitate to write to me. 🙂