Romania Rewilding Self Drive Adventure

Thirteen nights across Romania, self-driven with a guide vehicle and an escort, built around conservation work, with the price quoted on application.

The rewilding is what sets this apart. The operator works with Rewilding Europe, whose practitioners have been reintroducing European bison to the Southern Carpathians since 2014, and the tracking is done alongside the people doing the work rather than as a tourist excursion.

The Southern Carpathians open it with the bison, then Transylvania, where the medieval Saxon citadels, the fortified churches and the castle that trades on the Dracula association all sit within a day of each other. The Danube Delta follows, a world heritage site and the largest reed bed on earth, where the river breaks into channels and lakes before the Black Sea and holds several hundred bird species, navigated into sanctuaries that general visitors do not reach. The accommodation throughout is handpicked, with farm-to-table cooking and local wine.

The transfers, the vehicle hire with full insurance, a two-way radio in the car, first aid in the support vehicle, all the hotels, a guide vehicle with a local English-speaking guide and an escort from the operator are all included; international flights, fuel, most meals, drinks, insurance and personal spending are not. The price is given on application. Late spring and early autumn are the best windows, for the birds in the Delta and the weather in the mountains. No wildlife sighting can be promised, bison included. Fourteen days covering the Carpathians, Transylvania and the Delta is a well-shaped fortnight, and Romania remains remarkably good value for a European trip of this standard.