This year, Orthodox Easter falls on May 5, so together with May 1-2, Romanians will be able to enjoy an extended vacation of about a week. Tourism operators entered the fever of preparations.
Vâlcea total tourism county Collage
Although there is still about a month until the holidays (Easter falls this year on May 5), hoteliers have long been in the fever of preparations, and countless accommodation units have already exhausted their available places.
Vâlcea, a tourist-specific county, rich in traditions and customs, with countless attractions (SEE PHOTO GALLERY)spa and mountain resorts, of national and local interest, are among the most coveted areas for a May 1 – Easter vacation.
With the help of platforms such as “Booking” or “Direct booking”, we searched for prices and availability for the mentioned period, taking into account the units with excellent reviews, from three stars upwards, and we also talked to tourism operators to find out what other offers there are, but also what additional activities are available to tourists.
Image 1/27:
Olt seen from Cozia in Vâlcea Photo Kandy Reisenauer
“Călimănești, Voineasa and Malaia are selling well”
On Valea Oltului and Valea Lotrului the three and four star packages are, if not sold out, close to being sold out.
“In general, Călimănești is selling well. On March 8, for example, the resort was full. We expect it to be the same during the May 1 – Easter holiday. The same increased interest exists for Valea Lotrului, for the Voineasa and Malaia mountain areas. As far as we know, there are still some places available in Govora and Olănești”mentioned for “The Truth” Monica Gheorghiu, representative of the National Tourist Information and Promotion Center (CNIPT) Vâlcea about the appetite of Romanian tourists for spa and mountain tourism in Vâlcea county.
In fact, in Călimănești – Căciulata we found 20 other accommodation units available, with excellent reviews, for a five-star stay, for two people. Rates start from 720 lei/stay in a traditional Maramure house or 1,750 lei in an apartment. For those who want to rent holiday homes, prices per stay vary between 2,000 lei for two bedrooms and 6,000 lei for four bedrooms. If you want to stay at a private place, the rates start from 850 lei, and at guesthouses / hotels from 1,185 lei/five nights/two people.
Tourists hope to spend May Day and Easter on the slopes
For the Voineasa – Vidra mountain area, where many hope to catch Easter on the slopes of Transalpina, one of the few ski areas that is still open, the offers available for accommodation start from 810 lei and can reach 7,873 lei for a holiday home with three bedrooms, for five nights. The slopes here are open during this period from Thursday to Sunday inclusive.
At Obârsia Lotrului, the closest to the slopes, I did not find any availability for a stay covering the entire Easter holiday. Instead, I found free places at a single accommodation unit only for the days around the May 1 holiday, at the price of 350 lei/night.
In Malaia, on the other hand, I found a chalet for which more than 5,000 euros/five nights are requested. However, there are also more attractive accommodations in terms of price. Also for a six-day / five-night stay, a three-bedroom holiday home is rented for 600 euros. There is also an accommodation unit with available places, for those who want to stay fewer days, but also around the May 1 holiday, at 278 lei/night.
Easter with pottery workshops and meetings with fairy-tale characters
An accommodation unit in the Băile Govora spa resort comes with a unique Easter offer that includes pottery and creative workshops, as well as meetings with fairy-tale characters: “This year, for Easter, let's get light at the Palace and enjoy nature. We have three full and beautiful days ahead of us. Reception with cocktails for adults and chocolate eggs for children, sumptuous dinners, free pottery workshops, with Mihai Biscu – “The story of Horezu ceramics”, meeting with Disney characters, mini-disco, creative workshop for children: egg hunt, painting eggs and many surprises. We feel good at the spa, open-air Easter lunch with bread and traditional snacks”.
Tourist packages start from 1,555 lei/person/two-night stay/place in a double room and 1,930 lei/single room/stay.
However, there are other well-reviewed guesthouses/hotels that have tourist offers starting from 1,500 lei, but for a five-night stay, two people.
Holidays with the “Ninja Easter Bunny”
At Băile Olănești, a hotelier has another unmissable offer: “Ninja the Easter Bunny has made the prices “harcea-parcea”! We invite you to discover the super discounts on the Easter 2024 offer! Because with us, the fun is maximum, access to the SPA is included, as well as to the indoor pool and the outdoor pool for children, with a slide and a playground, which we will inaugurate right then, together!”.
The discounts are valid, subject to availability, until April 15, 2024, and the rates for a five-night / six-day stay reach approximately 2,000 euros for two people. However, there are other offers of 1,200 lei, also at a three-star hotel, and the less demanding can stay at a host in the area for only 738 lei/five nights/two people. And here I found a chalet for rent for 4,214 lei/stay or holiday homes with three bedrooms, with prices between 4,250 and 5,400 lei.
Circuit for May 1 identity tourism
The Vâlcea National Tourist Information and Promotion Center worked with a travel agency on a less common circuit – a pilot project that will start on May 1.
“I proposed a travel agency to come to Vâlcea county for identity tourism. In the sense of visiting the Laboratory “Fir de borangic”, from Stoenești, then the workshop of the Olten carpet weaver from Costești, and the lady from the Costești Library will present the stunning costume of the “Ladies from Costești” which is absolutely spectacular. Afterwards, tourists will be invited to dine at a local gastronomic point from Vaideeni and will visit the Museum of Transhumance in the Old School”the representative of CNIPT Vâlcea, Monica Gheorghiu, revealed in the premiere for “Adevărul”.
The “Fir de borangic” laboratory from Stoenești belongs to the only workshop in the country where traditional clothing items are processed with silk thread obtained from the own culture of silkworms fed with mulberry leaves from the workshop's farm. In Costești, a weaver carries on the secrets of the barks of Oltenia de Sub Munte. She is also the creator of an 85,000-bead braid. The “Ladies from Costești” represent a folklore group established more than four decades ago that stand out for their costumes, whose specific element is the manor, inspired by the monastic style of the area, which also reminds of the clothes of the girls from the boyar families of old . The Museum of Transhumance in Vaideeni was established in the oldest school in the locality, rehabilitated with European funds. Here tourists are regaled with stories about the beautiful custom of sheep included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
“The Vaideens really lend themselves to this, because old traditions and customs have been preserved here. Then the tourists who will participate in the pilot project of the identity circuit will return to Bucharest, not before making a stop at the Hurezi Monastery, also included in the UNESCO heritage”the tourism specialist also mentioned about the May 1 offer.
“Vâlcea is an extremely attractive county in terms of tourism”
Also in Vâlcea, tourists can also enjoy, as at any other time of the year, the aromas and sensations offered by a vineyard circuit on the “Drăgășani Wine Road”.
“Many are interested in doing wine tastings. We have the “Wine Road”, and there are also many historic monastic complexes in the area. We also offer tourists such a circuit…”stated the representative of the Vâlcea Tourist Promotion Center.
The touristic Vâlcea is a blessed land in many ways, which can offer anyone who wishes from monastic tourism – being the county with the most monasteries – historical monument in Romania, to mountain, musical tourism. cultural, identity, viticultural and spa – thanks to its nationally awarded Spa centers, but also the thermal pools and water parks in the spa resorts.
“They migrate a lot, especially at the beginning of spring, in Vâlcea. It is an extremely attractive county in terms of tourism”concluded Monica Gheorghiu, from the Tourist Promotion Center.
