Photo Tour in Transylvania
Photo Tour in Transylvania
Capture bucolic countryside through your lens
5 Days
This photo tour of Southern Transylvania focuses on the richest German-Saxon heritage in Romania featuring charming towns and villages with well-preserved characteristic houses and old traditions still carried by local people. You will explore the surroundings of Sibiu, where you will be able to photograph beautiful landscapes with gentle mountains and quaint villages, craftsmen that continue the traditional crafts of their ancestors and village people that work the land as centuries ago.

This is a private photo tour and can be organized for groups of any size and even for only one person. However, the bigger the group, the lower the price. 

Suggested Itinerary
Day 1  Arrival in Cluj-Napoca
Day 2  Morning shoot and photographing local craftsmen and farmers
Day 3  Sunrise in Biertan and countryside
Day 4  Visit to a local blacksmith and an organic farm
Day 5  Departure from Cluj-Napoca
Why travel with us

Day 1 
  • Arrival in Cluj-Napoca
  • Shoot in the warm evening light before sunset
  • Travel to Orlat village

village of biertan transylvania romania

Accommodation in Orlat.

Drive time: 3h

Day 2 
  • Sunrise shooting – landscape with mountains in the distance and picturesque villages in the foreground
  • Visit local craftsmen – blacksmith, brick-maker or harness-maker
  • Visit a glass making factory
  • Stop by the side of the road to get to know and photograph farmers working in the fields
  • Workshop in late afternoon – look through pictures and discuss how they can be improved

Glass Making in Romania

Accommodation in Biertan.

Drive time: 3h

Day 3 
  • Sunrise shoot in Biertan village
  • Meet a Roma coppersmith family
  • Visit a family that makes charcoal using a traditional method by slowly burning wood over a long period of time

Photo Tour of Transylvania - Visiting a coppersmith

Accommodation in Biertan.

Drive time: 3h

Day 4 
  • Capture the sunrise in Biertan
  • Meet a local blacksmith and see how he works
  • Have lunch at an organic farm
  • Review the pictures taken

Photo Tour of Romania - Blacksmith

Accommodation in Cluj.

Drive time: 3h

Day 5 
  • Transfer to the airport
  • Departure from Cluj-Napoca

Photo Tour in Transylvania - Shepherd

Drive time: 20′

 

Suggested Itinerary Viewed On Map
Suggested Accommodation
Unglerus Guesthouse Biertan

Unglerus Guesthouse 3* – Biertan

Initially one of the village’s old German-Saxon buildings, Unglerus Guesthouse managed to preserve its authentic medieval atmosphere even after its renovation. The 32 rooms are large, with hard wooden floors and high ceilings and decorated with antique furniture. From the windows you can see the impressive fortified church, as the building is located close to the central square. The restaurant serves traditional, delicious meals accompanied by one of the best wines of the region.
ileana guesthouse orlat

Ileana Guesthouse – Orlat

Ileana is a traditional guesthouse from Marginimea Sibiului region in Transylvania, having a high entrance gate and inner courtyard covered with a curtain of vines. It offers a pleasant stay in 5 traditional rooms and the hospitality of the hosts and the meals they cook are the main reasons to love this place. While serving the tasteful home-cooked meals the welcoming hosts will tell you stories about themselves, life in the village, about their traditions or about the art of icon glass painting as the lady of the house is also an artist.
About the Tour Guide
Daniel is a Romanian tour guide since 2011 and the very first tour he organized was for photographers. Since then he ran tours for several international photo tour leaders including a Pulitzer Prize winner so he became very aware of the specific needs of photographers.

He really loves the rural areas and people practicing traditional occupations and helps photographers interact with them. Previously he worked for Microsoft, Soros Foundation, Ecosistemi, Deloitte and AIESEC, lived in 4 different countries and traveled to another 30 on 4 continents.

About the tour
This is a cultural tour which focuses on photography by putting you in contact with interesting locals and also planning visits around interesting events and the good times of the day to take pictures. This means that on some days you might wake up early for sunrise or stay up late for sunsets and the blue hour, it is up to each participant though.

It also means that the tour plan is flexible and can be changed depending on weather conditions and photography opportunities found on the way.

Besides the planned visits at places of interest and people we’ve also planned time for 2-3 stops/day as we drive around the countryside as there are always unplanned very interesting photo opportunities, especially focused on people. It will be the tour guide who will make the call where and when to make those additional stops.

This tour is not meant to be an intense photography workshop with non-stop shooting, editing and image reviewing. The pace will be moderate so you can actually enjoy it as a holiday and learn about the culture you are visiting.

The tour guide leading this photo tour has good knowledge of photography but he is not a professional photographer or teacher. So you will be able to have interesting discussions about composition and some technical aspects but you will not be able to have very in-depth technical discussions.

Photo tour in Transylvania: Included Services
  • Accommodation for 4 nights in standard double room (with private bathroom), breakfast included
    • 1 night in Orlat, near Sibiu at a rural guesthouse
    • 2 nights in Biertan
    • 1 night in Cluj at Hotel Rao, 3*
  • Accommodation for the photo tour leader in a single room is included
  • Visits to craftsmen and locals mentioned in the itinerary
  • English speaking tour guide services throughout the program (accommodation and meals are included).
  • Transfer by 8+1 seats minibus on the above itinerary (Renault Trafic, Mercedes Vito, VW Transporter or similar)
  • Meals (3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 3 dinners)

For prices please contact us for details.

Traveler’s Reviews
Enis from Turkey
“Being interested in photography, this trip definitely had an impact on my experience and I learned a lot being there.  In no moment I felt like a tourist or a guest, it was like being with friends that I have known for a long time. Thanks for this amazing experience; I hope to see you again in Transylvania again in the future.”
Gianni from Italy
“I took part in a photography tour Daniel organized in rural Romania. Excellent knowledge of local history and culture! We visited off-the-beaten path places with practically no tourists around. Daniel certainly knows some of the best view points in the country, and he tailored the tour since we were a group of photographers seeking for some good landscape views, as well as people photography. Highly recommended if you want to see real Romania!”

Are you looking for something else? Check our other suggested photography tours.