Private Genealogy Tour in Romania
Private Genealogy Tour in Romania – Finding your Romanian roots
There is no better way to discover your Romanian roots than directly on a private genealogy tour in Romania. Travel to the home country of your parents or grandparents. Nothing can substitute the feeling you have while you walk on the same streets your grandparents walked on. Picture their lives while you see the house where they grew up in or hear the story of your family from an older relative.
But a private genealogy tour in Romania involves more than just a visit to certain places. The process of finding information about your ancestors can take weeks or even months. So in order to make the most of the trip, it is better if you know beforehand the exact details you are looking for and where to find them. Besides this, the town of your ancestors might be outside the touristic route. Therefore, a person who knows the country very well might be of real help.
If you’re eager to explore your Romanian roots but don’t know where to start, or need guidance from a local expert, we are here to help. We can guide you through the process of information research and assist you during the whole process. To be more precise, the process starts before your visit to Romania and ends when you return home or even later. We can give you advice on where to go and search for the information you need and provide specialized guiding services while you visit the country. Or do all those things for you.
Genealogy and tourism
As learning about your roots also means learning about the culture of the homeland which can be interesting in and of itself, we can plan a private genealogy tour in Romania for you. Moreover, it can combine visits to Romania’s most beautiful sights with places of personal interest.
During the years we helped people from different backgrounds in finding their roots. That is to say, we planned tours with focus on genealogy and below you can see some examples. They might inspire you in your personal search for your Romanian ancestry. The tour we will plan for you will be will be tailor-made, therefore, you will be able to customize the tour according to your own interests and preferences.
Jennifer & husband and two children (USA) – Day trip from Budapest to Arad county
They were picked up from Budapest and traveled to Semlac (Arad county), the village where the grandparents of German descent lived before immigrating to the USA. We walked around the village and visited the church of the village. We looked into the archives at the town hall, visited the cemetery to identify family names. Finally we tried to find alive relatives and meet with them. As a result, we uncovered the genealogy tree until early 1800s and later on we also found the place of the house. For this, further research was needed as street names and numbers changed.
Diana & Angel and two teenage children (USA) – 4-day tour in Transylvania
Diana together with her family came to Romania to reconnect with the memory of her father by traveling to the town where he was born. We visited the town of Aninoasa (Hunedoara county) and searched for the house where he lived. We also tried to find birth, marriage and school records. Next was the town hall of the village, the cemetery and the old Catholic church.
We were able to identify the birth dates of the family members and locate the mine where some of the family members worked. In addition, some elders from the town introduced us to the life of people from this area in the 20th century. We also visited the church from Petrosani, where the grandparents were married and the school where Diana`s father went, in the town of Alba-Iulia. Diana combined the genealogy tour with visits to some touristic sites, such as Sighisoara medieval citadel, Hunedoara castle, Sibiu town and Bran castle.
Andrea, Kathy, Janet (3 sisters) and Phil (Andrea’s husband) from the USA: 10-day tour of Bucharest & Transylvania
The genealogy trip in Romania was for the three sisters “a life long dream”. Specifically, they were longing to see the place where their grandparents were born and lived before moving to the USA. Therefore, they had a tour through Romania in order to visit the villages of Halmagel, a remote village in the Apuseni mountains. That is where the grandfather lived, and Mandra, the village of the grandmother, not far from the town of Brasov.
With the research made before the visit, we managed to find distant relatives and meet with them. Besides this, we found relatives the sisters have never known about and spent some time with each one of them. The whole experience made Andrea and her sisters “travel back in time” to when their grandparents lived on these lands. The group also traveled to beautiful sights from Transylvania and Bucharest area, such as Sibiu, Viscri, Sighisoara, Brasov and Sinaia.
Michal and family of 6 (USA, Jewish ethnicity): 8-day tour from Bucharest to Budapest
Daughter of Romanian parents with Jewish ethnicity, Michal decided it is time to learn more about her family history. First she convinced her Romanian born mother to come back to Romania after almost 60 years. Then, she planned a tour to Romania and also her brother, daughters and partner brought with them. Before the actual visit she gathered as much information as she could from her living siblings and once she was in the country we traveled from Bucharest to Budapest. So we passed through the towns where she had a personal interest in: Alba-Iulia, Hateg and Timisoara.
In order to find information, we visited synagogues, Jewish community centers and cemeteries. We also managed to find the seating in synagogue, birth and death certificates and the location of grandparents’ graves in the Jewish cemetery. Along the trip, we stopped at several other touristic locations and we were introduced to other heritages belonging to different ethnicities. An example would be the Hungarian heritage at the base of Apuseni mountains or the German-Saxon heritage in the towns of Brasov and Sighisoara.
Other private genealogy tours in Romania involved:
- A visit back to the biological parents of a young man who was adopted by Dutch parents from a Romanian family in the 90s
- A tour for an American couple. The man wanted to see the birth region and town of one of his main caretakers during his youth. That was a very dear person to him whom he called “second father” and who originated from Drauseni, Transylvania region
- A tour for a family of 5 from Israel. Parents and 3 adult children. The father was born in the 50s in Berbesti, Maramures. He left when he was 3 and now wanted to bring his children to see his birthplace.
- A tour for a Holocaust survivor whose daughter wanted to see where her mother was born and lived her first 14 years. That is before she moved to Israel and then to the US.
And the examples can continue.
You can also have an emotional experience on a private genealogy tour in Romania
We have provided the above examples to showcase the kind of tours and services we can provide.
No matter what your story is, if you long to understand where you are coming from, find out your family history or simply build your family tree, we can help you in planning a private genealogy tour in Romania. You will get to experience the country of your Romanian ancestors for yourself.
If you want to benefit from our services, please email us at info@true-romania.tours. Tell us about your story and what you wish to accomplish. We will then work on a tailor-made proposal which can include researching and a back-to-the-roots tour.
Are you looking for something else? Check our Jewish Heritage tour of Romania or other suggested tours focused on culture, history and traditions.
For more information about the experience of a Genealogy Tour in Romania and the impressions of other tourists you can read our blog post: Genealogy in Romania: what do people search? – case study.