Bran Castle

Info

The Bran Castle is located at 24 General Traian Moşoiu Street, in Bran village, Braşov County. You can get here by bus from Braşov, bus terminal 2 on the route Braşov-Bran-Moieciu. The bus leaves every 30 minutes during the week and every one hour on the weekends.

Opening hours:

Summer: Monday: 12:00-18:00; Tuesday-Sunday: 09:00-18:00
Winter-Monday: 12:00-16:00; Tuesday-Sunday: 09:00-16:00

Entrance fee: Yes

Oficial site here.

Discover

The Bran Castle is one of the most famous castles in the world because it has been associated with so many legends with the most well-known being the one of Dracula the vampire, Bram Stoker’s character.

Built more than 600 years ago by the Saxons from the region and having served as a border fortress and customs post, Bran withstood many centuries of raids of various invaders.

In time it was transformed into the Bran Castle and since 1920 it became the summer residence of Queen Marie. She received it as a gift from the city of Braşov for her contributions to the Great Unification from 1918. Queen Marie bequeathed it to her daughter Princess Ileana but in 1948 the castle is confiscated by the communist regime.

The famous castle will impress you with its Gothic entrances, narrow stairs carved into stone and its vaulted arches and rooms. Here you can admire the ceramics, furniture, guns and arms collections, or you can simply enjoy one of the events that take place here weekly.

Did you know?

Vlad the Impaler, the Romanian prince who inspired the character of Dracula, visited the castle briefly and he never lived here.

Conservation facts

In 1948, it became the property of the state and for a period it was abandoned. In 1956, it was reopened as a museum.

Big restoration works were done in the 90’s. In 2000, it was claimed by the inheritors of Princess Ileana. In 2009 they started to remake all the castles collections as the original ones were moved by the state in the Medieval Customs Museum, located at the foot of the castle.