Romania is very old and, at the same time, startlingly new. Bordered by Hungary, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria and Serbia, it also has a stretch of the Black Sea coast. EU membership in 2007 has opened up the country and increasing numbers of UK and Irish flyers are searching for cheap flights to Romania.
The popular notion of Romania is as Vladislav Dracula's homeland, the nobleman who inspired the name of the vampire in Bram Stoker's famous novel, but there is so much more to this country than Bran Castle (where Vlad is said to have lived).
Its capital is Bucharest, known not only for its historic city centre - in the 19th century, it was known as "Little Paris" and it even has l'Arc de Triomphe - but also for the Palace of Parliament, the world's second-largest building (after the Pentagon), built by Nicolae Ceausescu.
Brasov is the second-largest city. Close to the city centre, Poiana Brasov is the country's largest ski resort, with ten miles of runs. One of Romania's most famous tourist attractions are the painted monasteries of Southern Bucovina (near the Ukrainian border), many of them Unesco-listed.
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