Fancy a stay in an ice hotel? I have personally stayed here a few years ago when it first opened and was significantly cheaper and less well known and it is amazing and still reasonably priced. Loved Transylvania and food and drink is very reasonable, even beer at the Ice Hotel was around 70p when I went although I dare say it's gone up a bit now, but nonetheless much cheaper than the Ice Hotel in Sweden and you feel isolated as it is only accessible by cable car. We had an eventful time trying to find the toilets in the middle of the night leaving the Ice Hotel and heading for the cable car station in the middle of a blizzard and I got my hot mug of mulled wine stuck to the ice table oops! Definatly go before Feb and if you leave it til Feb or March time the hotel tends to lose its sparkle as it starts to melt!

There are a few variations you could do, flying in and out of different airports, visiting Bucharest too (around a 5 hour or so drive) and extending your trip. This is just an example of a short trip.

26th January 2016
Fly from Luton to Sibui. Drive to Brasov but stop of at Sighisoara just over 1hr away, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Make sure you climb Scara Şcolarilor covered staircase ad you get fantastic views from the top, and visit the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, the supposed inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula!! Very often they are filming movies here (and there was some very odd Romanian movies being filmed when I went, like Romanian versions of Carry On films). I'd suggest a bite to eat then head to Brasov around an hour away. Overnight in Brasov.

27th January 2016
You have a full day in Brasov. Plenty of time to visit Bran Castle and I'd strongly suggest Rasnov Fort, very LOTR like! Overnight in Brasov again.

28th January 2016
Drive from Brasov to the Cable Car station at Balea Waterfall which will take you to the Ice hotel at Balea Lac. The view below is of the Transfagarasan Highway but is not accessible in winter. Before you go check out the epic Top Gear episode where they drove this highway. It would be well worth visiting in summer too. At the Ice Hotel you can spend the day sledging, snowmobiling or walking through the tunnel (which in summer you would drive through along the highway but in winter it is full of very large icicles) or just enjoy the very cheap alcohol before turning in for the night in your ice hotel room.

29th January 2016
Leave ice hotel and get car from the cable car station and drive to Sibui visiting its original medieval walls and crossing the Bridge of Lies. Overnight in Sibui at the Exclusive Motel and More.

30th January 2016
Drive to airport for flight home.

BREAKDOWN

Flights to Sibui £105.96 @ Wizzair.com

2 Nights in Villa Swiss in Brasov area £42 @ www.booking.com

1 night in ice hotel €100/£60.71 book @ hotelofice.ro

1 night in Sibui £30.98 @ www.venere.com using code

Return cable car transfers for two €28/£19.77

Car Hire @ www.atlaschoice.com £27.85

Total £287.27/£143.63pp