New Year’s Eve Party in Romania
Open-air shows and fireworks create a beautiful holiday atmosphere in Romanias big cities
Daniel Onea, 29.12.2016, 12:54
Open-air shows and fireworks create a beautiful holiday atmosphere in Romania’s big cities. Travel agencies come up with a wide range of proposals, suggestions and packages for tourists to spend the New Year’s Eve in various parts of the country. Today we bring you a selection of the most interesting travel packages at the turn of the year.
In the northern Romanian region of Maramures, customs and traditions have been preserved almost unaltered to the present day. There are plenty of offers for the winter holiday season, both in villages and mountains resorts. For instance, you can choose a five day stay in a three star hotel in Vişeu de Sus during that period. The hotel has a spa, with Finnish sauna, sea salt sauna, steam bath, emotional and Scottish showers, jacuzzi, a relaxation area and a mini-football court. The offer includes bed and breakfast for one person in a double room, a festive dinner at the turn of the year and dinner on January the 1st. The package costs some 245 Euro.
Also in northern Romania, in the region of Bukovina, Cătălina Velniciuc, senior adviser at the Suceava National Tourist Information and Promotion Centre says you can go to a New Year’s Eve party twice, on December 31 and on January 13, respectively: ”Information is available on our website, turism-suceava.ro in Romanian, English, French, Ukrainian, Spanish, German and Italian. Tourists can find out detailed data on the winter holidays in Bukovina, with specific elements about various areas and villages throughout the holiday season. It is a brochure brought out by the Suceava County Council.
The first part is a description of traditions, customs, everything related to Christmas and the New Year, the way holydays are celebrated, according to the old calendar, in our region. The second part includes a timetable of events. For instance, if tourists arrive in Vatra Dornei, they can find out what events are organised in the resort during their stay there. We also celebrate the holydays according to the Julian calendar.
Therefore, various villages host shows and other events until January 14. On January 7, the village of Cornu Luncii organises a show to celebrate Christmas on the old calendar. Winter customs and traditions are also celebrated on January 13, marking the New Year according to the old calendar, in places like Drăguşeni, Râşca, Slătioara. And many other such events are organised until January 13.”
Cătălina Velniciuc gets into contact with the tourists who arrive in Bukovina, on a daily basis. She offers them brochures, leaflets and guides them to the most interesting tourist destinations in the area: “Most tourists are foreigners, who are accustomed to checking with tourist information centres. So far, no one has been disappointed about Bukovina and what it has to offer. Some of them might have complained about the condition of roads, but the guesthouses and the attractions of Bukovina are truly wonderful and rewarding. A tourist from Japan even told us that he came here to see the painted monasteries. He was so impressed and pleasantly surprised by what he had seen that he told us that although he didn’t understand much of our faith, he was fascinated with the monasteries and he would certainly return together with his friends to show them what he had seen here. We have leaflets and brochures in English, French, Russian and German, and we have recently purchased similar booklets in Italian and Spanish.”
The New Year’s Eve atmosphere is truly special in western Romania, in Timisoara, as the deputy mayor of the city, Dan Diaconu, confirms: “Apart from thousands of parties organised by the local restaurants and clubs, the Timisoara City Hall organises a special show in the Opera House Square. Performing on stage will be prominent singers and bands. Those who choose to spend the New Year’s Eve with us will also enjoy a spectacular fireworks show. In other words, The New Year’s Eve party in Timisoara will be attractive not only for the locals but also for tourists. The people of Timisoara have made it a tradition to come in large numbers to the Opera House Square to party together, but this is also the ideal place for those who want to visit during this time of the year an extraordinary city and to party, just like in the big European cities.”
The New Year’s Eve party costs around 45 Euro per person in a traditional Romanian restaurant, and some 34 Euros in a Japanese restaurant, for instance. If you want to escape the hustle and bustle of city life, you can choose to spend two days of relaxation and fun in a three star hotel in Buzias spa. A stay includes 2-night bed and breakfast and the New Year’s Eve dinner. They serve international cuisine, and the night at the turn of the year will be full of surprises and shows. Tourists have free access to the fitness hall, sauna and the swimming pool. A two day stay for one person costs nearly 146 Euros.
Dan Diaconu again: “There are interesting destinations for tourists around the city, irrespective of the season. Although Timisoara is a city located in the plains in the west of the country, you can find snow and go skiing in the mountains only 100 km eastward, particularly in the Caraş-Severin area, which boasts an exceptional tourist potential. Our promotional brochures, offered by tourist information centres, are available in six languages. In other words, most speakers of a language of wide international or regional circulation can find information in their own language, as many tourists from Serbia and Hungary also visit us and they find booklets in their own language.”
Beautiful, memorable, different, unique, these will be the keywords to describe the New Year’s Party in Cluj, says Manuela Câmpean, head of the community relations and tourism services with the Cluj-Napoca City Hall, and also the coordinator of the tourist information centre: “There will be a show in the city centre, there will be concerts, people can drink a glass of champagne, and we will all enjoy a fireworks show at the turn of the year. There are always foreign tourists visiting us. I remember a foreign tourist from Korea, who was so impressed by the traditional atmosphere that he put on a traditional shirt and chose to wear it even after the party. Travellers are very much impressed with the Romanian traditional blouses, with everything that’s handmade, and with the local traditional cuisine.”
These have been some of the offers for spending New Year’s Eve in Romania. Happy New Year!
