The Romanian Wine road – a charming trip through vineyards
Last Updated on August 2, 2024 by Ingrid
What’s that one thing that you think of when saying Romania? Most of you might say, “Nothing comes to mind.” Some might say, “Dracula, of course.” Others might think about some not-so-flattering stuff. But keep on reading, and I’ll help you associate the country wine wine. Welcome to the Romanian Wine Road!
In the vein of “Where do we run from Bucharest?” for the weekend or even for one day, one late September day, I’ve chosen to explore something little known to me: the wine road in Romania.
I knew that Romania has a lot of good wines, and I had wanted to visit a winery for a long time, but somehow, I didn’t manage to do it.
Thus, one early Saturday morning, I jumped in my car together with 3 friends and headed to the nearest section of the Romanian wine road: Prahova county.
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Table of Contents
- Romanian Wine Road: Prahova County
- Other travel resources for when you visit Romania
- Similar Articles
Romanian Wine Road: Prahova County
Some facts about the Romanian Wine Road
- The wine road in Prahova County is 60 km long, but there are several other areas in Romania where great wine is produced
- Romania has an area of 182,363 Ha of vineyards, and here is where you can see the map of wineries in Romania
- Getting there: Unfortunately, the only way to explore the area to its fullest is by car. You can also opt to book an organized tour with wine tasting at one of the many wineries in the area.
- With a rich history, Dealul Mare vineyard offers the same conditions as the ones in Bordeaux and Toscana, being located at the same geographical coordinates
- You will mostly find red wines here
- You can explore the region by bike, especially in the Urlati area, where you will find bike tracks especially set up for this
- You can also visit some old mansions, museums, and monasteries besides wines. Of course, by driving through this area, you will get emerged in the real Romanian village life
- The best time of the year to visit is autumn, when the wine is being produced, and the weather is perfect. And let’s not talk about the beautiful colors autumn brings along, making nature just irresistible
What is the wine road in Prahova County?
The wine road in Prahova County follows this route: Filipestii de Padure—Floresti—Baicoi—Plopeni—Zamfira—Boldesti-Scaieni—Bucov—Varbila—Valea Calugareasca—Jercalai—Urlati—Ceptura—Mizil—Tohani.
But we did not take the whole road, choosing to explore a smaller part of it and to have time to stop by at some of the cool mansions along the way.
What we explored in our trip on the Romanian Wine Road in Prahova county
Matac Mansion
We left Bucharest and headed towards Valea Calugareasca, where our first stop was at the Matac Mansion.
The place is easily missed, and you can pass it by without knowing that something so beautiful lies right behind the trees. A country path leads you straight to the mansion from the main road.
As we walked the deserted road, we wondered if this was the right place or if we were trespassing on some private property and someone would chase us out of there.
Once you turned left, the mansion’s roof welcomed us, and we knew we were in the right place.
The Matac Mansion was built in 1901-1903 on the Cantacuzino estate, and it is currently closed and in a rather bad condition.
I know I am not the only one wishing for this place to be restored. I am certain many more people would love to visit and maybe even rent a room here.
But until someone decides to do something about it, the Matac Mansion remains a great location for wedding pictures (while we were there taking pictures, a bride and groom also came by).
Crama 1777 Museum
Driving further towards Tohani, our next stop was the Crama 1777 Museum, a reproduction of a small winery from 1777. The GPS coordinates are 44.962860 and 26.196626.
I don’t really know what my expectations were regarding this place, but we got a tour of the small wooden house, where we saw some old tools used in the winemaking process in the past, together with some cool Romanian vintage traditional clothing.
We weren’t allowed to take pictures of the inside of the museum, and I’m not certain the guide there speaks English, but the place is still lovely and infused with traditionalism.
Bellu Mansion
Our next stop was in Urlati, at the wonderful Bellu Mansion.
We reached the museum after getting lost in the hills, where vineyards surrounded us after an intense autumn rain. Getting lost worked to our advantage because we got some of the best views from up the hill.
Conacul Bellu (Bellu Mansion) is a magnificent place. I fell in love with it from the first moment I laid my eyes on it—and that was just the entrance tower, haha.
The tower hosts a small museum, where we saw some photo cameras dating from the XIXth century, used by Alexandru Bellu, the former owner.
Next, we climbed a small hill through the woods, and the small and charming mansion unfolded before our eyes. I don’t have to add here that I was immediately smitten.
The mansion is now a museum and can be visited by whoever feels curious, but at its time, this was the guest house, the main mansion being destroyed during the Communist era.
Even so, the house has many charming rooms, each decorated in a certain style, with furniture brought from all over the world, from Turkey to Japan.
And what is even more cool about this little corner of Paradise, only 87 km away from Bucharest?
You’ve guessed it: it is a winery and has a beautiful garden.
Unfortunately, we did not do what everyone else comes here to do (and what you should!): wine tasting.
But I sure have this on my list for a future experience!
You can choose from one of the many amazing wines originally from this area, but make sure to organize the trip ahead of time. Also, take into consideration that they only do wine tastings for larger groups.
Some of the wineries to have in mind:
Other travel resources for when you visit Romania
- See whether Romania is safe to visit.
- Check out my favorite one-week Romania itinerary, which will take you from Bucharest to Transylvania. And start it off with one day in Bucharest
- Taste some delicious Romanian traditional food
- Don’t miss out on Romania’s hidden gem: Oradea
- Amazingly delicious Romanian food to indulge in during your trip, and Bucharest food – what to try and where to go for the best in town
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I had no idea Romania had so much wine! I would love to drive this wine road one day and try all the different kinds at the beautiful wineries. Thanks for the awesome post!
We love doing wine trips, and now I’ll definitely be adding Romania to our list. It’s so fun to discover new wine regions and always the best scenery!