Traveller’s Guide in 2014 – a retrospective
A look back at some of the most interesting holiday destinations that we presented to you last year.
Daniel Onea, 31.12.2014, 18:09
Happy New Year and welcome to the first edition of Traveller’s Guide in 2015!
Today we will look back at some of the most interesting holiday destinations that we presented to you last year. We tried to include offers for all tastes and budgets, for those who seek adventure as well as those who just want to relax, for mountain and seaside lovers, popular as well as under-the-radar destinations, but all of them ideal places to spend a holiday to remember.
The first shows last year were devoted to an RRI competition called From the Wine Route to the Princes’ Route. The competition focused on Prahova County and was inspired from tourist promotion programmes such as The Fruit Route, The Wine Route and The Princes’ Route run by the Prahova County Council. We received 606 correct answers, and the Grand Prize was an 8-day full board trip for two, between September 1st and 9th, 2014 in Prahova County. The winners had the chance to cover the tourist routes that inspired this contest and to visit the cultural, tourist and historical attractions of the area. Juan Antonio Casillas Ascencio, from Leon-Guanajuato, Mexico, was the winner of this prize. On July the 15th, 2014 another prize-winning contest initiated by RRI came to an end. Titled A Contemporary of Brancusi: Milita Petrascu, it was dedicated to two great Romanian artists, the sculptor Constantin Brancusi and one of his students, Milita Petrascu. The grand prize consisted in a 6-day full-board stay for one listener of RRI, in the second half of August 2014, in Gorj County, the home place of sculpture giant Brancusi. We received 199 correct answers, a remarkable number considering that the competition ran for a shorter time than usual, with only one month for listeners to complete their research and send us their entries. The winner, Jean-Marc Olry, from France, visited Brancusi’s works in Targu Jiu, the artist’s home, as well as a variety of other cultural, tourist and historical attractions in the area.
Last spring we talked about the most interesting low-season packages in Romanian Black Sea resorts, as well as the most attractive packages available at the 31st Romanian Travel Fair, held between March the 13th and 15th in Bucharest. A city break option that we discussed in our show was the north-eastern city of Iasi, one of the most attractive in Romania. Whether we talk about the ancient Cucuteni civilization or the great medieval boyar families, this city has played a major role in the history of Romania. In April we invited you to spend Easter in Romania. But we did not forget those who like more unusual destinations. Our choice for them was Arsenal Park, a military-themed park on an 88-hectare piece of land in western Romania, in Orastie Mountains. Arsenal Park is the perfect holiday place for both adventure seekers and families with children, who can spend time in the play area or by the pool. And last spring we also invited you on a tour of Bucharest, we explored the caves of Romania and spoke about the opening of the summer season in Romania.
Summer found us on Transfagarasan, one of the most spectacular roads in Romania, which crosses the highest mountain chain in the country, the Fagaras. The landscapes are breathtaking, and the places that offer accommodation in the area have started diversifying their services in the last few years. During the summer season, we presented the Romanian seacoast, not only as a great destination for beachgoers, but also as the perfect spot for a wide range of activities, from visits to wineries, trips around Dobrogea and the Danube Delta, to beauty centres and spa resorts, aqua parks and horse farms. Also during the summer we talked about the Golden Apple, the trophy awarded by the International Federation of Travel Journalists and Writers, FIJET, to outstanding tourist destinations. Constantin Brancusi’s works displayed in Targu Jiu played a decisive role in FIJET’s decision to grant this trophy to the southern Romanian town where the great sculptor was born.
Last autumn we turned to a unique place in Romania and Europe, the Danube Delta, where trips by floating hotels, leisure speedboat tours, fishing and guided photo-taking sessions are some of the most sought-after tourist programs. We also presented special tourist packages for young people, as Romania’s Ministry for SMEs, Business and Tourism recently launched the world’s first youth tourism cluster, a joint venture between the state and the private sector aimed at attracting young foreign tourists to Romania. We ended the year 2014 with a review of the most beautiful Christmas fairs in the country, as well as of the most interesting winter holiday packages in Romania.
