72 hours in Maramureș

Located in northern Romania, the historical region of Maramureș is a great destination for the Easter holidays.

Daniel Onea, 09.04.2026, 14:04

Located in northern Romania, the historical region of Maramureș is a great destination for the Easter holidays. Apart from its archaic landscapes, visitors are invited to discover a unique tourist concept, launched recently, and entitled “72 hours in Maramureș”. Although Maramureș has seen extraordinary progress in recent years in terms of accommodation, statistical figures indicate that visitors only spend here an average of two days. Owing to the region’s small and geographically scattered accommodation facilities, group tourism is difficult to organise, which means the area is often used as a transit, rather than a final tourist destination. To change this, Diana Iluț, the manager of the Maramureș Destination Management Organisation says a special tourist package has been devised:

“To remedy this situation, the Destination Management Organisation launched the 72 hours in Maramureș concept for 2026. The programme is based on the idea of ‘county break’, the equivalent of a city break but extended to county level. The goal is to extend visitors’ stay to at least three nights and four days full of sightseeing, while taking into account the trend in contemporary tourism, in which travellers prefer several short holidays throughout the year, rather than a single long one. This concept is strongly supported by the air travel infrastructure. Daily domestic flights, on the Bucharest-Baia Mare route, facilitate the access of Romanian tourists to the area. External flights, twice a week, on the Paris-Baia Mare route, introduce the destination to the French market. Reasonable airfares are an additional advantage for tourist mobility.”

Apart from extending the length of stay, the initiative brings slow tourism and nature therapy to the forefront, says destination manager Diana Iluț:

“As part of this concept, an essential recommendation is to discover the city of Baia Mare, the county capital. Although located outside the area referred to as the historical Maramureș and insufficiently promoted in the last two decades, the city has a lot of tourist potential. The city was the setting of an urban legend transposed into a book and film, “In Shakespeare’s Shadow”, written by Walter Ubelhart and which looks at a surprising connection between the famous English playwright and the city. The idea of spending 72 hours in the region is based on a case study initiated by VisitSweden, which demonstrated that a three-day break in a natural environment is enough for the body to recover from urban stress. In line with this vision, Maramureș is becoming a silvotherapy destination. In the centuries-old forests of Strâmbu-Băiuț, which are a UNESCO World Heritage site, the first forest therapy route in Eastern Europe is currently in the process of obtaining international approval.”

Even though the geography of the area might seem challenging, the infrastructure allows for these routes to be easily accessible. Diana Iluț emphasises that the mountainous landscape is, in fact, one of the region’s assets:

“Because of the predominantly mountainous terrain, it may take several hours to travel by road between certain destinations, such as Baia Mare and Borșa, but the roads are in reasonably good condition. The infrastructure is designed in such a way that visitors need to choose a number of destinations as it is impossible to cover the entire county in just 72 hours. However, the geography of the area is not an obstacle, but a major advantage. The route from Baia Mare across the Gutâi Mountains, to historical Maramures, provides many interesting sites, with almost every village boasting a wooden church, a historical monument, or some other tourist attraction that can be explored at ease.”

During this period, tourist packages are closely linked to spirituality. The head of the Maramureș Destination Management Organisation, Diana Iluț, says the Easter holidays provide the perfect opportunity to live unique experiences with the local community:

 “The villagers proudly wear their traditional costumes. Easter night culminates with processions around the churches, with lit candles and singing. The same night marks the end of the fast and the blessing of the wicker baskets filled with food. The next morning, the process is repeated with larger baskets, prepared for the main Easter meal, where extended families and tourists gather. A specific element of Maramureș is the dyeing of eggs. Here, eggs are not painted like in Moldavia or Bucovina, but rather dyed exclusively with natural pigments: onion peels, for shades from gold to dark cherry, beetroot for shades of red, or nettle decoction, for green eggs. The patterns are made by naturally impregnating the eggshells with leaves and small flowers, fixed to the egg during boiling. Depending on the area, the traditions vary: there are dances, walks, and in Țara Codrului, the community gathers in the churchyard for a meeting between generations that lasts until late at night.”

Beyond folklore and spectacular traditions, a visit to Maramureș also involves taking on the past. Destination manager Diana Iluț makes a recommendation with a strong emotional significance:

“In addition to traditions and folklore, Maramureș offers an essential lesson in recent history. A heartfelt recommendation for all tourists, both Romanian and foreign, is a visit to the Memorial of Sorrow in Sighetu Marmației. This place exposes uncensored history and works as a warning against a dark period of national history. Visiting it is a duty for present and future generations, the place has a strong emotional impact, which needs to be revisited periodically to prevent forgetting the tragedy of those times.”

A tour in Maramureș becomes much more than a simple vacation. It is an invitation to reconnect with nature, to celebrate authentic traditions and, last but not least, to a lesson in history and cultural identity, perfectly adapted to be discovered at your leisure, in at least 72 hours. (CM, AMP)