6 Best Sights in Romania

The sweeping bird's-eye views you'll get during the cable car (teleferic) ride up Busteni Mountain alone are worth the 15 minutes' drive from Sinaia. You can also hop into the cable car in Sinaia and then hike over. The mountain, 8,215 feet high, has well-marked paths, but some of the trails can get quite steep so you'll need proper footwear. Hikers come to take in the vistas and to see natural rock formations called babele and sphinx. In the snowy months, which can last through April, locals come here to snowshoe. If you're a strong skier, you can shred powder here, and if you're a beginner, you can take lessons at one of the small local ski resorts.

No longer a working casino but a conference center, this is nonetheless an impressive structure, commissioned and built in 1913 by King Carol I, who died just a year later. It's a grand building and, provided no private events are being held, tours are given every 40 minutes. Sometimes the docents speak English, but if not there may be a local on the tour who will translate for you. Even without understanding the guide, the building's interior is a spectacular sight, particularly its more than 500 pieces of art, including works by Bogdan Mihai Radu, Vana Cornel, Calin-Raul Anton, and Rares Kerekes. The casino, which has an upscale café on the ground floor, is in Dimitrie Ghica Park, where there's a skating rink.

Regarded as Romania's greatest musician, George Enescue (1881–1955) was a composer, violinist, pianist, and conductor. He was a child prodigy—at age 10 gave a concert for Emperor Franz Joseph—and went on to perform in Paris and to conduct the New York Philharmonic, living in France and Romania. After the Soviet occupation of Romania, he remained in Paris and is buried there. The large white villa is well maintained and furnished with handsome period pieces. On display are photographs, sheet music, and programs from his many concerts.

Within Bucegi Natural Park, this pint-size monastery abuts the enormous cave, making it look even tinier. The monastery dates back four centuries, but the reason it looks in such good condition—you'll notice that the colorful paintings adorning its interior walls are particularly vibrant—is that what you see today was built 1993 following a huge fire. A guide will take you into the cave, which has 1,300 feet of accessible paths, so wear sturdy footwear. To get to the monastery, you can take the cable car from Busteni up to Babele and then hop on the cable car going toward Pestera (meaning cave). From there it's about a 10-minute walk.

A fairy tale castle come to life, Peles is a stunning Neo-Renaissance/Gothic structure that sits tall upon the Carpathian Mountains. It dates to 1883 and is estimated to have cost a whopping 16,000,000 gold Romanian lei (roughly $120 million today). The former royal residence has more than 150 rooms, each more stunning than the last, a bubble of gold and carved wood. It's estimated that the castle's art and antiquities collection includes nearly 4,000 pieces of armor and armaments and 2,000 paintings. Audio guides are available, and if you're on a time crunch these are a better option than the tour guides, who may not be available immediately. Part of the complex is the splendid Art Nouveau-style Pelisor Castle, which was built by King Carol I for his nephew, the future King Ferdinand, and finished in 1902. It's less castle and more stately home, but still well worth a visit, and it's much less crowded than Peles.

Between the train station and Peles Castle, you'll pass this small working monastery, home to just a few monks, which is a pleasant place to have a quiet moment before facing the crowds at the castle in high season. The monastery was founded by Prince Mihail Cantacuzino after he returned from a pilgrimage to Mount Sinai. It has two buildings: the Old Church, built in 1695 and, as of this writing, under restoration; and the Great Church, built in 1846. In the bell tower of the Great Church is a bell weighing 1,700kg (3,758lbs.) The monastery also has a tiny library, which contains some of the Cantacuzino family's artifacts and the first bible translated into Romanian, which dates from 1668.