Travellers seeking an authentic holiday in Romania find the Maramures Mountains offer genuine hospitality (accompanied by homemade plum brandy!) beautiful scenery and traditional wooden churches, built with nothing but community spirit. The Maramures Mountains offer the ingredients for an unforgettable vacation in the Romanian countryside.
Romanian Culture in the Maramures Mountains
The Maramures Mountains have remained essentially unchanged for centuries. A vacation in the Maramures Mountains is a trip back in time to a land of hand-built haystacks, simple wooden houses and folk traditions that are very much a part of everyday Romanian life. The local architecture is perfectly integrated into the landscape, and all agriculture is “organic and local” through simple necessity – the Maramures Mountains are still remote and difficult to reach even today. Farmers cut hay with fearsome looking scythes and great skill while their wives rake it into stacks; great rows of beans grow for use dried in the winter, and the nearby pig will no doubt be salted and smoked for the winter too.
Genuine Hospitality in the Maramures Mountains
It is not unusual to be invited in to share plum brandy and roasted aubergines by a friendly family because you happen to be walking by; genuine hospitality is second nature in the Maramures. There is no better way to end a day of hiking in the mountains! And if you don’t happen to share a language? Well, there is always animated sign language and enthusiastic curiosity!
Maramures Wooden Churches
Every village in the Maramures has its wooden church, built entirely of wood down to wooden roof shingles. Many are centuries old and still central to the local community; however wooden church building is a living tradition. If a Maramures village loses its church due to a fire, or in one case the former communist government simply took a church away for a museum in Bucharest, a neighbouring village will build them a new church. They are delightful buildings, with a tall wooden steeple and decorated inside with traditional hand woven cloth embroidered with the simple local traditional designs.
Hotels and other Accommodation in the Maramures Mountains
There are no starred hotels in the Maramures; accommodation is often basic, but always welcoming. You will probably share a bathroom with other guests or the host family, but the water will be hot thanks to simple wood fired boilers. The food offered in Maramures accommodation is generally simple, and sometimes excellent, such as green beans cooked in the pod with tomato, onion and smoked pork.
