A Very Grandiose Structure in the Middle of the Carpathians (Peles Castle (Sinaia, Romania))

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	Peles Castle (Sinaia, Romania)
Date:	07/04/09 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice grounds and historical interest

Disadvantages: A bit over the top

Hidden away in the South-Eastern Carpathians, a short distance away from the mountain resort Sinaia, lies this dramatically and in some ways over the top building - Peles Castle. The entrance easily recognisable by a beer drinking blind bear on a chain (may well be dead or his status changed by the entrance to the EU by now)

Before the entrance to main gates are several stalls, old ladies selling cheese, clothing, wooden nic nacs and the typical fare of any such tourist attractions in the Carpathians, whether it be Poland, Ukraine or Romania. The cheese is delicious, mind! This glamorous old school building lies in magnificent grounds, grassy fields and a bit of forest - there are street dogs (albeit quite tubby ones) as far as the eye can see..either relaxing on the grass or trying to cause trouble with each other..aah it's a dog's life!

A nice little pub/snack bar stands near the entrance, the beer isn't particularly over-priced and whilst the communist style service leaves little to desire - it's worth it all for the nice view of the building. I've been here twice, once I paid entrance to go inside the building and the second time not. Personally, I prefer the grounds - the over the top nature of the architecture and artefacts inside don't really do it for me. Whilst nearby Bran castle manages to remain quite quaint, Peles goes over the board with a huge collection of armory (4000 weapons!), ivory, glass, leather, rugs from the finest sources, painted stained glass and a large collection of paintings from the finest contemporary artists of the time.

The castle built between 1875 and 1914 is impressively grandiose, using gold, brass, marble and just about any expensive commodity that King Carol I of Romania could get his hands on! The estimated cost of building it is around $120 million dollars and sections of it were used as tourist villas for the wealthy and aristocratic. Visitors included the extremely powerful Kaiser Franz Josef and in more recent times Richard Nixon and Yasser Arafat. There is an additional structure nearby, the more quaint Pelisor - a chateau made for King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie, this is more to my liking..although I have to say that I absolutely love the grounds and even Peles castle from the outside is pretty cool.

I'm sure that some will marvel at the insides, it's definitely impressive but it's not really to my taste! Entrance is 15 Lei with additional charges for using a camera. Some rooms are off limit but you'll definitely get value for money.

Summary: Worth the visit