DISCOVERY TRIPS
Most people researching Romanian property do it from a screen. Listings, photographs, satellite views, YouTube walk-throughs. They may tell you what a property looks like, but, they do not tell you what it feels like to drive to it in February, or whether the road that looks fine on Google ends at a river or a cliff.
A Discovery Trip puts you on the ground. Two to four day trips through the Carpathian regions with our local guidance, away from the usual tourist routes.
The trip works in two ways:
You may already have a shortlist of properties you want to see. We'll plan a route that visits each and gives you their regional context.
Or, you may not know exactly where you want to be yet. We can use the time to introduce you to a region we think suits what you are looking for, and to the kind of locations and properties that are realistic at your budget.
Either way, this isn't a sales tour. We do not list properties, we take no commission from sellers, and we do not have a portfolio that we are quietly trying to move. What you see is what is there. What we tell you is what we think.
ORGANIZING THE TRIP
TRANSPORTATION
Tom will be your guide and driver. He is an experienced and safe driver with a clean record. We use a comfortable mid-size all wheel drive SUV with room for up to three travellers in addition to the driver. Cristina runs the logistics from base: route planning, guesthouse bookings, scheduling with sellers, and the running checklist of things to look at before, during, and after the trip.
We pick you up wherever makes sense. Hotel pickup anywhere in Transylvania is included. Airport pickup at Cluj, Sibiu, Timișoara, or Brașov is included. Bucharest and Budapest are possible by arrangement, with the additional travel day built into the trip length.
From the moment we pick you up until the moment we drop you off, we handle the driving, the navigation, the language, the introductions, the bookings, and the schedule. You focus on what you came for: the land, the houses, the valleys, and your questions.
We stay in small family-run guesthouses. The driving routes will be kept tight and we are not in a hurry. If you need space and time, we will plan for space and time.
ITINERARY
Before you confirm the trip, we send you a written itinerary for your approval. It lists every property we plan to visit, every region we plan to cover, the driving routes between them, the guesthouses we plan to stay in, and the realistic time at each stop. Nothing is booked until you have read it and agreed to it.
This is the document we both work from. If something needs to change while we are on the road, we change it together. You go into the trip knowing exactly what the days look like.
FEES
Our fee covers our part of the trip. Your accommodation and meals are paid directly by you, at the guesthouse and in the restaurants we stop at. We add nothing to either, and we take no commission from the places we recommend.
2 days, 1 night, for up to 2 travellers:
750 EUR
3 days, 2 nights, for up to 2 travellers:
1,100 EUR
4 days, 3 nights, for up to 2 travellers:
1,500 EUR
Third traveller:
+50 EUR per night.
Trips are limited to three travellers for vehicle comfort.
What our fee covers: all transport and fuel, language interpretation, cultural and historical context, and our full advisory time on every property visited. Tom's accommodation and meals on the road are also covered by the fee.
What you pay directly: your accommodation in the guesthouses on the itinerary, and your meals during the trip. We recommend places we know and trust. You see every bill and pay it at the source.
What to budget for direct costs in mountain Romania: roughly 60-90 EUR per night for a guesthouse double room, and 40-60 EUR per person per day for meals.
Not covered by either fee or direct costs: your flights to and from Romania, and travel insurance.
BOOKING
Advance notice. Minimum 7 days. We ask for 14 days where possible. The reason is practical: guesthouses in good villages book up in season, sellers and local agents need time to confirm property visits, and a route through the Carpathians takes more thought than a route between cities. Seven days is the floor. Two weeks gives the trip more room.
Booking fee. 500 EUR, paid at the time of booking. The fee is fully refundable if either side cancels the trip for any reason. It is not there to lock you in. It is how we both know the booking is real before we hold dates, contact sellers, and reserve guesthouses. The fee is applied against our trip fee on the final day.
Calendar. Dates are open at the moment. As the calendar fills, we will publish availability windows here. If you have specific dates in mind, write to us and we will confirm them.
WHAT IT IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT
A NOBS Discovery Trip is an introduction to a country, a culture, and a landscape that most people only know from the outside. We take you into the valleys where the property you are considering actually sits, and we give you the context that makes it possible to live there well: the history of the region, the rhythm of village life, the language, the food, the landscape, and the people who have shaped all of it.
It is not a tour. We are not licensed tour operators and we do not sell sightseeing. We are licensed for real estate brokerage in Romania, but we are not running a commission-driven route. We take no commission from anyone, and we are not building a portfolio of properties to push.
Sometimes the answer at the end of the trip is no. The properties were not right, the region was not what you imagined, the life you pictured does not fit the place you found. That is a useful outcome. You go home knowing more about a part of the world you did not know before, having spent time in valleys most travellers never see, with a clearer sense of what you are actually looking for. Nobody leaves a Discovery Trip with less than they arrived with.
If you already know Romania well, speak the language, and have spent time in the regions you are considering, a Discovery Trip may not be what you need. Write to us anyway. We will tell you honestly whether the trip is the right next step or whether something else makes more sense.
Trips are private and confidential. We do not photograph our clients, name them, or write about them anywhere.
Reservations for 2026 are open.