"We can't stop here. This is bear country." Top 5 Page for this destination Brasov by antistar

Out of 30 countries I've visited in the last 5 years or so, this is right up there with Prague and Paris. Get here before easyjet fly stag-nighters out to make urinating on the local war monument a feature of their pub crawls. The airport will be completed in the next year or two. You have been warned.

Brasov's medieval core, wedged dramatically between the two towering hills of Warthe and Tampa, is a slice of old Germany in the depths of Transylvania. It was here, on the elbow of the Carpathians, that German settlers founded Siebenburgen (the Seven Cities) and formed a barrier between the Vlachs (Romanians) in the south, and the Hungarians in the north.

Now the city is thouroughly Romanian, and the only German or Hungarian voice you here is almost certainly a tourist. And if there is a downside to this Transylvanian idyll, it's the crowds. But unlike some other popular tourist destinations, Brasov doesn't seem to have attracted a significant number of hawkers, beggars, thieves, street urchins, and ne'erdowells. The locals still remain friendly, and the whole place feels positively civilized.

Brasov, Romania

But there's plenty of space to fill, so the crowds are never overbearing. Unlike most German cities, Brasov has survived history remarkably intact, and with EU money pouring into Romania, the renovation of the city appears to be almost complete. It's chock full of internet cafes, classy restaurants, buzzing bars, swanky boulevards, and lovingly restored homes. But you can still lose yourself in the tight cobbled streets, or escape outside to pleasant suburbs.

And everything is still incredibly cheap. As of 2009 I was able to eat food as good as anything in Budapest, for about 2/3rds the price. And I thought Budapest was cheap. And a 3.5km taxi journey from the station, in clean modern Romanian cars, cost me about 2 euros, from consistently honest taxi drivers. It would be difficult to make the same journey on public transport for the same price in many other cities.

You can also use the city as a spring board for jumping into the Transylvanian countryside. There's the horribly touristic Bran castle, a must see for most people, including myself, because of its supposed connections to Dracula. There's the incredible and absolutely unmissable Rasnov castle, which feels more vampiresque without the hyped links. And you can even go further afield, to Sinaia and the Bucegi mountains.

Stunning landscape, beautiful city, good food, good value, with friendly, decent people. The city really impressed me, and easily passed my "I could live here" test.

There are better quality pictures in my facebook album.