"Sinaia, the first town I have visited... " a Sinaia Travel Page by monica71

I was only 5 months old when my parents took me to my "first trip" to Sinaia. We always laugh when we talk about it since really my first visit to the city was when my mom was 4 months pregnant with me. The second trip was when my mom was 7 months pregnant and my dad had to go all over the town to get things that my mom was craving to eat at odd hours. They are still calling me "the family troublemaker" every time they are kidding around and they want to give me a hard time :)

Sinaia, a mountain resort on the Prahova Valley, is a town very dear to me. The town was named after Sinaia Monastery, around which it was built. The monastery in turn was named after the Biblical Mount Sinai. King Carol I of Romania built his summer home, Peles Castle, near the town, so make sure you check it out if you happen to be in Sinaia.

When I was living in Romania I used to come to Sinaia at least 7-8 times a year. Sinaia is very close to Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It is easily reached by car or by train. When I was in high school and in college, I used to just take the train in the morning, go to Sinaia, take the Cable Car to Cota 2000, spend few hours here and come back home around 8:30pm in the evening. I can not count how many weekends my brother and I woke up early in the morning and decided to go to Sinaia because we just felt like it and because the weather was too perfect to be stuck in Bucharest for a whole day!

Sinaia is a popular destination for hiking and winter sports, especially downhill skiing. It was also the summer residence of the great Romanian composer George Enescu, who stayed at the Luminis villa.

Getting around the town is easy: by foot or by car/taxi. The town is best explored by foot. If you do not have time, get a cab to take you around the city.

Accommodations are plentiful and easy to find, but if you are looking for a cheap and clean room, nothing fancy though, check out the numerous Pensions located all over town.
Restaurants are all over the town, therefore you should not have a problem getting something to eat.
Make sure you try the Romanian donuts (gogosi). They come plain and they are called "gogosi" or stuffed with cheese and called "langosi".

So if you are in town, make sure you check the following places:
1. Peles Castle and Pelisor Castle
2. Sinaia Monastery
3. the Old Sinaia Train Station
4. take a peek at Franz Joseph Cliff and Saint Anne Cliff
5. do some hiking at Varful Cu Dor, Furnica and Piatra Arsa
6. take the cable car to Cota 1400, stop here to explore the area and then hop on the second cable car to Cota 2000
7. George Enescu House
8. Ghica Park
9. Bucegi Reservation Museum
10. Sinaia Casino