A Transylvanian city and hiking trail have also been included in the 25 best tourist destinations of the world-famous National Geographic medium, recommended for world travelers for 2025.
The "honor" of Brasó and the Via Transilvanica is further enhanced by the fact that, in addition to the Transylvanian attractions, only four other European locations made it onto the list.
National Geographic, which operates a world-famous magazine, portal, and TV stations, and is also well-known in Transylvania, annually publishes a top 25 ranking, in which they encourage world travelers to discover new destinations for the next year. The latest list was published the other day by the US-based media company, which provides educational work in the fields of nature, science, culture and history.
Brasov, the pride of Transylvania
After the wonderful landscapes of Guatemala, Florida, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico, California, Greenland, Japan and Malaysia, the eyes of the Transylvanian reader may suddenly stop at a very familiar place: after the exotic regions that seem unreachable to us, we suddenly end up in Brasov. A brief explanation given to the Why go now question under the Brasov, Romania caption: to walk the Transilvanica hiking trail.
"The medieval city of Brasov is the gateway to the Transylvanian region, a land of ancient forests, rustic villages and the peaks of the Carpathians. And with its new airport - the first in Romania in the last 50 years - Dracula's homeland is also more accessible. Explore the region along the Via Transilvanica, a hiking route completed in 2022 that runs 870 miles from the Ukrainian border to the Danube”
– can be read in the English-language, few-sentence teaser.
Special mention is made of the section of the route called Terra Saxonum (i.e. Saxony or King's Land), which "passes through Saxon villages and the 12th-century city of Szeged", mentioning the latter's UNESCO World Heritage status. At the same time, in half a sentence, they also cover the section called Terra Dacica, which "meanders between vineyards and Dacian fortresses" .
The operators of Via Transilvanica are very proud of the new prestigious recommendation. Quote We are delighted that more and more magazines are recommending our route on an international level, and it shows, because thanks to this, more and more foreign hikers are coming to get to know our country."
- they wrote on Via Transilvanica's Facebook page.
As you know, the 1,400-kilometer Via Transilvanica tourist route, which crosses Transylvania from the northeast to the southwest and can be traveled on foot, on horseback or by bicycle, was opened in October 2002. Although the route "starts" from Putna in Bukovina and arrives at Szörényvár (Drobeta Turnu Severin) by the Danube, it mostly goes through Transylvania. The developer Tășuleasa Social Association wants to develop village tourism. The hiking route from Bukovina to the Iron Gate crosses the seven historical and ethnographic regions of Romania, including Székelyföld and Királyföld, which preserves the memories of the Saxon culture. More than ten thousand volunteers worked on its construction in four hundred settlements in ten counties. Each kilometer of the hiking trail is marked with a granite stone.
They bring good news to Transylvania This time, Via Transilvanica was included in a prestigious international list as an associated attraction of Brasov, but both attractions have recently been placed in several rankings separately.
For example, the hiking route was included in the top 10 list of the English-language travel section of the Euronews portal in the spring of 2023, and it won the Public Choice Award at the European Heritage Awards 2023 gala held in Venice. reported on his experiences and information on the hiking trail, also known as the "Transylvanian El Camino"
Returning to Brasov, the city below the Cenk, for example, was included in the top 25 tourist destinations of one of the largest international travel portals this year. Based on the ratings of tourists, the US-based Tripadvisor compiled a top list of "hot" locations, among other things, on which the city below Cenk alone represents Europe.
At the same time, Brasov is also very popular domestically:
this year, approximately ten thousand residents can choose the Transylvanian city, which is currently considered the most attractive in terms of migration in Romania, as their new home.
National Geographic's 25 most recommended destinations in 2025:
• Antigua, Guatemala
• Ocala National Forest, Florida
• Bangkok, Thailand
• Raja Ampat, Indonesia
• Guadalajara, Mexico
• Cenobite monasteries, Italy
• Los Angeles, California
• Greenland
• Kanazawa, Japan
• Eastern and Oriental Express, Malaysia
• Brasov, Romania
• Cerrado, Brazil
• Northland, New Zealand
• Senegal
• Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), British Columbia (Canada)
• Barbados
• Suru Valley, India
• Boise, Idaho
• Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• Murray River, Australia
• Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
• Stockholm archipelago (island group), Sweden
• Cork, Ireland
• Outer Hebrides, Scotland
• Tunisia
Featured image: One of the stops on the hiking trail, also known as the "Transylvanian El Camino" Photo: Facebook/Via Transilvanica
