Castle Bran is the famous spooky silhouette that is associated with one of the most recognizable horror characters ever created, the legendary Count Dracula. Irish author Bram Stoker took a lot of his inspiration from the Wallachian ruler Vlad the Impaler, who earned the moniker by impaling his victims on giant stakes, which sometimes took several days for them to die. The sad fact is that there is no evidence that either Stoker or Vlad ever actually set foot anywhere near Castle Bran, but that doesn’t stop the owners from making them the central themes of the tour. A secondary theme teaches about its last inhabitant, Queen Marie, the last queen of Romania.

Overall, the small town is heavily commercialized and greatly relies on the Dracula myth to sell merchandise. Accommodation is more expensive than many of the places in neighboring Brașov, which is a short and cheap bus ride away. It’s worth a visit because the castle itself is in great condition, but it can get crowded the later it gets and doesn’t quite live up to the hype.