My first view of the citadel. Yay!
This is the car that I rented. It was 100 euro for one day. Romania is definitely a driving sort of country. They do have a train system in the city, but it looked pretty small. If you're planning on going to Romania, I would recommend budgeting a car rental into your travel plans. Keep in mind that they only rent stick shifts. Also when you rent they will ask for two forms of ID and one will have to be your passport so take it with you when you go to the rental.
I made it the two and a half hour drive all the way to the Poenari Citadel with out a map. The roads are extremely well marked and finding your way to the Citadel is very easy. However, if you are of a nervous disposition or get lost easily then I would recommend a map for your peace of mind. I was admittedly nervous on a couple of occasions that I was going the wrong way. Still, I never had to turn around or back track.
From the City, you take E81 heading toward Pitesti. From Pitesti you follow the signs to Curtea de Arges. The signs are easy to see, but remember that after Pitesti you won't be on the E81. Then from Curtea de Arges you'll follow the signs to a town called Arefu. In Arefu there is a sign that points you in the direction of the Citadel. You will follow that road for half an hour until you reach the citadel. Easy peasy.
I was so excited when I found it, even after I saw that there are 1,480 steps to the top. By the way, the Citadel is open until 8pm. I thought it closed at 5pm so I was quite relived when I got there at 4pm to see that I had plenty of time.
The beginning.
Steps.
First sign on the steps. Not even a third of the way to the top.
Steps.
and more steps...
View from a little more than a third the way up.
Second sign! Gives you a good excuse to stop for a minute. You can pretend that you stopped to read this and not because you can't breathe and are about to have a heart attack. Really, very thoughtful of them.
These steps are going down? What?
Oh good, we're going back up again. The world is right again.
I can see the Citadel!!!
It was deceptively further away than it looked.
There's the river below, the one that Vlad's wife supposedly threw herself in. I was kind of afraid that I would drop my camera.
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