What a cool castle. This is what you want to see in the Sinaia region. Peles is very impressive and beautiful, even just from the outside. The walk up to it is also beautiful, with a nice path (lined with street vendors, of course ;)) and it gives you an idea of the beauty of the castle. We drove here from Brasov, and found it quite easy to get to. I would highly recommend visiting Peles. (Note: My group didn't pay to go in, but just touring around the outside was great).
The castle was quite magnificent, especially snow covered when we visited. It is relatively easy to get to and the tour is good value for money. The inside of this castle is even more amazing than the outside. A must visit for any trip to Romania
I have been to Peles Castle in every season. It's gorgeous year-round. The first time I visited the castle, I paid an entrance fee, but you are not allowed to walk around without a guide. They do have English tours during the day and the guide was informative, but I didn't think the castle was anything special. If you don't have time to take a tour, don't fret. Just enjoy the view from the outside and be sure to stop by the Monastery before you leave Sinaia. Also, there is a restaurant next to the castle and they sell beer, pastries and coffee drinks. They have dark and white chocolate for the winter months and then beer for the summer. It's a nice little pitstop from sightseeing. Enjoy!
Being for the second time here visiting the Castle, I was disappointed. A sad way of marketing it. The guide was struggling but it was just her putting effort. All other employees were sad and uninterested. A shame for the Romanian history to keep people working there if they do not like what they do.
This must be one of the best castles ever, so unlike anything else I've seen, both inside and out. It is not huge like The Hermitage or Windsor. However, it is truly magnificent with carved wooden pillars, walls, furniture and cabinets. I would go back to Romania in a heartbeat just to see it again. We had a private guide which allowed us to bypass large groups of tourists.
Nicely maintained, but arrogant guides.Better to go with pre-recorded sound guides. But after this route I started to understand why socialist movement started. Too tacky and too expensive.
So my girlfriend and I (both students) were staying in Bucharest and wanting to go to visit Peles without having to pay too much. Having done extensive research it seems like the only tour going there was priced at 70EUR and included both Peles and Bran castles and Brasov city. We couldn't afford it. So for the rest of you broke tourists like us, here is the way. Trains operate from Bucharest's Gare du Nord to (which is easily accessible using the metro) to Sinaia. We got tickets for 70Lei return per person (just over 10£-15EU). Now this is the trick, apparently we could have gotten those even cheaper using some other company because it seems they have national and privatized train lines... We went the day before and bought them from Gare du Nord (the women spoke fair English). The journey takes 90min on an InterRegional train. Our train there was really nice and we got seats as opposed to the way back which was an open return and we had no allocated seats (although we found some) and the train was kinda bad.So after a few stops and 90min, you get to Sinaia, which is basically in the Transylvanian mountains and thus the castle is on the way up. So from the train station you have two options: -walk: it will take you a good 20-40min depending on you fitness and its uphill and you need to know where you are going. We did it on the way down... -taxi: the logical choice really, you negotiate the price (10Lei which is 2EUR) and tell the driver Peles. Within 5min you are there. Why even bother walking?! Voila, I hope this helps tourists because I struggled to find this information on tripadvisor!
We visited Peles castle in the beginning of March - it was the highlight of our trip! The castle itself is the stuff of dreams -as grandeur as one might expect of a palace. It has very interesting history.If you decide to visit though, you should mind the following specifics: *The optional tour includes quite a lot of rooms and in the weekend there are constantly groups waiting, so the guides kind of rush the visitors through the rooms. There is a LOT to see in each and every room and the one minute until the lecture for the room finishes is nowhere near enough to take it all in. If you stay to look around longer, however, the guide moves on to the next room anyway and you either miss the next room's lecture or you miss half the things to see.. Moreover, there is another guide behind you that ushers you forward if you linger back for too long. *I would recommend the Optional (longer, more expensive - around 11 eur) tour, as the standard tour seems to include around 1/3 of the rooms and is over very quickly.I would also recommend if possible to book an unguided (audio) tour in the weekdays as this would give you more time to look around, see it all and feel the atmoshpere of the palace. *A word of caution, I'd not recommend paying the fee for taking photos (~7 eur) as the tour moves too quickly and it's way too dark to ever capture anything properly. A waste of your time and money - better spend it looking around instead. *The gardens are also a very beautiful place, even more so in the spring or summer, I might add.
the inside of the castle is more amazing compared to its outside appearance. the furniture and paintings inside tells a lot about the past. the castle grounds look lovely with snow.
I was part of a group of around 20 people on a 45 minute 'standard' tour. The more expensive 'extended' tour includes the upstairs bedrooms. Pros:-English speaking guide. He had a cold, but I could still understand most of his information. -Castle contains armoury, intricate wood carvings, chandeliers and woven carpets. Areas I viewed included the welcome, dining, music, bubble pipe and cinema rooms.-Small gift shop. -Vending machine. Cons:-Additional charge to use camera inside the castle. Notes:-Visitors are provided with plastic covers to wear over their footwear within the castle. -There are several restaurants within walking distance of the castle.