Moldavia & Transylvania - Towns, villages and painted churches on the edge of Europe

Fly in the afternoon from London Heathrow to Bucharest (Tarom Airlines). First of two nights in Bucharest.

Visit the National Art Museum with its comprehensive collection of 14th- to 20th-century Romanian art. In the afternoon see Cotroceni Palace, the former home of Queen Marie and now the official residence of the Romanian Head of State, and the Village Museum with its outdoor collection of traditional peasant houses. Overnight in Bucharest.

A guided walk around Calea Victoriei and Revolution Square passes significant buildings and sites from Romanian history, including Stavropoleos Church (1724), a harmonious blend of Renaissance and Baroque features. The Ceaușescu-built Palace of Parliament, monstrous in conception, ghastly in design but stunningly and creepily magnificent has to be seen, sadly. Internal flight from Bucharest to Suceava. Drive to Gura Humorului. First of three nights in Gura Humorului.

The interior frescoes at the church at Humor (1530) are unsurpassed. Râșca (1540), located in a remote valley, is a charming working monastery and boasts a Ladder of St John on its South wall. Voroneț Monastery (1488), considered by many to be the most splendid in Bucovina, offers a magnificent Last Judgement. Overnight Gura Humorului.

Arbore’s (1501) superbly executed frescoes on the western wall, with a notably green cast, contain scenes from the Lives of St Nicholas, St George and St Paraskeva. In bucolic surroundings, Suceviţa (1595) with its beautifully preserved frescoes is the last of the great painted monasteries in Bucovina. Moldovița’s (1532) remote position and fortifications have protected its frescoes from invaders and marauders alike. Overnight Gura Humorului.

Cross the Carpathians into Transylvania. Târgu Mureș is endowed with an array of buildings in a Hungarian version of Arts & Crafts and Secessionist styles. The 1913 Palace of Culture – concert hall, art gallery, ceremonial halls - is as fine as any comparable building in Central Europe. First of three nights in Sighișoara.

Located on top of a hill, natural defensiveness supplemented by impressive military engineering, Sighișoara is a highly picturesque little town. Buildings range from the 13th to the 19th centuries with a fine 15th-century church with good furnishings and a superb altarpiece of 1490. The village church at Mălâncrav is celebrated for the remarkably well-preserved murals of 1421. Overnight in Sighișoara.

Located in an exceptionally lovely valley, hillsides striated with terraces for (now vanished) vines, the splendid Gothic church of Biertan soars above its formidable fortifications and the charmingly modest village below. Renovated in 2016, the fortified church in Alma Vii gives an insight into the customs of Transylvanian Saxons. Overnight in Sighișoara.

The road south passes through the Transylvanian Alps and the royal summer resort of Sinaia. Here visit the summer retreat of the Romanian royal family, Peleș and Pelișor Castles, built, extended and embellished 1875–1914. The sequence of sumptuous interiors, with astonishingly richly carved woodwork, is as fine as any of its sort in Europe, and the original contents are intact. First of two nights in Brașov.

Visit Prejmer for one more fortified church. The inner face of the 12-metre curtain wall is spectacularly encased with emergency accommodation and storage chambers. With a wonderful jumble of facades from, principally, the 18th to the early 20th centuries, Brașov is as handsome a provincial city as anywhere in eastern Europe. The Black Church is the largest Gothic church in Romania, and the interior is enlivened with nearly 100 oriental carpets. Much of the day is free to enjoy the streetscape, the cafes and the museums. Outside the walls, there is a cable car to the top of an adjacent hill. Overnight in Brașov.

Descend to the Wallachian plain and fly from Bucharest, returning to Heathrow in the afternoon.