Romania’s capital Bucharest and Brasov mountain resort were included on a list of “21 best budget travel destinations for 2017” published by Forbes.

The recommendations were made by travel experts such as Jarryd Salem and Alesha Bradford, who are documenting their journeys on NOMADasaurus, travel blogger Matt Kepnes, American blogger Nicole Brewer, Australian couple Caz and Craig Makepeace of YTravel, Canadian YouTube star Nadine Sykora, young American traveler Lee Abbamonte, Australians Josh and Erin Bender, and travel bloggers Kach and Jonathan Howe.

Bucharest is fifth on the list, after Northern Vietnam, Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Lisbon (Portugal), and Seoul (South Korea).

“With several centuries of architecture in Bucharest, there is an interesting display of old and new here. There are plenty of museums, cemeteries, historical sites to explore, plus wild nightlife and cheap, hearty food to be found! A go-to spot for digital nomads, it's a city on the rise,” reads the presentation made by Matt Kepnes.

Brasov mountain resort is also among the best budget travel destinations for 2017, being recommended by Josh and Erin Bender.

“Romania in winter is magical. It has many of the conveniences of Western Europe but at Eastern European prices. Grab a rental car and drive into the snowy Transylvanian Alps. There’s plenty of affordable holiday homes and apartments in Brasov and the nearby countryside, plus the city houses beautiful Christmas markets,” reads their presentation.

“And while in the area drive to the heart-warming Libearty Bear Sanctuary and the world famous, Bran Castle, the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s 1897 horror novel, Dracula.”

Other destinations included on the list are Crete (Greece), Porto (Portugal), Cairo (Egypt), Antigua (Guatemala), and Tbilisi (Georgia).

Romania’s Transylvania tops Lonely Planet’s regions to visit in 2016 list

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com