If you want some extra inspiration for finding the right Christmas gifts for your friends and family back home, or for...

Romania is a rich country when it comes to traditions and superstitions. Modern Romanians only keep a few of them, but more of the local traditions can be discovered in the countryside, in remote areas of the country. Romania-Insider.com presents some of the winter traditions and customs in Romania that you are likely to witness during December, if you spend your holidays in the country. If you learned of a custom and you'd like to share, drop us an e-mail at editor@romania-insider.com.

This week's travel destination in Romania is Sighişoara, one of the most beautiful and well preserved inhabited citadels in Europe. The city is located in the historic region of Transylvania, on the Târnava Mare River in Mureş county.

With the winter holidays knocking on our doors, Romanian-Insider.com reviews some of the best places in Romania to spend the winter holidays. Plus, it adds a useful list of ski slopes in Romania, but before choosing a destination, check the weather forecast, as most of the slopes rely on natural snow. You can choose winter sports, spend some time in the nature, traditional holidays, uncovering less known areas of Romania or taking outdoors baths at low temperatures. Either way, let us know what your favourite places in the country are.

An area of 90,000 hectares in the protected natural site Nordul Gorjului, in Western Romania, will be protected through a project worth EUR 4.9 million, part of the European program Natura 2000. The area includes 45 natural reservations, among which best known are Cheile Sohodorului (in picture) and Cheile Tismanei.

This week’s Romanian city is Targoviste, the former Wallachian capital and Royal Court located 80 km from the current Romanian capital Bucharest. It is a city where history springs from every corner, and its closeness to Bucharest makes it a great week-end escape destination.

If you're staying in Bucharest on Christmas and/or on New Year's Eve and you're not planning to throw a party in your own/a friend's house, there are a couple of options to spend some time out in the town during the winter holidays. We listed some of them for you: Christmas lunches & brunches, New Year's Eve parties – feel free to write us if you're hosting a party or know of one which you expect to rock! You could also check out other events taking place in Bucharest in December.

Romanian world champion pugilist Lucian Bute will promote Romania's tourism brand, according to the Romanian Tourism Minister. The minister plans to organize one of Lucian Bute's matches next year in Bucharest, to attract more international attention for Romania.

Already planning your winter holidays? Well, if you're choosing Bucharest for your stay in the month of December, we've made a list of events in the city you could try yourself - or offer as gifts to your loved ones. Stay tuned in the following days as we are preparing more goodies to help you plan for the winter season in Romania! Also, check back on this article as we'll be adding more events as they are announced.

Two tourism associations, APDT Brasov and Association Monteoru Renaissance have recently launched the Carpathian Tourism Cluster Romania, a network of regional and national stakeholders in the Romanian tourism industry. The aim of this cluster is to support sustainable tourism development and create additional value for the tourism industry in region of the Carpathian Mountains. Members of the cluster are tourism development associations, NGOs, local and national authorities, tour operators, travel agencies, tourism guides, event agencies, suppliers of the tourism industry and service and consulting companies.

If you want some extra inspiration for finding the right Christmas gifts for your friends and family back home, or for...

Romania is a rich country when it comes to traditions and superstitions. Modern Romanians only keep a few of them, but more of the local traditions can be discovered in the countryside, in remote areas of the country. Romania-Insider.com presents some of the winter traditions and customs in Romania that you are likely to witness during December, if you spend your holidays in the country. If you learned of a custom and you'd like to share, drop us an e-mail at editor@romania-insider.com.

This week's travel destination in Romania is Sighişoara, one of the most beautiful and well preserved inhabited citadels in Europe. The city is located in the historic region of Transylvania, on the Târnava Mare River in Mureş county.

With the winter holidays knocking on our doors, Romanian-Insider.com reviews some of the best places in Romania to spend the winter holidays. Plus, it adds a useful list of ski slopes in Romania, but before choosing a destination, check the weather forecast, as most of the slopes rely on natural snow. You can choose winter sports, spend some time in the nature, traditional holidays, uncovering less known areas of Romania or taking outdoors baths at low temperatures. Either way, let us know what your favourite places in the country are.

An area of 90,000 hectares in the protected natural site Nordul Gorjului, in Western Romania, will be protected through a project worth EUR 4.9 million, part of the European program Natura 2000. The area includes 45 natural reservations, among which best known are Cheile Sohodorului (in picture) and Cheile Tismanei.

This week’s Romanian city is Targoviste, the former Wallachian capital and Royal Court located 80 km from the current Romanian capital Bucharest. It is a city where history springs from every corner, and its closeness to Bucharest makes it a great week-end escape destination.

If you're staying in Bucharest on Christmas and/or on New Year's Eve and you're not planning to throw a party in your own/a friend's house, there are a couple of options to spend some time out in the town during the winter holidays. We listed some of them for you: Christmas lunches & brunches, New Year's Eve parties – feel free to write us if you're hosting a party or know of one which you expect to rock! You could also check out other events taking place in Bucharest in December.

Romanian world champion pugilist Lucian Bute will promote Romania's tourism brand, according to the Romanian Tourism Minister. The minister plans to organize one of Lucian Bute's matches next year in Bucharest, to attract more international attention for Romania.

Already planning your winter holidays? Well, if you're choosing Bucharest for your stay in the month of December, we've made a list of events in the city you could try yourself - or offer as gifts to your loved ones. Stay tuned in the following days as we are preparing more goodies to help you plan for the winter season in Romania! Also, check back on this article as we'll be adding more events as they are announced.

Two tourism associations, APDT Brasov and Association Monteoru Renaissance have recently launched the Carpathian Tourism Cluster Romania, a network of regional and national stakeholders in the Romanian tourism industry. The aim of this cluster is to support sustainable tourism development and create additional value for the tourism industry in region of the Carpathian Mountains. Members of the cluster are tourism development associations, NGOs, local and national authorities, tour operators, travel agencies, tourism guides, event agencies, suppliers of the tourism industry and service and consulting companies.