Bran Castle

Bran Castle ("Dracula's castle") - darkometer rating : 1 - A picture-book hilltop castle in Transylvania, Romania , which is often touted by the Romanian tourism industry as " Dracula 's castle", although the connection is, historically speaking, rather tenuous. And while it may look nicely vampiric from the outside, the inside, now a museum, is a bit too clean and polished to be really spooky (the crowds don't help matters either). > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: OK, it's not "really" Dracula's castle, and the Bran Castle museum of today makes this quite clear from the outset. The historical connection with the real figure that the Dracula myth is (very) loosely based on, Vlad Tepes ("Vlad the Impaler") is thin at best. He may have stayed at Bran for a few days (not even that is so certain, though), but it was definitely not "his" castle. However, the appearance of the place possibly inspired Bram Stoker, author of the novel "Dracula", even though he never visited the country himself (but he could have seen drawings/pictures). The castle's real history is much more mundane: it was built to protect the pass its location commands a view of, esp. against the Turks/Ottomans, but also simply as a customs point, i.e. for plain economic reasons: to charge duty from passing traders. In the 20th century it was given to the Romanian Royal Family, who used it as a residence. With the forced abdication of Romanian Royalty at the onset of Romania 's communist era, the property was taken over by the new rulers – and later turned into a museum in 1957. In 2006, it was given back to a Royal heir, namely Dominic von Habsburg. After that, the castle's future was uncertain for a while, esp.