The Times features Romania’s Via Transilvanica among top travel destinations for 2026
Romania's long hiking trail Via Transilvanica was included among The Sunday Times Best New Trips for 2026, a month-by-month guide to the best of the new holidays dedicated to the British audience.
According to The Sunday Times, the list was constructed by “talking to tour operators, airlines, hoteliers, and, most importantly, people on the ground in remote destinations.” The Times' Chief Travel Writer Chris Haslam sifted through almost 700 submissions and picked 51 top destinations in terms of value for money, relevance to trends, and “an unquantifiable element called the 'quite fancy that' factor.”
The article accompanying the list of destinations argues that “en vogue for 2026 are holidays that promise to make you live longer, increasingly extravagant railway journeys, some truly pioneering escorted tours, and an armada of new river cruises.”
Via Transilvanica is 23rd on the list of 51 destinations, and a picture of Sighisoara introduces the reader to the famous Romanian region of Transylvania. The article highlights the trail, a 870-mile walking path that “potentially turns gorgeous Romania into the next big hiking destination.”
The Times list proposes a “ten-day group trip focused on the Transylvanian end of the path, combining monasteries, museums and church visits with glorious walks of up to 13 miles a day. Much here seems unchanged since the 15th century, with an ageing population of foresters and farmers looking after a beautiful land exactly as the generations did before them.”
Those who take part in the trip, scheduled for May, will spend the night in Sighisoara before a short final walk into the village of Bran. As for costs, nine nights’ B&B will cost GBP 1,895 (EUR 2,175) per person, including some extra meals, with flights to Cluj-Napoca and Brasov.
The list of top destinations also advises would-be travelers to take Thailand's new luxury sleeper train the Blue Jasmine, embark on the expedition ship MS Spitsbergen in Norway, visit a Himalayan hill station in India, or explore Portugal’s vast Costa Vicentina Natural Park, among others.
The median cost to visit the land-only destinations on the list - flights included - is GBP 3,438 per person, up from GBP 2,399 in 2025.
Conversely, the river cruises on the list have an average cost of GBP 2,517, down from GBP 3,495 this past year. The decrease in costs is due to falling oil prices.
(Photo source: Wirestock | Dreamstime.com)
