snagov monastery

Again our Navigation software without local phone service let us down. We foolishly simply entered 'Snagov' and were directed to the center of the lake. The monastery was on the opposite side. We had a fun trip trying to find people who could speak English to direct us to the proper place, and passed a very impressive local church and cemetery on the way around the west side of the lake. When we arrived at the bridge entrance to the monastery we parked near the bridge and walked across. Previous Trip Advisor reviews warned of harassing peasants, but this was a damp day in February, and no one approached us at all. We walked across the bridge and spent some time walking around inside and outside. Other than a large unlabeled sculpture of a woman holding a child located far across a field from the monastery, this was certainly no more impressive than any other monastery.

After reading some of the horror story's on here I decided to rent a car and brave this place. The location is rural and there are some nice views though plenty of scary dogs about. Plenty of homeless. We abandoned the car and went across the bridge to the temple. It cost us 15 Lei and the place is pretty cool, we took pics at no extra cost. When we came back though there was scary homeless guys looking in the car. When we got near they demanded money . We gave them 5lei And legged it. Not a place for woman and children to go on there own but it was pretty cool

This small monastery on an island in Lake Snagov makes a worthwhile day trip from Bucharest. The monastery dates back to 1456 and supposedly houses the body of Vlad Tepes, though there is little historic proof for this.The lightly-wooded island is pleasant to wander around, and the overall location is quite peaceful, although because the whole island is quite small there's not a lot to do.Ultimately the rumours about the monastery are more vivid than the actual experience of visiting (the island is also supposedly linked to the mainland by secret tunnels beneath the lake), but as somewhere to while away an hour or two en route to/from Bucharest it's worth considering.

good place for a day roadtrip from Bucharest, but be aware, there are some people who try to get money out of parking in front of the bridge and also in the courtyard of the monastery, Just do not pay them, even if they say they are from the monastery

beautiful monastery , a little difficult to arrive because the road is not so good , and there are no parking space . the tax for visiting is not t hi but i wish they would restore the monument whit those money .

I couldn't find an easy way of getting here via public Transport so we used toursbylocals and booked a morning trip as this was going to be a highlight of my trip to Romania. We arrived around 9am on a Sunday morning crossed the bridge to the island, we were the only people there,except for those that lived on the island, we were greated by 3 dogs who followed us around as we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the island. They opened the monastery for us we had the place to ourselves the supposed resting place of Vlad Tapes, was marked by a candle and engraving of him. The inside of the church was painted. Well worth the trip if you have the time.

I was really looking forward seeing Vlads tomb and was actually really it down by the whole experience. It is very hard to find and a lot of maps dont have it marked correctly and once on the island it feels like a country farm. The cute puppies where the biggest hit for me. More of a hit than the tomb and the island! There is a bridge, looks pretty new and thats how I got across.I wouldnt bother coming here unless you have a few hours to kill.

The Tomb of Vlad Tepes is said to reside in Snagov Monastery on Snagov Island on Lake Snagov.Our Tour Guide arranged to get us to the Monastery. Gypsies had barricaded the entrance in order to make you use their boat, which was taking money from the Orthodox Roman Catholic Priest who lives on the island so beware of this.We drive to the gate of the Romanian Olympic Sports Village, which was still under construction. Security let us in and led us to the jetty at the lake.Then surreal events began. An Orthodox Roman Catholic priest arrived in a speedboat and took us to his island, to be met by the cutest collection of dogs and puppies.The island is quiet calm and relaxing.The actual Monastery is small but adorned on every surface with painted plaster work and in the centre is a small tomb set into the floor and a simple plaque, this is said to be the Tomb of Vlad Tepes, wow such a privilege to see this.We had a brief tour of the island then headed home.A fitting end to our Romanian adventure, but it has left us wanting more.

the snagov Monastery is supposed to be the tomb of Vlad dracula, it is on a small island that you have to take a small boat to. there is a monk that takes care of the grounds, but trust me he doesnt like to have his picture taken! the fresco's in here are mind blowing, and they were trying to repair them when we visited. but other than that is is a great site to see, espically if your into the old horror movies. defenet must see!

We didn't have enough time to visit much of the country, but this half day trip was ideal. It is hard to find it without GPS. Once you walk across the bridge to the island, you have stepped back in time. Horses,dogs and cats roam the island and are both friendly and curious. Lush cherry trees and flowers abound. The monastery is small but beautiful. Half way around the lake, go to the Snagov Club for a meal and be sure to sit at a table on the lake. The food is very good and the fish is fresh.

You can visit the island for free. Only for the interior frescoes and "Dracula's tomb" there is a tax. I want to tell that this tax is unchanged since 2011 (15 RON - for each person who decide to visit the monastery). The photo tax is not included, but because here it is an important religious monument (the greatest surface of mural frescoes ever encountered in an orthodox monastery on the whole land of Romania), I presume the "huge" photo tax is not such a problem. No one will force you to pay it, but if you decide to take pictures, than please stop complaining. The monks on this remote island have to go to the closest city to buy food. They raise some animals on the island and they need food for those animals, too (goats, hens,...). For each item they need, they have to travel quite an important distance. If you consider you walked a lot (for ONE TIME), just think about them - doing that more often. If you do not receive the ticket, all you have to do is to ask. The monks are forced by the laws of Romania to sell those tickets. They cannot decide whether they give them or not. So, if you do not want to make such a "donation", then simply ask for the ticket, and you cannot be refused. If you don't like to negotiate with the locals for ILLEGAL parking tax, then instead of going to Snagov on your own and telling us later that you have been ripped off, take a guided tour from Bucharest. Like this, the driver will stay by the car and the guide will come with you and explain the legends of the monastery, the most interesting traditions and rituals and so on... For any information about guided tours, you can contact the concierge from your hotel. Or ask a national guide of Romania - me, for example.

We didn’t go to Snagov Monastery specifically because of its association with Dracula (Vlad Tepeș), but rather just because I was intrigued by the idea of this old, semi-remote monastery on an island. It sounded like a cool place to visit, and it was, though there are a couple of things to be on the lookout for.First is the parking situation: there really isn’t any. The street dead-ends at what is now the bridge across Snagov Lake to the island and the monastery. Both sides of the street are lined with houses. When we got there, there were a whole bunch of cars parked on either side of the street which we mistakenly assumed were visitors to the monastery – only afterward did we realize that they were all party guests at one of the houses along the lake. When we returned to our vehicle, a man was waiting, asking for 10 lei for the inconvenience of having us park on his property – asking in Romanian, of course; and I am not the type to go to other countries and expect everyone to speak English, so I was able to get by and communicate in broken Romanian with him. It was a pretty standard hustle, but he only asked for 10 lei (roughly €2 / USD $3) and whether or not he was the property owner I don’t know, but I didn’t pass judgment on that. Most places you go, you have to pay for somebody to park, and he was a nice enough old man for a hustler, so I didn’t really get upset about it. It is what it is.So, anyway. After you park, to get to the island there is now a bridge which goes straight from the shore to the monastery. Other recent reviews make note of this but older reviews here on Tripadvisor, as well as elsewhere, mention the journey by boat. Part of me was disappointed that you no longer had to take a small boat to get to the island—there’s something adventurous about it, and the thrill of going somewhere that takes some effort to get to. And indeed, the boats could still be seen as we ascended the cement steps of the bridge, forgotten below among the tall reeds. But as much as part of me was disappointed about not taking a boat to the island…a larger part of me was relieved. Mainly because of concerns of having to wait to take the boat there, or to wait to catch a boat back (and by boat I mean something not much bigger than a canoe). It was definitely easier to just walk right across the bridge, which is totally open, and arrive on the island of my own power instead of dependent on someone else to get me there.The island itself is pretty cool. There is a house and a few outbuildings, a big brick structure at the front, followed by a courtyard, and then the church itself. Beautiful gardens and wildflowers everywhere, and a curious turkey who followed us around for a bit. It was definitely like turning the pages back in time, and a very nice visit.However, the staff do leave something to be desired. They are not actually unfriendly or rude…they’re just not very friendly or polite. (I always hesitate to complain about staff because some people complain no matter what, and there’s nothing you can do to make them happy; I’m generally the opposite. I usually love everything and everyone and it takes a lot to make me dissatisfied, so take that for what it’s worth, please!) From the moment we walked through the brick structure (sort of like an entrance gate, only an entire building) one of the double doors on the church lurched open a crack, and an eye watched our every move. It was only when we were halfway across the courtyard and it was clear that we were heading for the church itself did the door slam back shut – if not quite in our faces, that’s what it felt like. But we went in anyway.The caretaker greeted us – again, if not exactly in a friendly way, she wasn’t unfriendly either, just sort of brusque. We paid the entrance fee and then debated paying extra for taking photos, but THAT price was insane. I forget what it was, exactly, but it was upwards of $20 / €15. Trust me when I say that it is not worth it to take photos. Before going on this trip, I read that exact same advice in other reviews, but thought to myself – hey, it’s probably the only time I’m going to visit this place, and as an amateur photographer I place great value in photos from my journeys, so what the heck, I’ll pay the fee, because I want pictures. Well, really. I’ll leave it up to you whether you want to pay the photo fee, of course, but once I saw the interior it wasn’t worth it. Yes, they have some cool frescoes and ancient Romanian written in Cyrillic and interesting stuff to look at…but not spectacular enough to warrant a high photo fee like that.The interior of the church is very small, less than the size of an average house. It’s sort of an hourglass shape, two rooms with a quasi-doorway in the middle dividing them from each other, and a couple of stone columns/pillars here and there. Not a very big space, and one that could easily have been seen from every angle where the caretaker sat by the front door, but instead she hopped right up and followed us around, practically treading on our heels and breathing down our necks the entire time we were in there – until a new group of people came to the front door at which point she hurried off to collect the entrance fee and we had a few moments to walk around freely without being watched like we were mischievous children waiting until mother’s back is turned to play a prank (which is fairly insulting, to be honest). We might have spent 3 minutes in the place, but the atmosphere of being watched, hawklike, put us out and we went back outside. We spent a few more minutes walking the paths at the front of the monastery, which I assumed would be covered in the entrance fee, but again our friend the caretaker followed us outside too, watching us intently (albeit from a slightly farther distance) until we finally said enough was enough and trekked back across the bridge where our other friend the old man I mentioned earlier was waiting for us.Don’t let the negatives detract you from visiting. The difference is in being informed, and knowing what to expect up front. Go into it knowing that you’ll most likely be accosted for 10 lei for parking, and the caretaker of the monastery will take her job very seriously. If you’re doing the whole Dracula circuit thing, don’t expect some huge deal here. Of course there is a painting or two of Vlad Tepeș and a little write-up about him, but don’t expect to actually see Dracula’s grave or anything like that.All in all, this was a neat place, and we’re glad we visited. If you’re in the area, it’s worth a look, but don’t go totally out of your way just to come here.

It's one of those places you have to go, it's impressive through its architectural style but also the place, peaceful, quiet, you can really enjoy it. You will have to pay if you want to take pictures though.

Enter this little church on an island at 12 km out of the town and beware not to step on Dracula’s grave. The legend says that the grave is deep down below the water lever and is guarded by two gigantic sheatfish.

Close to Bucharest lays the small Snagov Island. At least there is bridge build to reach the island without getting a boat. But when on the island, a little lady runs to the entrance and demands cash ;-) two people have to pay 30 RON to look, to make photos it's another 100 RON. Whereby it's obviously depending how many people come to look and photograph. The prices are variable.The problem is, that is not certain that it is actually Vlad Tepes's grave and further more, it becomes more and more common over the time, that you have to pay, when visiting a church. The monastery looks nice, but what makes me sick is that everybody wants some money, it starts when you arrive with you car, it is no parking area there, just a road, and there someone wants cash, and on the other side of the bridge, the lady waits ;-)