Crisp mountain air, beautiful painted monasteries, quaint six-bedroom estates – there are plenty of reasons why you shouldn’t overlook Romania, Eastern Europe’s best-kept secret.

Sucevita is the largest of the five painted monasteries built from the late-15th to the late-16th century in the Bucovina region of northeastern Romania, about six hours by train from Bucharest.

The painted church at the Monastery of Voronet, in the Bucovina region of Romania, dates back to 1488, and the reign of Stephen the Great. Credit ...

From Sibiu to Bucovina, the region of the famous painted monasteries, ... An eight-day Best of Romania Tour with Regent Holidays (0117 921 1711; www.regent-holidays.co.uk) ...

In May 2003 Prince Charles hiked the 20km between Romania’s Putna and Suceviţa Monasteries, leading the trail to be unofficially named “the Prince Charles walk” - or possibly renamed from ...

The 15th-century 'painted' monastery of Putna, which a long-ago prince founded in the Bukovina region of northeast Romania, is in line for an EU-funded renovation.

After touring Suceava and the painted monasteries in Bucovina, I board a bus for the seven-hour ride south to Bucharest. When I take my seat, a friend turns to me and says, “Bucovina is seeing ...