Romania

Christmas has become the dominant festival in the Western cultural calendar, but echoes of the pre-Christian past can still be found across the continent.

Running diagonally across Romania, the Via Transilvanica stitches together some of Europe's most traditional landscapes and communities with 12 Unesco World Heritage sites.

Czech Republic, Lithuania and Romania are all newly high on this year's World Happiness Report – and score especially high when it comes to happiness for people aged under 30.

Life in Târnava Mare has barely changed in centuries, offering a precious insight into the age-old traditions that are still going strong in its Saxon villages.

It may sound like a nightmare, but records show that this form of marriage counselling in Transylvania was rather effective.

In the Romanian city of Timisoara, a world is emerging that all but vanished centuries ago.

Forget the Taj Mahal and the Colosseum – some of the world’s most impressive structures remain out of the public eye.