HOWZAT

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It was with Tibor that we set off on a horse and cart ride up through the pastures where the cows grazed to the fringes of a forest of beach and hornbeam, watched by wheeling birds of prey. On a hillside thick with campion, ragged robin, speedwell, purple coltsfoot and willowherb, the guide made a wood fire and we had steaks washed down with brandy.

Then there was Sighisoara, a Saxon and Hungarian town with cobbled streets and pastel houses piled up the sides of a hill to where a citadel stands, its clocktower rising above the dusky red rooftiles. It was here, the birthplace of Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler (the model for Dracula) that we found our only blood-sucking souvenir, the statuette that unsettled Rhena.

Sitting around the dinner table that evening, it was inevitable that the subject of Transylvania’s most celebrated aristocrat would come up. Count Kalnoky dealt with the subject with a patient smile, given how often he must have been quizzed about it. He pointed out, gently, that Dracula is the product of an English writer’s imagination. And that the people of Transylvania had never heard of him before 1990, when Bram Stoker’s work was first translated into Romanian. In any case, he added, “blood-sucking vampires are only found in South America”.

So that was that then. No watchful, sleepless nights. No need to have packed the garlic.

NEED TO KNOW

Getting there: Andrew Eames and family travelled to Romania with Transylvania Uncovered (0845 3000247, www.beyondtheforest.com). A summer week in Miklosvar, including BA flights from London, transfers and all activities, meals and drinks, costs from £775 per adult and £540 per child.

Further information: Count Kalnoky’s estate (www.transylvaniancastle.com).

Reading: Romania and Moldova (Lonely Planet, £12.99).

IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
by Will Hide

Ukraine: Regent Holidays (0870 4990911, www.regent-holidays.co.uk) has eight-day breaks to Kiev and Yalta; the latter resort has a backdrop of mountains and a rugged coastline. From £2,700 for a family of four, including B&B, flights from London and transfers.

Croatia: Tapestry Holidays (020-8235 7766, www.tapestryholidays.com) has a two-bedroom apartment in Orebic, near Vigani, one of the best spots for windsurfing. From August 6 the price for two adults and two children, self-catering, is £1,846 for a fortnight. Flights leave from Gatwick.

Montenegro: Holiday Options (0870 4208372, www.holidayoptions.co.uk) has seven nights’ half board at hotel Sveti Stefan for £2,446 for a family of four, including flights from Manchester and transfers, leaving August 19. Car hire costs from £219.

Bulgaria: Bourgas attracts tourists from western and eastern Europe. Thomson Holidays (0870 1660136, www.thomson.co.uk) has a week’s half board at the Riu Helena Sands, flying from Doncaster/Sheffield airport on August 1 for £3,036 for a family of four, including transfers.

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