Photo Gallery of Cities and the Countryside in Romania

Visit Romania – still so raw but on the verge of being polished -- before this eastern European country becomes a magnet for travelers bent on visiting the "latest" trendy destination. Almost two decades after the 1989 Velvet Revolution, the country is readying to court vacationers and travelers. Before it turns into another formerly Communist country overrun by tourists, in Bucharest you can wander past women sweeping the sidewalk outside their stores, antique shops where intricate glassware sits next to years-old boxes of hair dye on dusty shelves, and a growing number of glassblowers' galleries. In the countryside, you'll drive past opulent palaces and ruins of centuries-old fortresses on hilltops, tumbledown homes where gypsy children play in yards, tiny local farmers markets and cows in bucolic settings.