Traditional handicrafts and locally made merchandise are what you must buy while shopping in Transylvania. Craft shops are found near popular tourist sites in most large cities. Travellers can also purchase handicrafts made by local artisans at gift shops outside most museums. Most large cities in Romania also have shopping malls.
Interesting keepsakes you might like to take back with you from Transylvania include embroidered clothing and linen (folk arts), painted or beaded eggs, carpets, pottery, woodcarvings and icons.
Our Transylvania Shopping Guide below will give you some hints on what to look out for whilst shopping in Transylvania. You are sure to enjoy the relaxed pace of Transylvania life and whilst shopping there will want to relax in one of the traditional Transylvania Restaurants located amongst the shopping streets. For more general information, take a look at our Romania Shopping Guide.
Transylvania Shopping Guide
Romanian lace, carved wood, ceramics and jewellery are exceptionally beautiful and make great gifts. Traditional Romanian costumes as well as exquisite woven rugs are also good mementos to buy. Well known museums that maintain links with local artists are good places to buy local folk art. Used books and antiques are also popular shopping choices. Religious art and iconography reproductions are also available here.
You will find a wide range of shops in Transylvania from tourist shops, to modern supermarkets, to small corner shops. You will find food markets and some street sellers can also be seen - the only places where you can bargain. Any product found in the US or Western Europe is available here as well, except for a few things, like ear plugs, for example. In some smaller stores, branded fake clothing is also on sale.
Shopping in Brasov
Brasov is a modern city and offers all the facilities needed for present day city life. It is renowned for its jewellery and traditional Transylvania handicrafts - the best to be found in all of Transylvania.
Other shopping centres include the Star City Centre, Eliana Mall, Sport Virus - the best mountain-gear shop outside Bucharest, and there are some fascinating antique and junk shops on strada Coresi. You can buy local artefacts like embroidered clothing, decorations, hand painted Easter eggs, pottery, carpets, carvings, dolls, masks, and other items from the stores on Str. Republicii.
Standard places to buy Romanian goods are the shops found in the Peasant Museum and the Village Museum. Most products are of good quality and inexpensive.
Local Handicrafts
Romanian peasants do beautiful embroidery on cotton, wool and leather. Be sure to look out for blouses, skirts, glamorous coats, rugs, tablecloths and lacework. Glass or painted icons (new or old) are simply wonderful.
You could buy wood, glass or stone paintings, pottery, weaving and embroidery, stone or wood carvings, leather or sheepskin products, creatively processed metals - from iron and copper to silver and gold, bone or horn sculpturing, and creations from vegetable fibre.
Presents from Transylvania made from straw include marquetry, basketwork, tied figures, plaited hats, corn dollies, plates, objects created from wheat, oats, rye, barley and even rice haulm. You can also find information on how these objects are made and on the age old tradition of haulm spinning in Transylvania.
