Girls Trip to Dracula’s Castle: Bran Castle, Vlad the Impaler & Haunted Transylvania

There are girls’ trips where you drink coffee in pretty squares, wander through old streets, buy something unnecessary but beautiful, and call it “romanticising your life.”

And then there are girls’ trips where you take a one-hour flight to Transylvania to visit the castle associated with Count Dracula and accidentally walk into one of the most energetically intense places you have ever been.

Guess which one Jane and I chose.

To be fair, this all started very innocently. Jane was visiting me in Budapest, and while looking at possible places we could go, I realised that Bran Castle in Romania, better known to many as “Dracula’s Castle,” was only a short flight away.

Naturally, I asked the only kind of question one should ask a friend who has already joined you for podcast episodes about haunted amulets and creepy paintings:

“Would you be up for visiting Count Dracula’s castle in Transylvania?”

And Jane, being exactly the kind of friend everyone needs at least once in their lifetime, immediately said yes.

No hesitation. No “is this wise?” No “should we maybe go to a spa instead?” Just yes.

This is why I love her.

You can either read the blog below or listen to the episode on my podcast Happy Home Space Clearing here below. If you do, please subscribe or leave us a review or a comment. :-)

Listen to the podcast here:

But in case you're new here, let me briefly introduce myself so you maybe understand better why I am obsessed with "haunted places" or homes in general. 🤗

Hi, I’m Lais, and I work remotely with homes, land, and businesses

I’m Lais, a space clearing expert, and an energy healer with over 15 years of experience working with the subtle energies of homes, land, and personal spaces. My work focuses on identifying and clearing energetic imprints that can affect how a space feels and functions, including emotional residue, ancestral presence, spirit activity, and trauma patterns that have “stuck” to land or objects over time.

And yes, I work remotely. I also offer free assessments of your space. Book over my website: https://spaceclearingacademy.com

Remote space clearing isn’t “less effective” than in-person work. In many cases, it’s even more precise, because it allows me to tune into the energetic signature of a space without being distracted by surface aesthetics or the story we want to be true. Energy has its own language. Once you learn how to read it, distance isn’t the barrier people think it is.

Anyway, let's get back to the castle story. This time I really wanted to travel and see the place for myself, versus feeling it remotely. I have just moved to Budapest for a year ( I am nomadic) and it was just a 1h flight away...

The Vampire Nostalgia Was Real

Before we even got to the castle, we were already fully in the mood. 🧛🏻 🩸 🏰

Both of us grew up with vampire stories in one form or another. For me, it was The Little Vampire books in Germany, then later Interview with the Vampire with Brad Pitt, which, let’s be honest, was probably a spiritual awakening for half the teenage population of the 1990s.

Jane had read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and even a vampire rabbit cartoon from childhood.

So yes, by the time we were on our way to Transylvania, the inner teenage goth girl was alive and well.

Or undead and well. 😁

Arriving in Transylvania

We flew into Brașov, a beautiful old city surrounded by mountains. The landscape was much more dramatic than I expected, with snow-topped peaks, green fields, animals, and a kind of “mini Switzerland with vampires” feeling.

The next morning, we took a taxi to Bran Castle. The drive itself was gorgeous. There were mountains, villages, cows, and that slightly surreal feeling of realising you are casually on your way to one of the most famous creepy castles in Europe.

Then the castle appeared.

And the first thing we both noticed was that it looked smaller than expected.

I don’t know what I had in my mind. Maybe something gigantic and brooding, like the villainous cousin of Buckingham Palace. But Bran Castle is actually quite compact, perched dramatically on a rocky hill, with towers, sharp roofs, and just enough gothic flair to make you think, “Yes, this place has definitely seen things.” 👀

We arrived early, which I would absolutely recommend. Because the castle is not huge, and if you want to feel the atmosphere without being swept along by a crowd of tourists and tour guides shouting facts at you, go first thing in the morning.

That was one of our better life decisions.

The other life decisions in this story are more debatable.

The Moment the Energy Shifted

The moment we entered the castle and started climbing the steep, narrow stone stairs, something changed.

I am not claustrophobic. Normally, tight staircases don’t bother me. But there, almost immediately, I felt dizzy, tense, and anxious. It felt as if the spirit world was right in front of my face.

Not one spirit. Not two.

Hundreds.

That is the only way I can describe it.

It was that sensation I get when there is too much spirit activity in one place. My body starts reacting before my mind has time to catch up. I felt the urge to move quickly, to get up the stairs, to get out of that compressed space.

Then Jane told me she felt it too.

She had visited haunted places before, including famous cemeteries, and had never felt much. But inside Bran Castle, she began feeling a dark, heavy energy within seconds of me noticing it. For her, it came through as strong physical tension, tight muscles, and a sense of being creeped out.

So at that point, I knew I was not just being dramatic.

Although, to be fair, I can be dramatic and correct at the same time.

The Rooms Got Creepier

Once inside the castle, we walked through different rooms that showed aspects of the building’s history, including dining areas, bedrooms, and displays about life in the castle.

Some of the rooms were fine.

But the feeling never fully left.

Then the castle began leaning into its own legend.

There were rooms with projected images, ghostly figures, dark lighting, creepy music, and installations designed to bring the hauntings and Dracula mythology to life. One room focused on the so-called white ladies, spirits said to haunt the castle.

Now, I enjoy atmosphere. I enjoy a little theatrical creepiness. I am not opposed to a ghostly projection if the moment calls for it.

But when you already feel like the building is full of spirits, and then the museum decides to add eerie music and ghostly visuals on top, it becomes less “fun tourist experience” and more “why did we pay to emotionally disturb ourselves?”

There was also a room with a sarcophagus, candles, darkness, and full Dracula energy.

Jane refused to take pictures. She said she didn't want that energy to haunt her through her phone.

I did take a few, because apparently I am committed to content creation even when my nervous system is quietly packing its bags. See the few pictures below so you get an idea...

Vlad the Impaler: When History Is Already Disturbing Enough

Of course, the deeper thread of the episode is not just Dracula as a fictional vampire. It is the real historical figure behind much of the legend: Vlad the Impaler.

And honestly, the history is disturbing enough without adding supernatural teeth.

Jane had done some research and shared the broad outline of his life. Vlad was born in the 15th century, and as a young man he and his brother were sent to the Ottoman court as political hostages. His father and elder brother were later murdered, and his life became marked by exile, power struggles, violence, revenge, and war.

He fought against the Ottoman Empire and became infamous for the brutal method of execution that gave him his name: impalement.

This is where the episode gets very dark.

Because “Vlad the Impaler” sounds like one of those historical names you hear so often that you almost forget to ask what it actually means.

Then you ask.

And immediately regret asking.

Impalement was a form of torture and execution involving a long wooden stake driven through the body. It is horrific to even imagine, and yet this became part of Vlad’s legacy.

In one of the castle rooms, there was a display connected to this imagery. I called it, very technically, “the room of the impaled.”

Not the official name, but emotionally accurate.

The Forest of the Impaled

One of the most chilling parts we discussed was the so-called forest of the impaled.

According to the stories connected to Vlad, thousands upon thousands of Ottoman soldiers were impaled and displayed like a forest of bodies, intended to terrify the approaching enemy.

Just pause there.

A forest. Of impaled bodies.

And then, as if history had not already done enough, there are accounts and images depicting Vlad dining among the corpses.

This, to me, is where you can almost feel how the Dracula myth could have been born.

Not because Vlad was literally a vampire, but because the image is so grotesque, so blood-soaked, so psychologically disturbing, that you can understand how it might travel across Europe and eventually feed the imagination of a writer like Bram Stoker.

A man dining among corpses.

A ruler associated with blood, cruelty, and terror.

A name that transforms over time into Dracula.

Honestly, Bram Stoker did not even need to work that hard. History had already written half the horror.

Was Vlad Still There?

One of the questions Jane asked me was whether I felt Vlad the Impaler himself was still in the castle.

The honest answer is that, while we were there, I felt so much spirit activity that I could not distinguish every presence clearly in the moment.

But later, when I meditated on it, I felt that Vlad had indeed been one of the first presences to approach us. The energy that came through was angry, anxious, bitter, and deeply unsettled.

I felt him as someone who had not found peace.

Not only tied to Bran Castle, either. I had the sense that his spirit moves between places connected to his life, including possibly Istanbul, where his earlier history with the Ottoman court unfolded.

And no, he did not feel friendly.

He felt furious that we were there.

He also seemed aware of who I am and what I do. As a space clearing practitioner, my instinct in places filled with trapped or unsettled spirits is often to help them move on. But when I asked in meditation whether I should clear the castle, the answer from my guides was no.

Not this time.

The sense I received was that many of the spirits were there by free will, or because of karmic ties. The castle itself also has an entire identity built around its hauntings and its legends. Nobody had invited me to clear the space. Nobody had hired me to do that work.

And strange as it sounds, part of the visitor experience depends on people being able to feel that eerie atmosphere.

So I left it.

I do not usually like doing that, but sometimes spiritual boundaries mean not interfering, even when a place feels incredibly heavy.

The Forest, However, Felt Different

The energetic read on the forest of the impaled surprised me.

I wondered if that land needed clearing, especially given the scale of suffering associated with it. But what came through in meditation was very different from what I expected.

I was shown that after the killings, religious leaders from the Ottoman side came to pray for the dead and help prepare the souls for the afterlife. The souls themselves, while they died in horrific pain, carried a strong belief in the afterlife and a sense that they had died serving their people and their empire.

The feeling I received was that many had moved on naturally, and that the prayers performed for them had been powerful.

In other words, there was nothing for me to clear there.

Which was humbling.

Because sometimes we assume that the most violent places must automatically be the most spiritually stuck. But that is not always what I find. Sometimes the horror is historical, but the souls have already moved. Sometimes prayers, rituals, and cultural traditions have done exactly what they were meant to do.

That part genuinely moved me.

Not Everything Was Dark

One of the things I loved about our conversation was that we did not reduce the whole castle to darkness.

There was another presence I felt connected to Princess Ileana, a much more recent historical figure associated with the castle. Jane brought her up toward the end of the conversation, and I remembered feeling her energy as very different.

Gentle. Compassionate. Helpful.

From what we discussed, she had been connected with care, service, nursing, and later religious life. In meditation, I felt that she was not permanently in the castle, but moved between places where she had lived, loved, served, and made an impact.

Compared to Vlad’s energy, hers felt like a blessing.

So no, Bran Castle did not feel all dark.

It felt layered.

And that is often the truth of old places. They are not one thing. They are not just haunted, or beautiful, or violent, or sacred. They carry centuries of human experience. Power. Fear. Grief. Service. Ego. Devotion. Tourism. Myth. Memory.

And, apparently, a gift shop.

Would We Recommend Visiting Bran Castle?

Yes.

Absolutely.

With a few notes.

First, it is smaller than you might expect, so do not go expecting a massive palace. We spent about an hour inside, then wandered around the garden and nearby village.

Second, go early if you can. The atmosphere is much easier to feel before the big tour groups arrive.

Third, if you are energetically sensitive, be prepared. I would not personally do the night tour, although Bran Castle does offer them for braver souls. Or people with stronger boundaries. Or people who enjoy making decisions I would not make twice.

Fourth, it is fun. The castle knows what it is doing. There are playful details, funny signs, Dracula-themed touches, and enough gothic flair to satisfy your inner vampire child.

We rated it around a seven or eight out of ten, mostly because we wanted more. More rooms, more castle, more time, more creepiness, more everything.

Which probably says a lot about us.

Final Thoughts: Girls Trip, But Make It Haunted

What I loved most about this trip was the contrast.

On one hand, it was ridiculous and fun. Two women in their forties taking a spontaneous trip to Transylvania because we both grew up with vampire stories and apparently this is how we now bond.

On the other hand, it was genuinely unsettling.

The energy inside Bran Castle felt intense, crowded, dark, and alive with history. The story of Vlad the Impaler was far more disturbing than any fictional vampire. The castle itself felt like a place where myth, tourism, trauma, and spirit activity all sit on top of each other.

Would I go again?

Probably.

Would I do the night tour?

Absolutely not.

Would I continue travelling around Europe with Jane to investigate creepy castles, haunted places, and emotionally questionable tourist attractions?

Unfortunately, yes.

Because apparently this is who we are now.

Listen to the full episode if you love dark history, haunted places, vampire lore, intuitive travel stories, or women making excellent and slightly unhinged decisions in the name of podcast research.

A Note for Energetically Sensitive People

If you are sensitive to energy, old buildings, spirit activity, or places where intense historical events have happened, I would not treat Bran Castle like an ordinary museum visit. Ground yourself before you go in. Set a clear energetic boundary. Do not open yourself up too much just because you are curious. Curiosity is lovely, but so is not taking half of medieval Romania home in your aura.

I would also recommend cleansing yourself afterwards in whatever way works for you: showering, prayer, smoke cleansing, salt, visualising your energy field clearing, or simply going for a walk outside and letting your nervous system come back into the present moment. If you start feeling dizzy, tight, anxious, emotional, or suddenly desperate to leave, listen to your body. Sometimes the body clocks an energetic atmosphere long before the mind has finished saying, “But this is such a fun cultural activity.”

And if you have ever visited a castle, cemetery, old house, historic battlefield, or random hotel corridor that made your whole body go, “Absolutely not,” I want to hear about it.

Practical Tips for Visiting Bran Castle Without Joining a Tour Group

We flew from Budapest to Brașov with Wizz Air.

For accommodation, we booked a cheap little studio apartment through Booking.com. It was simple, affordable, and only a short walk from the old town, which was ideal because Brașov itself is genuinely beautiful and worth wandering around before or after the castle.

To get from Brașov to Bran Castle, we used Uber, and it cost us around €26 each way. Bolt is also available, and the official Bran Castle access information mentions both Bolt and Uber as ride-hailing options from Brașov.

Public transport is technically possible, but I would not call it easy, especially if you are there for a short trip and do not want your entire day to become a bus timetable séance. You would need to take different buses, some of which only run about hourly, and there was no simple shuttle transfer that we could find. So your realistic choices are either joining a big organised tour group or doing what we did and taking a taxi or ride-hailing car. For us, going individually was absolutely the right choice because we wanted to arrive early, avoid the crowds, and actually feel into the energy of the place without being herded from room to room like spiritually curious cattle.

My recommendation: go first thing in the morning, book your castle ticket online, use Uber or Bolt from Brașov, give yourself around one hour inside the castle, and then leave some time for the garden, the little lake, and food in the village afterwards. And if you are considering the night tour, please know that I respect you, I fear you, and I will not be joining you. 🙃

If you’re an empath: your home matters more than you’ve been told

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