Transylvania: empire of the vampire

Heading to Transylvania, my mind was swimming with blood-curdling images of a land inhabited by vampires and werewolves. According to Bram Stoker, this was the home of Count Dracula and his fiendish brides, a place where dark magic ruled and no one left home without a cross around their neck and a vial of holy water clutched tightly in their hand. Encircled within the hook of the Carpathian Mountains, the area takes its name from the Latin for 'beyond the forest'. It is a spellbinding land and one I quickly learned is inhabited not by vampires but by very real fanged creatures, including wolves, bears and lynx. Much of Transylvania is untouched, untamed wilderness containing vast tracts of Europe's largest remaining old-growth forests.

I was travelling with The European Nature Trust (TENT) and our first stop was Brasov, a city in the heart of the Carpathians, whose inhabitants have grown used to brown bears and wolves rootling through their rubbish tips. We arrived in pelting rain and darkness and, ravenously hungry, dashed through the Baroque streets of the old town, past Gothic churches and medieval battlements, to Sergiana, a lively underground restaurant in a former brewery. The leather-bound menu was 20 pages long, and full of translations such as the splendidly named 'Stag Lost In The Yard, ten people to share'. Included in this meat feast of stag steak, pork and chicken was the worryingly named 'peasant zucchini', something Dracula would perhaps have enjoyed. We drank local plum brandy and decent Merlot by the jug.

The next morning, I awoke to a dawn chorus of howling werewolves (OK, scrapping stray dogs), and opened the blinds to reveal a kaleidoscope of autumn colours in the distant forest. As I gazed transfixed, a line of mist descended from the mountains to whitewash the scene, eerily like the impenetrable freezing fog that surrounds Castle Dracula. But laughing off this ill omen, we set out for the remote village of Zalanpatak, some hours' drive to the northeast. At first we passed through the industrial relics of Romania's Communist past, a chaotic maze of chimneys, pylons, pipes and dilapidated high-rise blocks, before reaching the open countryside where we shared the road with weather-beaten men on clanking tractors and horses and carts driven by gypsies.

We were heading to meet a genuine Transylvanian Count, Tibor Kalnoky, for lunch. He owns four luxury guesthouses in the village of Miklosvar (Miclosoara) and also runs the Prince of Wales' two properties in the region, which have been restored from tumbledown shacks to comfortable guesthouses – one in the old Saxon village of Viscri and the other in Zalanpatak. The Prince has been a regular visitor to the area since 1998 and has done much to promote its protection and preservation.

There are almost no road signs and it's easy to get lost as the roads narrow and grow increasingly winding. We passed meadows of wild flowers, and shepherds' huts, the distant hills burnished by leaves of golden green, pumpkin orange and blood red. Giant potholes and pond-like puddles reduced the journey to a crawl for the final 7km and on the outskirts of the village great haystacks stood sentinel while the villagers worked the fields using tools that looked like hand-me-downs from the Middle Ages.

Entering Zalanpatak, with its gingerbread cottages, puffing chimneys and wooden barns piled high with hay, was like being lost in the pages of a Brothers Grimm fable; modern life was almost invisible apart from a single satellite dish and the odd plastic bottle. And there's nothing showy about the Prince's place, with its lime-washed walls and wooden outbuildings. There's no television and the electricity is unreliable – the lights were flashing on and off as we arrived – but I was enchanted by the handcrafted furniture and plain white walls.

The Count, well-turned-out in tweed and a pressed shirt, greeted us with polite enthusiasm, holding each of us in turn in his strong, intelligent gaze; if I were casting his biopic, I'd call Ralph Fiennes' agent. Over aperitifs he explained that his family, one of Romania's oldest, returned to their estate following 50 years' exile in France during the Communist years. The three villages that comprise Kalnoky's estate are Szekler Hungarian and the locals speak Hungarian –Transylvania is an ethnically diverse country populated by Romanians, Magyars (Hungarians), Germans and Roma (gypsies). The Count showed us his latest renovations and introduced us to the local craftsmen restoring the old beams and making furniture. He is happy, he said, that people are discovering Transylvania for what it really is – beautiful meadows and ancient forests – finally replacing 'all that Dracula nonsense'.

A gentle hike into the hills gave some perspective on the landscape. There are no fences, just open countryside stretching as far as the eye can see. Walking back down through the forest, I wondered how dangerous the bears are and asked the Count if he is ever afraid of them. 'I've seen so many in my life,' he laughed. 'We've been living alongside them for hundreds of years.' He pointed out some tracks and recent droppings but we didn't hear so much as a growl.

For dinner we visited his restored 19th-century guesthouse in Miklosvar, where a feast of pork and potato stew with pickled cabbage and pumpkin sauce was served up in the candlelit cellar. As in all the guesthouses I encountered, my bedroom was furnished with antiques and local textiles, a woodburning stove warmed the bathroom (the water comes from a storybook well outside), and chilled bottles of beer had been put out. After the Count's stern words, thoughts of Dracula had all but disappeared from my mind, but then I noticed several bulbs of garlic placed along the curtain rail. I hoped this was a decorative touch. Perhaps they were there to keep the wolves away.

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Where to stay
Count Tibor Kálnoky's guesthouses in Miklósvár start from 36 B&B per person per night, or 115 for full board and activities. The Prince of Wales's guesthouse at Zalánpatak (opening fully from spring 2011) has five double rooms. Prices as above (transylvaniancastle.com; 0040-742-202586).

What to do
Explore the remote areas. Count Tibor Kálnoky's guesthouses organise history and cultural and nature tours, hiking trails and riding trips (from one day to a one week trail ride). In winter you can ski, sleigh ride or try snowshoeing. Paying full board, all these activities are included.

What to eat
In Braþov, the lively cellar restaurant Sergiana has an extensive menu of traditional dishes (sergianagrup.ro). In the remote villages of Transylvania, you won't many restaurants but you will be given simple, tasty comfort food in the guesthouses and the villages (see the Fundatia Adept scheme, above). Most is locally grown or sourced and free of agro-chemicals.

What to drink
The national drink is tuica, a brandy made from plums. Romania has some great wines too - the Transylvanian speciality is white wine using sauvignon blanc grapes.