Holiday training: beach vibe at the Black Sea in Vama Veche and Tuzla, Romania

Romania beach holidays

Romania beach holidays: Last Monday we took advantage of the beautiful spring weather and, waiting for the summer vacation, we decided to go to the sea. But, this time, we chose something other than the well-known beaches of the Black Sea in Romania and it seems a little too commercial for our mood.

So we woke up early in the morning, at 7 AM we were on the highway and at 9.30 AM we had already reached our first destination: Vama Veche. But it is proper, first of all, for those who have not heard of it, to tell you a few words about this place. Vama Veche is a village in Constanţa County, Romania, on the Black Sea coast, near the border with Bulgaria. It is part of the commune of Limanu. It was founded in 1811 by a few Gagauz families, originally being named “Ilanlîk”. Its current name literally means “Old customs”.

Vama Veche during communism

Even in Communist Romania, Vama Veche had the reputation of a non-mainstream tourist destination, which has only grown since the Romanian Revolution of 1989. During the communist era, concern for border patrol sight lines spared Vama Veche the development that occurred in other Romanian Black Sea resorts. It became a hangout for intellectuals during the ’70s when students and professors coming from the University Babeș-Bolyai of Cluj Napoca used to spend their summers here; Accommodations consisted of tents or rooms rented from peasants or fishermen. In the summer of 1988 the wife of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu (Elena Ceaușescu), discovered the village when heading to Bulgaria and decided to demolish it as it appeared to her poor and inesthetic. Some of the houses, a school and a church were destroyed, but thanks to the ’89 Romanian Revolution, the village escaped from the complete demolition.

Freedom. This is the main reason why people started coming here. No judgments were made because people with preconceived notions were not there to see it. I think that’s why they chose this place, a little further, in the first place. To escape, stay away from the crowd.

Now there are more streets, more houses, more people. But, nevertheless, from the first moment I stepped here I felt this beneficent feeling: freedom

Even if now you will find here very expensive restaurants and terraces, modern-looking buildings, famous clubs, Vama veche keeps its bohemian spirit that made it famous. Even if slowly, slowly, this place seems to become the victim of its own success … And it has something else: a beach that has something wild in it and a water color that you rarely find at the Black Sea.

If you want to stay here overnight, you can find excellent accommodation options here!

So after stopping here for a few hours taking our own portion of freedom, we set off for our next destination: Tuzla beach. For Romania beach holidays this is a perfect destination.

Tuzla beach… What will you find here?

To get here, drive on the main road Vama Veche – Constanta, and in Tuzla turn right, and after crossing the railway continue for another 2 km on a dusty road. The fact that you will later have to wash the car is well worth the effort. To get to the beach, you must slightly descend a hill. Before that, you will inevitably stop for a few minutes at the top to admire the view that stretches before your eyes. I can best describe it through this photo:

What will you find here? Peace, relaxation, the sea with its beautiful color, and a few, let’s call them terraces, rustically arranged where you can enjoy a beer, a coffee or a juice or even serve a portion of fried anchovies. But above all you will find a beautiful atmosphere here.

Towards evening we start with difficulty on the way home, but loaded with the dose of energy and freedom