Yes, we drove our own car from home. The roads are quite rough in Maramures in particular, since they seem to be upgrading them and adding a highway, but they’re working on all of it at the same time. So, for example, they’ve cut the pavement to add culverts, and not repaved over them yet. So you have to slow down often for those spots, and anywhere else they’re working. It’s doable in an ordinary car like ours, but not quickly. So as long as you’re not in a rush, it’s no problem.

Haha! I know what you mean! We visited 3 sets of UNESCO-listed churches on this trip, plus random other churches and synagogues as we went. Religion is so central to culture and history that, even though I’m not religious, I love to visit places of worship!

Go for it!

Sorry it too so long to respond to this; it landed in my spam! Every time, when they picked up, I said something like “I would like to see the church.” I have no idea if they understood, but just hearing me speak English would probably be enough for them to know what it’s for. They’d say just “Ten minutes,” and hang up.

Yes, you should! Beautiful paintings! More sophisticated than the ones at Maramures.