Tulcea County

Central Eco-Tourism Museum of the Danube Delta Top choice museum in Tulccea This combined museum and aquarium is a good primer on the delta's varied flora and fauna. There are stuffed animals on the main floor and a small but fascinating aquarium on the lower level, with ample signage in English. Highly recommended if you're traveling with kids and want to get the most out of your visit.

Tulcea

Tulcea (pronounced Tool’cha) is an old city in the historical region of Dobrogea, Romania and is the administrative center of Tulcea county. It has a population of about 92,000 and has been an important harbor since ancient times since it is where the famous Danube river finally ends its journey through Europe as it empties into the Black sea creating the famous Danube Delta. The town has successively been under Byzantine (5th - 7th century), Genoese (10th - 13th century) and Ottoman rule before finally being reunited with Romania in 1878. Tulcea is busiest in August and December, when its regular festivals take place: the International Folk Festival of the Danubian Countries, held in odd-numbered years, and an annual winter carnival. The local Lipovani Russian and Turkish minorities lend the city a multi-ethnic flavora.

Sulina

Today, Sulina is Romania's easternmost port. It is easy to find on any map of the world: one merely has to trace the course of the Danube to the point where it empties into the sea. There, at the river's end, on a spit of land, a group of people settled and prospered, and their town gained renown…

Letea Forest

With wild horses, vines, 700 year old oak trees and sand dunes, Letea is the northern most subtropical forest in the world. Hidden away from the eyes and paths of most tourists, the forest has numerous secrets which it carefully guards.To get here, you have to cross through a myriad of canals, all covered with water lilies. Once you’re getting close, you’ll see the fishermen’s boats and the church tower in the village. The people who live in Letea are mostly Russians, while those in the neighboring village of CA Rosetti Romanians and in Periprave Lipovans. Many of them believe that the land on top of which the village was built used to be the bottom of the sea which rose up to the surface a long time ago. A local legend even says that they once found a washed away ship under the dunes, with only the top of the mast sticking out. While the story is beautiful, the genesis of the Danube delta is somewhat different.

Sulina Beach

Sulina is a town and a free port in Tulcea county, Dobrogea, at the eastern extremity of Romania, the Danube Delta, the mouth of the Sulina branch point in the Black Sea. It has a population of 4601 inhabitants. Sulina is not directly related to road network in Romania and can be reached only by water or on the Danube or Black Sea.

Sulina Mixed Cemetery

Sulina Maritime Cemetery is a unique place in Europe. In a funerary complex divided into several areas, Christians of various denominations, Hebrew and Muslims, are buried together. Sulina was the last harbor for dozens of foreigners who now sleep their eternal sleep in a unique place in the world – the International Cemetery.In the past, Sulina was a large marina, a cosmopolitan city and hosted the European Danube Commission’s headquarters. In 1870 it became ‘Porto Franco’, meaning a free port, absolved from customs duty and having a special treatment. Many of the graves here are resting places for some English sailors or just for employees of the Danube Commission. Among them there are few graves of some Greek princes and even the tomb of Princess Catherine Moruzi, granddaughter of Prince of Moldavia, Ioan Sturdza. Many of these graves hide exquisite stories; therefore Sulina locals call the cemetery the ‘living graveyard’. The tombs of the Croat Perusko or the one of the Italian Luca Sessa were made of the rock brought in Sulina by the same vessels they used to sail.Tthe famous pirate sign – the skull and crossbones-was engraved on its funeral stone. His life and death are wreathed in mystery and legends. Locals say the pirate robbed hundreds of ships, therefore he was very rich; yet he died alone and pauper. Another legend says the pirate buried a treasure somewhere on the beach and some adventurers are still looking for that place. Others try to find clues on the gravestone: another local legend says that in order to properly read the inscription on the tomb of the pirate, the rock must be watered early in the morning and then left for a while to dry, until certain letters will show up. His grave is the only one registered in Europe as belonging to a pirate.

Danube Delta

The Danube River is the most international river on the planet - its course runs across — or forms a part of the borders of several countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and four capitals: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade.Formed over a period of more than 10,000 years, the Danube Delta continues to grow due to the 67 million tons of alluvia deposited every year by the Danube River. » The Delta is formed around the three main channels of the Danube, named after their respective ports: Chilia (in the north), Sulina (in the middle), and Sfantu Gheorghe (in the south). » The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve has the third largest biodiversity in the world (over 5,500 flora and fauna species), exceeded only by the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Galapagos Archipelago in Ecuador. » The Danube Delta is home to over 60% of the world's population of pygmy cormorants (phalacrocorax pygmeus), 50% of red-breasted geese (branta ruficollis) and the largest number of white pelicans (pelecanus onocrotalus) and Dalmatian pelicans (pelecanus crispus) in Europe. » It also is home to the world's largest reed bed expanse – 625, 000 acres / 240,000 ha. » Some 15,000 people inhabit the Delta area, living in 28 villages and one city (Sulina). » The area was first attested by Herodot of Halicarnas (484 – 425 B.C.). » More then half of the Delta Biosphere Reserve is virtually intact.