Let’s save Bran Castle (a.k.a. Dracula’s Castle) in Romania

Bran Castle (famously and inaccurately referred to as "Dracula's Castle") is back on the market at a huge discount! The Romanian government has declined to purchase it, so it's up us to save it from being turned into a Goth nightclub or something!

I realize $13 million is quite a lot for a GoGetFunding project, but this is a 700-something-year-old castle, where Dracula actually visited once (or was imprisoned--it's complicated). People pay more than that for 5,000-square-foot apartments in New York!

It does have significant plumbing issues, and a worrying shortage of bathrooms, but we'll sort that out later.

We must keep the castle open as a private museum, while making it a more experiential destination, including immersive education, staging cool events and developing facilities for accommodating overnight visitors.

As an international tourism professional with 12 years experience in destination promotion, having lived in Romania, and written the travel and history book BACKPACKING WITH DRACULA, I'm uniquely qualified to save and promote this incredible attraction.

Let's save this legendary castle and apply a responsible, 21st-century tourism strategy!

[Bran Castle photo by Alexandru Panolu]