18 Cities to Travel Back in Time and the Historical Fiction Books Opening Their Doors

Venture through the gates of ages, dare to time-travel and choose one journey to one of the 18 cities where history still breathes. Pick a historical fiction novel from the list below and walk the streets of ancient Rome or Athens; jump into the middle ages in Copenhagen, Jerusalem, Madrid; explore Renaissance in London, Florence, Prague; enjoy early modern life in Amsterdam or Geneva, Victorian Edinburgh or fin-de-siècle Vienna and Venice; read yourself into post-WW1 Moscow, or WW2 Lisbon and Paris, or deep-dive into the historical fiction of Dubrovnik and Budapest as if you belonged there. And if you are ready for more, there’s also a bonus read.

17/11/202517/11/2025

The River Treasure and One Map that Shouldn’t Exist

When Emperor Trajan marched north to face the Dacians, it wasn’t just another Roman campaign. It was personal. The Dacians, led by their fierce king Decebalus, had grown too rich, too proud, and way too independent. For Rome, as a winning empire, Dacia was both an embarrassment and an obsession.

30/10/202530/10/2025

The Night of Returning Souls, It’s All Saints’ Night

On All Saints’ Night, when the veil between the living and the dead grows thin, I return through story to my Transylvanian roots. The Night of Returning Souls, written for Romania Insider is my take on the folklore and ghostly legends that haunt October.

25/10/202525/10/2025

Sound Transylvanian Superstitions and Why We Still Believe in Old Magic

On the Night of Saint Andrew, on Wolves' Night #Im4Ro

When it comes to superstitions, especially Transylvanian superstitions, even the most rational among us have whispered “touch wood” or avoided walking under a ladder. I know I have. Such old magic and weird beliefs have long offered humans a sense of control over a world that often feels cruelly unpredictable.

Superstitions are more than quirky cultural relics; they are the soul’s attempt to impose meaning on chaos. This is evident in Romania, particularly Transylvania, where the supernatural and the sacred have long shared the same threshold. While the Western world flinches at black cats and the number 13, in Transylvania we count our MANY fears differently.

17/10/202517/10/2025

Transylvanian Witches: from Popular Healers to Hunted Outcasts

In the frost-bitten winters of 15th-century Transylvania the line between savior and sorceress could be drawn by a whisper. A woman might spend her days easing childbirth pains, binding wounds, or coaxing fevered children back from death only to face the stake by nightfall, accused of witchcraft.

This was the brutal paradox faced by countless women across medieval Europe and perhaps nowhere was it more stark than in the fortified towns of Transylvania, where Saxon, Vlach, Magyar, and Jewish communities shared the safety of walls, but not always trust. Here, a woman’s skill could make her indispensable and dangerous in equal measure.