Why is THIS the Least Visited Place in Europe

Why is THIS the Least Visited Place in Europe

I don’t know why I’m looking for cars. There’s 
nothing. They’re so big. The roads disappeared, which I’m not thrilled about. I immediately 
booked tickets to Romania when I found that out. Probably not the kind of place I’d want to bring 
someone else. Without a doubt, that was worth it. I’ve got no idea what the speed limit is. I’m 
kind of trying to keep up with the car in front of me and not annoy the car behind me. The roads 
disappeared, which I’m not thrilled about. Come on, tiny rental car. You can do it. Oh, I’m really 
not happy. There’s no way that was the best route, but the road has reappeared. I’m going to have 
to check the car for dings and dents. I feel like I’m sweating. I haven’t seen another car in about half an hour. We’re just kind of driving into 
the middle of nowhere endlessly. Welcome to Teleorman County, southern Romania. Yesterday we drove from almost Ukraine 8 hours 
south to almost Bulgaria which is a long drive. Why am I here in Teleorman? Because this is the 
least visited place in Europe. So as soon as I heard that I well I had to come honestly. I mean 
the least visited place in Europe. I immediately booked tickets to Romania when I found that 
out. That’s That’s what happened. My cabbages. It’s market day. This market smells like dill pickle, and celery, 
but like in a very nice way, honestly. All the veg you could possibly want. Like, this is a really 
bustling market. This I think is the I’m going to take a guess the busiest place in town. The 
town I’m walking around where I’m stopping is called Roșiorii de Vede, which kind of sounds a 
bit Italian, doesn’t it? Or French, but I think Romanian is the only Eastern European language 
that’s based in Latin. So, every now and again, I read a sentence, I look at something and go, “Oh, 
I I understand what that is. That’s an opticians. There’s other context clues. Sometimes I go 
into that. I’ve only really been wandering around for about five or 10 minutes, but I fear 
I’m running out of town to explore pretty quick. Banka Transylvania. I bet they get sick of that 
pretty quick, you know, doing the Dracula accent. But you can’t help it, can you? Every time I see 
it, I’m like, “Oh, that’s the hotel Transylvania” Those guns must be quite ominous if you’re that 
building over there. They’re pointing right at it. I think that’s the local That’s the local council. 
It says consular local. I guess it’s a good little threat to make sure you’re doing your job right 
or we’ll get you. I think I’m done with this particular town. The people to bench ratio in this 
park. Incredible. It’s mostly benches. It’s very serious chess playing was going on and then some 
people who look like they’re having fun playing Rummikub. I think that’s the difference. When 
it’s chess, your intellects on the line, right? The people playing Rummikub were just hanging 
out, slinging some tiles around. They look like they’re having a good time well they all 
look like they’re having a good time. I think there’s a chance I’ve seen and done everything 
there is to see and do in Roșiorii de Vede. So, I think it’s time to head out and explore the 
rest of Teleorman. I’m going to be heading toward Alexandria, which is the capital 
city. I don’t know if city should be in quotes or not, but we’ll see. I’m a little 
bit concerned about the parking situation, but I’m going to go ahead with the, you 
know, with the idea that it’s probably going to be fine. There are some there 
are some serious potholes in this road. I am on my way to Alexandria, but you know, 
I’ve driven through probably a hundred small Romanian villages in the past week. And 
this one in Buzescu really stood out as being a bit different. Every house here is 
a ginormous mansion. The houses here are all about 20 times bigger than any of the houses 
I’ve seen in all of Romania. The reason for all these ginormous five story houses, which 
are so bizarre to see, is because in the 1980s I’m being waved at. I wish I knew what 
they were saying. Anyway, in the 1980s, it was the Roma community of this town 
who discovered that they could go to all the factories and strip them full of metal and 
sell all the metal on a completely unregulated market. And they made an absolute fortune. 
There is perhaps a bit of an irony about the most opulent houses I’ve ever seen being residents 
of a Roma community, but they just took advantage of the situation and this is what they did 
with the money. They built massive houses. They’re so big. It’s like being on the Las 
Vegas strip in Romania. They’re so big. Well, the old babushkas of 
town seem very friendly. I like that. It’s very easy to understand that 
a lot of people confuse Roma, the Roma people with Romania, but they’re not. I think they’re 
actually from Northern India, aren’t they? The Roma people. And because of that, they certainly 
looked different to the native population. And that meant that it wasn’t until the mid 1800s that 
Roma people became free of slavery in Romania. They were held as slaves in the most brutal 
sense of the word completely chattel slavery. And you know your if you had a baby whilst you 
were a slave your owner owned the baby. And that didn’t get abolished here until, well about, 200 
years ago now almost. I can understand a little bit why the Roma people would go, we’re going to 
build massive houses, ginormous houses. All right, everyone remember that I parked there. I don’t 
know if I’m allowed to park there, but I parked there. So, I’m in Alexandria, the capital of this 
region. I think we’ll give it a bit of an explore. That guy was the mayor of Teleorman, Alexandra 
Kufescu. It says magistrate, publicist, vocalist, violinist, and performer of romances. And he was 
mayor twice. And he’s wearing a spritely top hat. This is St. Alexander’s Cathedral. I suppose the 
town is called Alexandria. So, they must have a deep connection with St. Alexander, who’s an 
Orthodox saint. I think it’s an Orthodox church. You can kind of feel that the moment you walk in. 
But that’s it. If you look up Alexandria, you go to Google and you look for points of interest. 
This is it. This is the point of interest. There’s a chance I might be done wandering around. I did 
see a park which I might go to. It was certainly a very beautiful building and people were in there 
kissing all the epitats of all the saints which is not something I’ve seen before. Teleorman. 
It’s definitely proving difficult for a tourist, but I am enjoying my time. I don’t know if 
I’d recommend it so far to anyone else or if they would even care that it was recommended by 
someone, but I’m enjoying myself. I’ve got some plans for tomorrow. The park had bathrooms, 
so regardless of anything, I’m a huge fan. 2 Leu to go to the bathroom. What’s that? Like 
20p. Central Park is just a very small park filled with a lot of very bored teenagers, I 
feel like. China mega shop. That’s exciting. I stand corrected. It is in fact 
not particularly that interesting. No ticket. So, that’s a good 
sign. Just a few angry dogs, which I can deal with. Technically, I’ve got dog 
treats in my bag. I’m waiting for the moment. You know, I quite like driving in Romania. 
It’s got just enough rules of the road for it to be a perfectly functioning system, 
but not so many rules that I can’t do, you know, like a three point turn in 
the middle of a high street. Hello. You’re well looked after. You got 
a nice little pillow on the bar. This is the hotel I’m stopping at. The hotel 
Pens Pensa Maria something along those lines. Oh, there’s an outside? It’s about £35 a night. And 
I am really happy I’m stopping here in this town rather than in the capital of Alexandria cuz 
this little town feels like it’s got more life. It’s a bit less concrete if that makes any 
sense. You could just about see the market bustling on over there. And this looks 
like the perfect place to do a Romania pop and a bar. Romania pop and a bar. Almost 
works. We’re going to start out with a bar, I think. Just called Rom. It’s got the Romanian 
flag on it. They sell them everywhere. It’s called Rom. I’ve got to imagine these the pride 
of Romania. Surely Bucuresti, it says. So, I guess they’re made in Bucharest. 
Smells like a chocolate bar. Oh, it’s got a filling. It’s fine is what I’m 
going to say. It’s got a slight perfume taste to it. Almost like there’s a Liqueur 
inside, which I highly doubt. I don’t need to eat another one. But I give this it’s about 
a five out of 10. But according to the package, it’s authentic Rom. So, can’t go wrong 
with that surely. To wash it down, I’m going to drink that I highly doubt is Romanian 
because it’s got cactus in it. Cactus and apple, I want to say the birds are circling. Is 
this meant to be easy to open? Got it. Smells aloe vera-y I’ve got no idea what cactus tastes like, 
but I imagine it tastes like this, if that makes sense. If I had to guess what cactus tastes 
like, this would be what I’d guess. So, I’m going to go ahead and say it tastes like cactus. It’s 
flat. It’s not carbonated. It’s appleley as well, but it’s got like a aloe vera cactusy taste, 
which is I think what they’re going for. So, I’m going to say it’s good. Oh, it is product 
of Romania, I think is what that says. Something Romania. That’s nice. This would be good with 
tequila in it. Just saying. I really like that. Yeah, that’s a solid eight. What a successful pop 
and a bar. Romania, you haven’t let me down. I don’t need another one of these. but, I would have 
another one of these. And this is my hotel room. perfectly pleasant. Probably not the kind of 
place I’d want to bring someone else or be for much longer than three nights, but other than 
that, it’s absolutely fine. I’ll be honest, the bathroom smells a lot like pipes, so I’m 
keeping the door closed and the window open. You know, that sewage smell that you sometimes 
get. It’s not bad, but it’s not fantastic. There is the distinct lack of any lamps. There’s 
no kettle either, which is disappointing, but again, I can live. We have a beautiful view of 
the outside. We have a painting that is definitely not of this town would be my guess. The bed 
has been fine and I’ve got a fridge which is really good. Although the fridge has two settings. 
Setting one is warm milk and setting two is just incredibly loud. You might think, is he going 
to eat all those olives? Yes. Yes, I am. And I bought balsamic vinegar. Fantastic. I suppose this 
is technically a lamp, but it’s not exactly got many lumens. I’ll just get is this a is this 
a natural position? This hotel’s absolutely fine. I’ve quite liked it. The staff here are 
really nice, actually. So, that’s something. And you probably wouldn’t go on your honeymoon 
here, but for me, it’s just more than I need. The lady working here said, 
“Slam it.” So I slammed it. I was in Romania about 15 years ago and 
the one thing that I remember kind of burned into my memory was how bad the roads 
are. You know, they’ve not been too bad. Potholes haven’t been I mean if you don’t pay 
attention you will be completely destroyed by an errant pothole but they’re not too bad. The thing 
that is really weird is just how uneven the road is. The one thing I find very difficult is I’ve 
been driving for about half an hour and I must have seen I don’t know why I’m looking for cars. 
There’s nothing. I must have seen about four or five dead dogs in the street and I’m finding 
that very difficult to deal with. Every day I’ve seen about five to 10 just roadkill dead 
dogs, cats, mostly dogs in the street. And I think Romania probably does have a pretty big 
problem with stray dogs. And I don’t know if it’s just my sensibilities or anything, but it’s 
kind of breaking my heart a little bit seeing all these just poor little creatures in the road. 
There’s nothing I can really do about it. I’ve got some dog treats in my bag just in case I 
see anything that needs anyone that needs a bit of love. The reason I stopped here is because 
there is an unfortunate soul not too far away, but I don’t think I’ll show it. It’s a It’s not 
a very It’s not a very pretty site. And yeah, I’m pretty impressed by the roads in Romania. 
They’ve definitely come a long way in 20 years. The roads ended again, which is kind of what I was worried about. We’ll see how far 
I get. And I might be walking. I think I’m here. Checking my car’s locked. I think even if it 
was open, it’d be fine. I know I shouldn’t word it quite like this, but I’ve actually found 
something. I found something to talk about. I found a place to go. This is the fortress at 
Turnu. I’ve just driven through the tiny well, it’s like a port town called Turnu Măgurele, I 
think it’s called. It’s actually a bigger town than you I was expecting it to be. But I suppose 
the reason it is is built up is because it’s a port because the Danube River just goes right 
just just over there. And over the road from that is well over the water is Bulgaria. So I guess 
there’s lots of people transporting goods back and forth. But I found a an honest to god thing. 
It’s a fortress. Turnu tower or Turnu fortress. It was built to protect Wallachia or Valachia, 
Wallachia the kingdom here from the what’s what it’s called what I’ve written what I’ve read a few 
times it’s called to protect them from the Turkish peril which is the Ottoman Empire and they didn’t 
do the best job ever because after in the very early 1400s it was taken over by the Turks the 
Ottoman Empire and it remained with the Ottoman Empire empire until like the midway through the 
1800s when some people came down and said ‘Sod this’ and they set the fortress on fire and took 
it back. Well, I guess less taking it back more if we can’t have it you can’t have it either kind 
of situation. I’m just excited to be somewhere that has something. I can’t get frustrated 
that the place that is the least visited place in Europe doesn’t have that much on offer for 
tourists because why would they? So I’m not like ah there’s nothing here. I’m really enjoying the 
nothingness that is here if that makes sense. Well nothing for me. I mean some people’s whole lives 
are here. So to say there’s nothing here would be not very nice to those people who born and raised 
in Teleorman. You know just I’m genuinely excited that there is something here. I drove an hour to 
get here and I’ve almost completed my 3 minute trip around it. You have to imagine this was just 
the central fortress, right? The central tower and that there was a whole community around here. 
Otherwise, you’re not going to get 20,000 men in there. And if you do, they’re not going to be 
very comfortable. And while it seems like such a small little structure in the middle of absolutely 
nowhere, if you read the history of this place, tens of thousands of men died in these fields 
because of back and forth overthrowing. I’m taking it, then you’re taking it. And there’s like 
images of full battles that have taken place right here. Thousands and thousands of people spilled 
their blood on the fields around here protecting this. Sounds bizarre, but that’s what they were 
protecting. I suppose they were protecting their nation more than anything else or trying to make 
their nation bigger. If you’re on the other side, I think this terminal is to pay for something. 
Looks like the gift center’s closed. That’s it. That’s Turnu Fortress. That’s the whole place. 
I think we’re done. Kind of hoping one of these little buildings would be a bathroom, but it might 
be behind a tree time for me. Without a doubt, that was worth it. With the trees and the 
cobbled path, this is the most gladiator the movie street I think I’ve ever been 
on in my entire life. It really does feel like I’m in some place in southern Spain 
having a dream about my dead wife and kids. Feel like I’m out for revenge walking down 
a street like this. Going to kill myself an emperor or die trying. Tell you what, 
this car is doing a lot of squeaking. Oh god. One, two. You get this one. Go on. It’s okay. Gosh, these dogs are very 
nervous. Yes. Go on. Go on. You’re a good one. And one for you. Bye. Nice to 
meet you. I like to think I made their day. My heart absolutely breaks for the dogs 
around here. So, this is the Danube River. I saw this on the map and it said 
pleasant new boardwalk that’s been built. I don’t know what I was expecting. Not this, but 
this is pleasant enough for me. So, that’s the Danube River. It’s a bloody big river. And over 
there is Bulgaria. The sun has also come out, which I kind of wasn’t expecting either. Bulgaria. 
What a great country. Love Bulgaria. Looks like that’s a police checkpoint. I guess it’s police 
boats for people crossing the river illegally, smuggling their goods. I did want to take a little 
bit of time and talk about the future of Yesland. It’s coming towards the end of the year. Thinking 
about what I want to do in 2026. These two videos in Romania have been a bit of a test. A test. I 
don’t know how the test went because I’m still filming them. But, you know, I wanted to see if I 
was doing the alone across series, which really is the type of video that I like making. I love doing 
those, but they take such a long time to film. And I think I want to incorporate those types of 
videos in with these smaller kind of going off to a place to do a thing like when I was in the 
Hoia Baciu Forest. What I really want to do is have a release that comes out every week in 2026. 
I’m not sure how possible, feasible, expensive, realistic that is. That’s what I’d really like 
to do. really dedicate the time and try to get, you know, some growth on the channel. Obviously, 
that’s what we all want on YouTube. But yeah, try to get a video out every week. But 
this year alone, I’ve already been to, you know, 13 countries. I suppose one of those 
I didn’t film in cuz I was just in Spain. But we’ll see. I want to try though. I really 
want to try. You know, I want to say, let me know what you think. Where do you 
think I should go? I like going to like festivals and weird traditions and fêtes 
and strange things, that type of stuff, you know, things that you can do in a weekend. 
If you’ve got any ideas I should go, oddities, peculiarities, cool stuff, I’m all ears. I 
mean, I’m the kind of person who thought, let’s go to the least visited place 
in Europe. That would be a laugh riot. I’m pretty much up for most things, you know. Well, thank you so much everyone for 
joining me in Teleorman. I’ve actually had a really good time. I don’t know if 
I’d recommend it to many other people, but I’ve certainly liked it. Until next 
time, everyone, be kind to yourself, be kind to someone else, and as 
always, onwards and upwards. Bye.

Welcome to Teleorman the least visited place in Europe. It’s time to explore the region and work out why no one goes here…

🐈 Watch more episodes of the ‘Alone Across’ Series here ➡︎ https://tinyurl.com/2nbhpusx

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