New options for tourists are available in the fall, as festivals connected with gathering the harvest start their season too. On top of that, going for a holiday in the rural area may bring not only the cultural experience but also the benefits of the fresh air, fresh milk and home-grown food sknown as organic, in other parts of the worldt.

This week-end, for instance, the Festival of Cheese and Plum Cherry will take place in Rasinari village, Sibiu County. Folk dances and music will lead the party, and a raffle will end it, with the option to win a free week-end at one of the farms housing tourists.

If two days of feasting on cheese were not enough, then you may embark on a tour of The Cheese Country, in Brasov County, which is a tourist program offered by the local subsidiary of the National Association of Rural, Ecological and Cultural Tourism sANTREC, www.antrec.rot The program includes visits to the Bran Castle, the Ethnographic Museum, the medieval fortress of Rasnov, the peasant fortress of Prejmer. Five sorts of different cheeses may be served at breakfast, and chicken, lamb and pork grill make the supper menu. The farms, rated at two daisies for the level of comfort they provide, take 5 to 7 euros per night per person, breakfast included; at three daises comfort rate, the charge is 8 to 10 euros, and at four daises - 12 to 14 euros.

Those who are not so much into cheese, but into wine, could choose for The Wine Road tourist program which offers wine tasting at vineyards in Panciu, Tifesti, Jaristea and Odobesti for groups of at least eight people. A wine testing session of four to six wines goes between 5 to 6 euros, and a Champaign testing session costs 7 euros.

Accommodation is available at farms in the area, members of the ANTREC network, and costs between 17 to 34 euros per night, pending on the number of daises the farm got. @N_