Sighetu Marmației — usually just Sighet — sits in the far north of Romania, pressed against the Ukrainian border in the heart of Maramureș. This is one of the most culturally distinct regions in Europe: wooden churches with impossibly tall steeples, carved gates, haystacks built by hand, and a rural way of life that has barely changed in centuries.
The town itself is modest, but it holds one of Romania's most important museums. The Memorial of the Victims of Communism, housed in the former political prison where dozens of Romanian intellectuals and political leaders were tortured and killed, is a harrowing and essential visit. Sighet is also the birthplace of Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, and his childhood home is now a museum. Beyond the town, the Maramureș countryside — the wooden churches of Bârsana and Budești, the Merry Cemetery of Săpânța, the Iza Valley villages — is among the most rewarding in Eastern Europe.