Things to Do in Romania 1 guide

Why visit Romania

Castles on crags, churches painted inside and out, and a mountain road that climbs to the clouds — Romania rewards the traveller who keeps going.

Romania is Europe's great under-explored corner — a country of fortified Saxon villages, painted monasteries and the wildest stretch of the Carpathian Mountains, where brown bears still roam forests within sight of medieval citadels. Its capital, Bucharest, mixes belle-époque boulevards and glass-roofed arcades with the colossal architecture of the Ceaușescu years, while north of the mountains lie Transylvania's walled towns, the wooden churches of Maramureș and the frescoed monasteries of Bucovina. Beyond them the Danube empties into the largest river delta in Europe. Use this hub to plan your trip: browse our Romanian city guides below, or read on for the regions, seasons and road trips that tie the country together.

Cities in Romania

Map of Romania

Countries near Romania

Trip planner Plan your trip to Romania

Best time to visit — season by season

Spring
Mar–May

The thaw brings meadows of wildflowers to the Carpathian foothills and fills the rivers, while the cities shed a long grey winter and terrace season begins. Easter is the year's most important celebration and is kept with real ceremony in the villages. Note that the high mountain roads, including the Transfăgărășan, stay closed by snow well into the season.

Summer
Jun–Aug

Hot and lively — the Bucharest plain and the south regularly climb into the mid-thirties, which is exactly when the mountains come into their own for hiking and the Black Sea beaches fill up. This is the only window when the high alpine roads are reliably open, and the Danube Delta is at its most navigable. Expect the marquee castles to be busy.

Fall
Sep–Nov

Arguably the best time to travel: the Carpathian beech forests turn gold, the wine harvest runs across Dealu Mare and Transylvania, and the summer crowds thin while the weather stays mild. September and October are ideal for driving the mountain passes before they close; by November the days shorten sharply and the first snow reaches the peaks.

Winter
Dec–Feb

Cold and properly snowy inland, with reliable skiing at Poiana Brașov and Sinaia and Christmas markets in Sibiu, Brașov, Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest through Advent. The painted monasteries and Transylvanian citadels look their best under snow and are close to empty. Mountain roads and some rural routes can be difficult, so allow extra time.

Regions of Romania

  • Bucharest & Wallachia

    The southern plains and the capital, where belle-époque Bucharest earned its 'Little Paris' nickname before the Ceaușescu years rebuilt its centre on a monumental scale. Beyond the city lie the Prahova Valley resorts, the royal palace at Sinaia and the vineyards of Dealu Mare.

  • Transylvania

    The region everyone comes for — a high plateau ringed by mountains and studded with fortified Saxon churches, walled citadels and castles. Brașov, Sibiu and the UNESCO-listed streets of Sighișoara are the anchors, with Bran and Corvin castles within easy reach.

  • Maramureș

    The far north, and the most traditional corner of the country: tall carved wooden gates, hand-worked hayfields, the UNESCO wooden churches with their needle spires, and the painted grave markers of the Merry Cemetery at Săpânța.

  • Bucovina & Moldavia

    The northeast, home to the painted monasteries — churches frescoed inside and out in the 15th and 16th centuries, with the celebrated blue of Voroneț among them. The university city of Iași anchors the wider Moldavian region to the south.

  • The Carpathians

    The mountain spine that curves through the middle of the country, holding one of Europe's largest brown bear populations, the Făgăraș range with Romania's highest peaks, and the two great alpine roads — the Transfăgărășan and the Transalpina.

  • The Black Sea coast & the Danube Delta

    The southeast, where Constanța's Roman and Greek past meets the beach resorts of Mamaia and Vama Veche, and the Danube fans out into the largest and best-preserved river delta in Europe — a UNESCO biosphere reserve best seen by boat.

Getting around

Romania is a driving country. The national rail network reaches most cities and is inexpensive and scenic, but it is slow — the mountain lines in particular trade speed for views — so trains suit city-to-city hops rather than touring. The motorway network is still being completed, and much of the best of the country lies along two-lane roads through villages, which is part of the pleasure but means journey times run longer than the distances suggest. A car is close to essential for Transylvania's Saxon villages, the wooden churches of Maramureș, the Bucovina monastery circuit and the high passes of the Transfăgărășan and Transalpina, none of which public transport serves well. Cities are a different matter: Bucharest has a fast metro plus trams and buses, and the historic centres of Brașov, Sibiu and Sighișoara are small enough to walk end to end. International flights arrive mainly at Bucharest's Henri Coandă airport, with useful secondary gateways at Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara and Iași.

The highlights Romania's signature sights & road trips

Romania's signature sights at a glance

  • Palace of the Parliament The heaviest building on earth and the second-largest administrative building anywhere — a marble monument to the Ceaușescu era that you tour room by vast room. Basecamp: Bucharest
  • Bran Castle The crag-top castle marketed the world over as 'Dracula's castle' — the Bram Stoker link is thin, but the fortress itself and its mountain setting are the real thing. Basecamp: Brașov
  • Peleș Castle A neo-Renaissance royal summer palace in the Carpathian forest above Sinaia, extravagantly panelled and among the most beautiful castle interiors in Europe. Basecamp: Sinaia
  • The Transfăgărășan A serpentine mountain road built through the Făgăraș range, climbing past Bâlea Lake in a series of hairpins — usually open only from around July into October. Basecamp: Sibiu
  • The painted monasteries of Bucovina UNESCO-listed churches frescoed in full colour across their exterior walls, Voroneț and its deep blue foremost among them, still working monasteries after five centuries. Basecamp: Suceava
  • The Danube Delta Europe's largest and best-preserved river delta and a UNESCO biosphere reserve — a maze of reed channels and lakes with some of the finest birdwatching on the continent. Basecamp: Tulcea

Suggested routes

The Transylvania loop

~1 week

The classic Romanian first trip, and the one that makes the case for hiring a car: out of the capital, over the mountains, and round the great citadels and castles of the Transylvanian plateau before looping back.

  1. Bucharest — fly in; two days in the capital
  2. Sinaia — Peleș Castle in the Prahova Valley
  3. Brașov — walled old town under Tâmpa hill
  4. Bran — the castle, as a half-day from Brașov
  5. Sighișoara — the inhabited medieval citadel
  6. Sibiu — squares, guild towers & the Făgăraș foothills

Capital city break

3–4 days

A long weekend in Bucharest alone — the monumental set pieces, the belle-époque arcades and the Old Town, with a half-day in the open-air Village Museum for the country in miniature.

  1. Bucharest (Old Town) — basecamp — Lipscani, arcades & churches
  2. Palace of the Parliament — book the guided tour ahead
  3. The Village Museum — 270 relocated houses by the lake

The painted north

5–7 days

A slower, more rural circuit through the two regions where Romania feels least changed — the frescoed monasteries of Bucovina and the wooden-church villages of Maramureș. A car is essential.

  1. Cluj-Napoca — fly in; Transylvania's student capital
  2. Maramureș — wooden churches & the Merry Cemetery
  3. Bucovina — the Voroneț & Sucevița monastery circuit
  4. Bicaz Gorge — limestone canyon back over the mountains

Romania travel FAQ

When is the best time to visit Romania?

Late spring and early autumn are the sweet spots — May, June, September and October bring mild weather, open mountain roads and far fewer people than high summer. Summer is hottest and best for the Black Sea coast, the Danube Delta and high-altitude hiking, and it is the only reliable window for the Transfăgărășan. Winter is genuinely cold but delivers skiing in the Carpathians, Christmas markets in the Transylvanian towns and near-empty monasteries under snow.

How many days do you need in Romania?

Three or four days is enough for Bucharest on its own. A week lets you add the classic Transylvania loop — Sinaia, Brașov, Bran, Sighișoara and Sibiu — which is the trip most first-time visitors take. Ten days to two weeks opens up the painted monasteries of Bucovina, the wooden churches of Maramureș and the Danube Delta, all of which sit far enough apart that rushing them spoils them.

Do you need a car in Romania?

For anything beyond the cities, yes. Trains are cheap and scenic but slow, and the Saxon villages, monastery circuits, mountain passes and delta villages are poorly served by public transport. Within Bucharest a car is a liability — the metro, trams and buses are quick and the centre is walkable — so the usual approach is to explore the capital on foot and pick up a hire car when you head for the mountains. Roads are improving but much of the network is still two-lane, so allow more time than the distances suggest.

What is Romania best known for?

Romania is best known for Transylvania and its castles — Bran, trading on the Dracula legend, and the far grander Peleș — along with the fortified Saxon villages and walled citadels around them. It is equally known for the Carpathian Mountains and their brown bears, the UNESCO-listed painted monasteries of Bucovina and wooden churches of Maramureș, the Danube Delta, and in Bucharest the enormous Palace of the Parliament.

Is English widely spoken in Romania?

Yes, more than most visitors expect. English is widely spoken by younger Romanians and throughout the cities, tourist areas and the hospitality trade, helped by the fact that foreign film and television are subtitled rather than dubbed. In remote villages it is less common, though French and German are sometimes understood. Romanian is a Romance language, so anyone with Italian, Spanish or French will recognise a surprising amount of written signage.

What currency does Romania use, and is it in the EU?

Romania has been a member of the European Union since 2007 and became a full member of the Schengen Area on 1 January 2025, but it is not in the eurozone — the currency is the Romanian leu (RON), and euros are not generally accepted. Card payments are near-universal in cities, including on public transport, but it is worth carrying some cash for village guesthouses, rural churches, small markets and roadside stalls.

What should you eat and drink in Romania?

Start with sarmale, cabbage or vine leaves rolled around spiced pork and usually served with mămăligă, the country's polenta. Ciorbă — a sour soup, most famously ciorbă de burtă — appears on every menu, and mici, skinless grilled minced-meat rolls, are the standard accompaniment to a beer. Leave room for papanași, fried doughnuts with sour cream and jam. To drink, Romania has a serious and underrated wine industry built on native grapes such as Fetească, alongside țuică and palincă, the potent plum brandies offered as a welcome in the countryside.

What kind of trip is Romania best for?

Road trips, mountains and medieval towns.