Europe · Touring guide
Bucharest, mountain landscapes and a destination with more depth than a quick city break suggests.
Is it right for you?
A strong fit for
Culture, value and travellers who like somewhere less obvious.
We would think twice for
Travellers who need polish and predictability, because Romania is still rough at the edges in the ways that make it interesting, and its rewards go to the curious.
What we would want you to know
Connections beyond Bucharest need proper time.
We’ve been here
Romania is a country we have travelled in, and Beth was in Bucharest in February 2026, from the Therme spa to the old town. It shaped how we plan routes there: fewer stops, longer at each, and more time between towns than the map suggests. It also taught us that a good local driver is worth more here than an extra hotel star.
The route
Night 1
Arrive, walk the old town and Calea Victoriei, and eat sarmale in a traditional beer hall. Book the Palace of the Parliament tour for the morning if the flight times allow.
Day 2
Drive north up the Prahova Valley, tour Peleș Castle before the crowds, then cross the hills into Transylvania for the evening.
Nights 2 to 4
Base in Brașov for Bran and Râșnov one day, an evening at a bear hide another, and an unhurried morning riding the cable car up Tâmpa for the view over the rooftops.
Night 5
Wind north through the Saxon villages, climb to Viscri's fortified church and sleep in a restored farmhouse with dinner cooked in the house.
Night 6
Stop at Biertan on the way, then stay inside the citadel walls to see the clock tower and the covered stairway once the day visitors have gone.
Nights 7 and 8
Finish in Sibiu's squares, with a day on the Transfăgărășan if you travel between July and October, before flying home from the city's own airport.
An idea to react to, not a fixed package. We shape the real thing around your dates, your pace and what the flights are doing that season.
Map and stops
A capital of belle époque mansions, Ceaușescu-era boulevards and a compact old town of bars and terraces around Lipscani. It is loud, hot in summer and hard work by car, so we use it for a night at the start or end rather than as a base. Stay near the old town or Calea Victoriei and you can walk to dinner.
A mountain resort in the Prahova Valley that grew up around the royal summer palace of Peleș, with cable cars climbing into the Bucegi mountains for high-level walks. It makes a gentle first stop out of Bucharest. Weekends fill with visitors from the capital and the valley road crawls, so we plan this leg for a weekday where we can.
The natural base for the castles: a walkable Saxon old town around the Council Square, with the Black Church at its heart and a Hollywood-style sign on Tâmpa hill above. Bran, Râșnov and Peleș are all within day-trip reach, and the terraces keep the old town lively at night. It is the busiest town in Transylvania in summer, so central rooms go early.
A scatter of villages between Brașov and Sighișoara, each built around a fortified church, where carts still share the lanes with cars. A night in a restored farmhouse shows a rural Romania that is fading elsewhere. The catch is access: the last stretch of road can be rough, rooms are few and evenings are very quiet, so it suits people who want peace, not nightlife.
A hilltop citadel that people still live in, with a clock tower, a covered wooden stairway up to the church on the hill and the house where Vlad Dracul is said to have lived. Coach groups crowd it at midday, so a night inside the walls gives you the lanes to yourself early and late. The cobbles are steep, which matters for anyone unsteady on their feet.
An old town of three linked squares, where roof windows shaped like half-closed eyes seem to watch the streets, and stairways and passages drop to the lower town. It is calmer than Brașov, has its own airport and sits within reach of the Transfăgărășan's northern end, which makes it a sensible place to finish a route.
Weather and seasons
Transylvania sits high enough to stay fresh when the plains swelter: July afternoons in Brașov average 27°C, while Bucharest is noticeably hotter and stickier, so we keep the capital to a night at either end. May is green and full of blossom at around 21°C, and June is often showery, with storms building over the peaks by mid-afternoon. The Transfăgărășan high road usually opens at the start of July and closes once autumn snow returns, so a trip built around it belongs between July and September. Winter nights fall to around -7°C, which brings snow on the castle roofs, cheap skiing and Christmas markets, but also shorter opening hours at rural sights.
Worth timing a trip around
Brașov's young men ride through town in traditional costume from the old Schei quarter, a custom that goes back centuries.
Around ten days of theatre, dance and street performance take over Sibiu's squares, much of it free to watch. Old-town rooms go early.
Costumed parades, music and craft stalls fill the citadel over a summer weekend. Atmospheric, but crowded, and rooms inside the walls sell out months ahead.
Bucharest's great classical music festival, held every two years, brings international orchestras to the Romanian Athenaeum and the city's concert halls.
Wooden stalls, mulled wine and carols fill the main squares, with snow on the mountains behind if the season is kind.
| Month | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2°C | -7°C | 24 mm |
| February | 7°C | -4°C | 24 mm |
| March | 11°C | -1°C | 36 mm |
| April | 16°C | 3°C | 43 mm |
| May | 21°C | 7°C | 60 mm |
| June | 25°C | 12°C | 116 mm |
| July | 27°C | 13°C | 65 mm |
| August | 28°C | 13°C | 60 mm |
| September | 23°C | 9°C | 49 mm |
| October | 17°C | 3°C | 28 mm |
| November | 10°C | 0°C | 31 mm |
| December | 4°C | -3°C | 23 mm |
Temperatures are 2015 to 2024 averages from NOAA records for Brasov Ghimbav, 9 km away at 538 m. Rainfall is from the same station and shows the typical (median) month, so one freak storm does not skew it.
| Month | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5°C | -3°C | 52 mm |
| February | 10°C | 0°C | 17 mm |
| March | 13°C | 3°C | 55 mm |
| April | 20°C | 7°C | 57 mm |
| May | 25°C | 12°C | 71 mm |
| June | 30°C | 17°C | 61 mm |
| July | 33°C | 19°C | 53 mm |
| August | 33°C | 19°C | 35 mm |
| September | 28°C | 14°C | 40 mm |
| October | 20°C | 8°C | 51 mm |
| November | 12°C | 4°C | 56 mm |
| December | 7°C | 0°C | 33 mm |
Temperatures are 2015 to 2024 averages from NOAA records for Bucuresti Filaret, 1 km away at 84 m. Rainfall is from the same station and shows the typical (median) month, so one freak storm does not skew it.
Things to do
The neo-Renaissance summer palace built for King Carol I from the 1870s, all carved wood, stained glass and armouries. Visits are by guided tour and the castle closes on some weekdays, so check the day before driving up.
Sold as Dracula's castle, although its real story is Queen Marie, who made it her home in the 1920s. Arrive at opening time, because the narrow stairs and corridors jam solid by late morning in summer.
The high road over the Făgăraș mountains climbs in tight hairpins to the glacial Bâlea Lake. Cloud can close in within minutes and summer weekends bring slow queues, so go early on a weekday and take a warm layer.
One of the Saxon villages whose fortified churches are listed by UNESCO. Inside the walls, ask about the tiny room where quarrelling couples were reputedly shut in together until they patched things up.
Ceaușescu's colossal palace in Bucharest, with more than a thousand rooms. Guided tours must be booked ahead and photo ID is checked at the door, so carry your passport.
The Carpathians hold one of Europe's largest brown bear populations. A guided evening at a hide near Brașov gives a good chance of a sighting between late spring and autumn, far better than hoping for a roadside encounter.
A separate chapter in the far east of the country: reed beds, channels and pelican colonies explored by boat from Tulcea. It needs two or three nights of its own, late spring is best for birds, and insect repellent is essential.
Romania's best-known ski area sits on the hill above Brașov, with runs that suit beginners and intermediates. Snow cover varies from year to year and weekends are busy, so midweek lessons are the calmer option.
Food and drink
Cabbage or vine leaves rolled around spiced pork and rice, slow-cooked and served with mămăligă, sour cream and a hot pepper on the side.
Maize porridge, the country's everyday staple, served soft with salty sheep's cheese and sour cream, or set firm alongside a stew.
A tripe soup soured with vinegar and finished with garlic and sour cream. Romanians swear by it the morning after a long night.
Skinless grilled rolls of minced meat, heavy on garlic, eaten with mustard, bread and a cold beer in summer garden bars.
Fried cheese doughnuts crowned with sour cream and sour cherry or blueberry jam. Big enough to share, though few people do.
Plum brandy offered as a welcome in the countryside. Țuică is the gentler version, while pălincă is distilled twice and far stronger, so treat home-made bottles with respect.
Money
Eating, drinking and sightseeing cost far less than in western Europe, so the money that matters goes on how you travel. Self-drive is cheapest, but a private driver-guide for the Transylvania days turns the castles into stories and takes the lorries and horse carts on single-carriageway roads off your hands. The best guesthouses in the Saxon villages have only a handful of rooms, so they need booking early, and summer weekends lift hotel rates in Brașov and Sibiu.
Flights and transfers
Direct flights connect Leeds Bradford and Manchester with Bucharest, and the country then works by hire car or private driver: Transylvania sits a mountain range north of the capital, and the drive over is part of the experience.
Flights from UK airports
Route check September 2026. Some routes are seasonal and schedules change, so we confirm the live options when we quote.
Practical details
2 hours ahead of the UK
Romanian leu (RON, lei)
Romanian; English is widely spoken by younger people
Type C and F, 230V
On the right
Treated and generally safe in the cities, though most visitors buy bottled for the taste
Around 10 percent in restaurants is normal; round up taxi fares
Entry for British passport holders
Visa. No visa needed for tourist stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the Schengen area.
Passport. Issued less than 10 years before you arrive, and valid for at least 3 months after the day you leave the Schengen area.
The EU Entry/Exit System is now in use, so you may be asked to register your fingerprints and photo at the border on your first visit. It is free.
Summarised from the FCDO travel advice on gov.uk, checked 29 September 2026. Rules change: read the current entry requirements and the full travel advice before you go.
Questions we get asked
Only loosely. Bram Stoker never visited Romania, and Vlad the Impaler, whose family name inspired the character, has at best a passing link to Bran. The castle is worth seeing on its own terms as a medieval border fortress turned royal home, while Sighișoara, where Vlad was probably born, has the stronger claim to his story.
It is manageable, but slower than the map suggests. Much of Transylvania is still linked by single-carriageway roads shared with lorries, tractors and the odd horse and cart, and overtaking can be bold. Every car needs a road vignette called a rovinietă, which hire cars normally carry. Nervous drivers are better with a driver for the mountain days.
Five nights is the least we would suggest for Brașov, the castles and Sighișoara, and a week adds the Saxon villages and Sibiu without rushing. Add a night in Bucharest at one end, or start and finish in Sibiu if the flights suit.
Yes. Guided evening visits to hides around Brașov give a very good chance of seeing brown bears between late spring and autumn, when they are not hibernating. Bears also appear near roads and bins in mountain towns: keep your distance, stay in the car and never feed them.
Generally, yes, and crime against visitors is mostly petty. Watch for pickpockets in Bucharest's old town and avoid unlicensed taxis at the airport by using an app or the official rank. When walking in the mountains, give the shepherds' guard dogs a wide berth near flocks.
Usually from the start of July to the end of October, although the authorities confirm the dates each year and early or late snow can change them. Cloud often sits on the top, so check the forecast and aim to be up there in the morning.
Photographs
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