Bucharest 7 Day Castle Trip (No Traps)
Seven days is our 6-day plan plus one extra day back in Bucharest before the flight, a real wind-down rather than another castle. If you’d rather spend that extra day on the road, our 5-day and 6-day versions show what that trade actually costs in travel time.
Book these before you go:
- Your Bucharest hotel : nights 1, 6 and 7
- Your Brasov hotel : nights 3 and 4
- A Transylvania and Brasov tour : worth it if you’d rather not self-drive or juggle regional trains
| Day | Focus | Travel time | Est. daily cost (RON) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival, Old Town settle-in | 20-50 min from OTP | 100-150 |
| 2 | Peles and Pelisor castles, Sinaia | 75-90 min each way by train | 250-350 |
| 3 | Bran Castle and Brasov, overnight in Brasov | 2h15-4h Bucharest to Brasov | 350-450 |
| 4 | Rasnov Fortress, Poiana Brasov cable car | short local bus or taxi from Brasov | 150-250 |
| 5 | Travel to Sighisoara, evening in the citadel | 3.5-4h Brasov to Sighisoara | 150-250 |
| 6 | Sighisoara morning, back to Bucharest | 6-6.5h direct, or via Brasov | 150-250 |
| 7 | Bucharest wind-down before the flight | none | 150-300 |
Day 1: Land, settle in, don’t sightsee yet
Take the direct rail shuttle from Henri Coanda to Gara de Nord, about 6.50 RON, 20-25 minutes, or Express Bus 100 for roughly 3 RON, 40-50 minutes. There’s no metro option yet, Line M6 to the airport is still under construction. Check into Old Town, eat, sleep early.
Day 2: Peles and Pelisor castles, Sinaia
Trains from Gara de Nord to Sinaia run several times daily, roughly 75-90 minutes each way, fares around 35-45 RON; check cfrcalatori.ro . Peles runs a timed-slot system since June 2025, 2,000 visitors a day capped, book ahead. Full entry is 100 RON adult, 25 RON student; see peles.ro for hours and booking. Pelisor adds 30 RON next door. Back to Bucharest for the night.
Day 3: Bran Castle and Brasov, overnight in Brasov
Direct trains from Gara de Nord to Brasov take 2h15-4 hours, roughly 30 departures a day, fares 35-145 RON by class. Bran’s “Dracula” tag is 1970s marketing, not history, Stoker never visited Romania and Vlad’s link to the castle is largely debunked, but the hilltop fortress and Queen Marie’s real history still earn the roughly 120 RON adult entry; check bran-castle.com . Stay the night in Brasov.
Day 4: Rasnov Fortress and the Poiana Brasov cable car
Rasnov, 15km from Bran, costs 10 RON for anyone over 12, cards only; the interior is under rehabilitation, check cetatea-rasnov.ro for current access. The Postavaru cable car at Poiana Brasov runs Wednesday-Sunday, 9am-5pm, 20 RON one-way or 35 RON return. Second night in Brasov.
Day 5: Travel to Sighisoara, evening in the citadel
The Brasov-Sighisoara train covers just 67km but takes 3.5-4 hours on the slow regional line, budget half the day for it. Arrive by afternoon and spend the evening inside the UNESCO-listed medieval citadel, the Historic Centre of Sighisoara inscription, walking the walls and the clock tower. Stay the night in or near the old town.
Day 6: Sighisoara’s morning, then back to Bucharest
Spend the morning at the house traditionally identified as Vlad the Impaler’s birthplace inside the citadel, a genuinely less-contested claim than anything at Bran. Direct trains back to Bucharest take 6-6.5 hours, five services a day; splitting the trip via Brasov instead breaks it into two shorter legs. Arrive in Bucharest by evening.
Day 7: Bucharest wind-down before the flight
Seven days buys you a real last day rather than a rushed departure morning. Therme Bucuresti, the thermal spa outside the city, runs roughly 70-90 RON for 3 hours in its cheapest zone, a genuine way to recover from four nights of trains and mountain air. If a spa day isn’t your thing, the Village Museum’s open-air wooden churches and farmhouses inside King Michael I Park make for a slower, walkable morning instead, followed by a last Old Town dinner before your flight.
Is a full extra day back in Bucharest worth it over more castle time?
Yes, and it’s the trade this itinerary is built around. By day 7 you’ve done four nights away from your first bed, two castles, a fortress, a cable car, and a citadel; another travel day adds diminishing returns while a genuine rest day resets you for the flight home. If you’d rather spend day 7 on the road instead, that’s what stopping at our 6-day version and adding a day trip of your own choosing would look like.
Before you go
Book Peles and your Brasov hotel before you fly; both sell out on summer weekends. Confirm your day 6 return train before leaving Sighisoara, services thin out later in the day. And keep small RON notes on hand throughout the trip, card acceptance on regional trains and smaller-town kiosks is inconsistent even in 2026.