Romania 4 Day Itinerary
Romania joined the Schengen Area in January 2024, which removed border checks with its EU neighbours and made it significantly easier to include in a Central European trip. That timing is worth knowing because the country’s prices remain among the lowest in the EU while its architecture and landscape remain among the most dramatic. Four days gets you from Bucharest through Transylvania to Sighisoara, which is as good an introduction as you can ask for.
Getting in at Henri Coanda Airport (OTP): Bucharest’s main airport is 16 km north of the city. The best budget option is the 780 Express bus (3 RON, about EUR 0.60), which runs every 15 minutes around the clock to Piata Unirii in the city centre, taking about 45 minutes. The train (Gara de Nord to airport) costs 8.50 RON and takes 25 minutes. A taxi or Bolt (Romania’s dominant ride-hailing app) costs around RON 70 to 90 (EUR 14 to 18). Avoid the unofficial taxi drivers in the arrivals hall; use Bolt or the official taxi stand outside. Official taxis should have metered rates displayed on the window; in 2025 the day rate in Bucharest is around 3.50 RON per kilometre.
Day 1: Bucharest
Bucharest rewards people who give it more time than transit. The city is imperfect, historically layered, and not especially well explained in English, but it has excellent food, cheap wine, and an Old Town (Lipscani) that has found its feet after a chaotic post-communist rebuild.
Start the morning at Caru’ cu Bere, a 19th-century beer hall on Stavropoleos Street whose interior (stained glass, carved wood balustrades, painted vaulted ceilings) is one of the best-preserved examples of Romanian Art Nouveau architecture in the country. The food is reliably good; the breakfast and brunch menus cost RON 30 to 60 per person.
Palace of Parliament (Palatul Parlamentului) is the building Nicolae Ceausescu ordered constructed from 1984 onwards at a cost that bankrupted Romania’s economy and required the demolition of a quarter of old Bucharest. It is the second-largest administrative building in the world by floor area. The guided tour (mandatory, RON 45 for foreigners, runs roughly every half hour) takes you through a succession of identically marble-clad rooms that communicate scale but not function. The absurdity is the point: this is what happens when a dictatorship becomes architecture.
Lipscani (the Old Town area) for the afternoon: the streets between Strada Lipscani and Calea Victoriei are dense with restaurants, cafes, and bars. Lunch at Hanu’ lui Manuc, one of the oldest functioning inns in the city (early 19th century), which now serves Romanian and Turkish dishes in a courtyard setting at mid-range prices (RON 50 to 90 per person).
Dinner: Try papanasi (fried cheese doughnuts with sour cream and jam) at a traditional Romanian restaurant on or near Lipscani. A full dinner with Romanian wine costs RON 80 to 130 per person. Romanian wine is underrated: the Dealu Mare region produces good red wines that cost a fraction of equivalent French or Italian bottles.
Stay: Dacia Hotel in the city centre is reliable and well-located at EUR 60 to 90 per night. The Rembrandt Hotel near the Old Town is better value at a similar price range with a quieter location.
Day 2: Train to Brasov
The train from Bucharest Gara de Nord to Brasov takes around 2.5 to 3 hours and costs RON 50 to 90 depending on the service. CFR Calatori (Romanian Railways) runs several daily departures; book online at cfrcalatori.ro. The journey through the Carpathian foothills and into the mountain pass is genuinely scenic in the final hour.
Brasov is the natural base for Transylvania. The old town (Centrul Istoric) is a medieval Saxon settlement with colonnaded squares, Gothic churches, and fortification towers that make the Dracula associations make sense: this is exactly the architectural backdrop that the myth requires.
Black Church (Biserica Neagra) dominates Piata Sfatului (Council Square). It is the largest Gothic church in Romania, built between 1383 and 1477, and is called “black” because of fire damage in 1689 that darkened the stone. Entry costs RON 20. The interior has a collection of Anatolian carpets hung as wall decorations, an unusual feature brought back by Transylvanian merchants trading with the Ottoman Empire.
Walk from the square to Weaver’s Bastion and Schei Gate, then take the cable car up Mount Tampa (RON 20 return) for the view down over the terracotta rooftops and the surrounding mountains. The Hollywood-style BRASOV sign is visible on the hillside and is photographed constantly; the view of the sign from the lower town looking up is better than any photo of it taken from above.
Dinner in Brasov: Gaura Dulce on Republicii Street does good Romanian food at local prices (RON 30 to 55 per main). The Romanian pastrami (pastrama) here is cured and spiced differently from the New York version: drier, more aromatic, eaten cold with bread and pickles.
Day 3: Rasnov, Bran Castle, and Peles Castle
This day requires a rental car or a group day tour from Brasov. Car hire from the city costs around EUR 30 to 50 per day from the main agencies; a local guide-driven day tour covering all three sites runs EUR 50 to 80 per person including transport.
Rasnov Fortress (Cetatea Rasnov) is a 13th-century peasant citadel 16 km from Brasov, built as a refuge for villagers during Mongol and Ottoman raids. The citadel sits on a volcanic rock and was inhabited continuously for six centuries; inside are 37 house foundations and a well that was dug for 200 years before hitting water. Entry costs RON 25. The views over the Barsa Depression and the Bucegi Mountains from the walls are among the best panoramas in the Carpathians.
Bran Castle is 30 km from Brasov and is called “Dracula’s Castle” primarily by tourism operators. Bram Stoker never visited Romania; the castle’s association with Vlad the Impaler (the historical figure loosely behind Dracula) is slight at best. What the castle actually is: a genuinely atmospheric 14th-century fortress with a complex history as a royal residence, now a well-maintained museum. Entry is around RON 80 for adults. Book in advance through the official site (brancastle.com) or you will queue. The summer (June to August) weekend queues are long; go on weekdays or pre-book timed entry.
Peles Castle in Sinaia, 45 km from Brasov, is the building that actually deserves most of a visitor’s time in this region. Built between 1873 and 1883 by Romania’s first king, Carol I, it is a German Renaissance revival palace in a mountain forest setting that is as beautiful in architecture as anything in Bavaria. Ticket prices start from around EUR 25 for adults. Peles is closed Mondays (and Tuesdays in the off-season); book timed entry online at peles.ro in advance during the summer. The interior tour covers 160 rooms of the 160 in the castle, and the armoury and library floors are genuinely interesting rather than repetitive.
Day 4: Sighisoara
Sighisoara is 130 km northwest of Brasov (about 2 hours by car or 2.5 hours by train). The medieval citadel is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the best-preserved in Central Europe: a hilltop fortified town with coloured-tile towers, Gothic churches, and cobblestone streets that have been inhabited continuously since the 12th century.
The Clock Tower (Turnul cu Ceas) is the main entry point to the citadel from the lower town. It houses a museum about the town’s Saxon history (entry RON 15) and the view from the top over the surrounding hills is the natural opening image of any time spent here.
Church on the Hill (Biserica din Deal) sits at the top of the covered 175-step staircase built in 1642 to protect schoolchildren from the weather on their climb to classes. The church interior is relatively simple; the medieval frescoes and the graveyard outside, where 16th and 17th-century carved stones stand among the grass, are the draw.
The house on Strada Cositorarilor 5 displays a plaque identifying it as the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler (circa 1431). It is now a restaurant. The food is decent; the historical tourism value is ambiguous, since the attribution is not documented beyond local tradition.
Lunch in the citadel costs more than in the lower town (tourists stay up, locals descend for meals), but the view from the terrace restaurants justifies the extra RON 10 to 20 on a main course. A full lunch costs RON 60 to 100 per person.
Return to Bucharest or continue to Cluj-Napoca (1.5 hours further) for your onward journey.
Practical Notes
Money: Romanian Leu (RON). EUR 1 is roughly RON 5 in mid-2026. Credit cards are accepted in hotels and most restaurants in Bucharest and Brasov. Carry cash for smaller towns, markets, and castle ticket machines.
Visa: Romania joined Schengen in January 2024 (land and sea borders; air borders were already Schengen from April 2024). EU and EEA citizens enter freely. Non-EU travellers with Schengen visas can use them for Romania. US citizens can stay up to 90 days without a visa. Check current requirements with your embassy if in doubt.
Language: Romanian is a Romance language and Spanish or Italian speakers will recognise more vocabulary than expected. English is widely spoken in Bucharest and tourist areas. In smaller villages and rural areas, German is often more useful than English, reflecting the Saxon heritage of the Transylvania region.
Weather: May to September is the most comfortable period. July and August are warm (26 to 30 degrees Celsius) but mountain areas stay cooler. October is beautiful for foliage in the Carpathians. Winter brings heavy snow to mountain roads, which affects castle access and driving conditions.
The thing Romania does not charge enough for is its food. A full dinner with Romanian wine in a traditional restaurant in Brasov or Sighisoara costs what a cafe sandwich costs in Vienna. Order whatever you want.