Everyone arrives for Dracula. The mountains are why they stay.
Which castle day trip really stops at Peleș, what the Transfăgărășan costs in the few weeks it is open, and how far Brașov actually is from the capital. Reviews of every tour you can book in Romania.
The Parliament, a salt mine, the painted monasteries, Sibiu.
Four days out that between them cover the concrete capital, the country under it, the frescoes of Bucovina and one Saxon square. What each costs and what the people who took it say.
01The capitalPalace of Parliament Tickets and GuideThe heaviest building on earth, and you see maybe a twentieth of it. Entry is a timed guided slot and the door checks your passport.
02UndergroundSlănic Prahova Salt Mine Ticket and TransferSalt chambers the size of cathedrals ninety minutes north of Bucharest. Twelve degrees down there whatever the month, so bring a jacket.
03BucovinaBucovina Painted Monasteries Day TourMonasteries painted on the outside walls, five centuries of weather, and the blue still holding. Four hours from anywhere and worth the drive.
04Saxon squaresSibiu: Daily Sightseeing Guided TourSibiu on foot in an afternoon, with the eyelid windows in the roofs watching you cross the square.
Bran, Peleș, Râșnov, Corvin: four castles, four completely different days.
Most people take all of them from Bucharest in one very long minibus day. Split them up and each one belongs to a different country. What it costs to reach each.
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Small-group tour Bran, Rasnov, and Peles Castles
Bran and the long dayThe classic run out of the capital: Bran, Peleș, then Brașov old town.
Peleș on its ownSinaia in the morning, the royal rooms, back before dinner.
Râșnov, the ridge fortressA short hop from Brașov: the citadel villagers built to hide in.
Corvin, the one missedOut west at Hunedoara. A drawbridge castle that looks invented.
All 208 castle reviews →
Bucharest first, then somewhere inside the Carpathian arc.
The capital for the Parliament and the Communist decades, Brașov for castles and bears, Cluj for the salt mine at Turda, Sibiu and Sighișoara for the Saxon squares. Six places to start from, and the best day out of each.
Europe keeps most of its brown bears in these mountains.
Hides above Brașov that seat a fixed number of guests a night, wolf and lynx country on either side, and a road that climbs past two thousand metres in the few weeks the snow lets it.
Romania’s most-booked days out.
Every tour in Romania →The days out that carry more travellers than anything else in the country, and what each one actually gets you through the gate for.
1
Dracula’s Castle, Peles Castle, & Brasov Old Town
Review of Bucharest’s 12-hour trip to Peleș Castle, Bran Castle, and Brașov, with practical advice on price, timing, tickets, and winter travel.
From · $40
Read our review →
2
Palace of Parliament Tickets and Guide
from $38
3
Transylvania and Dracula Castle Full Day Tour from Bucharest
from $35
4
Parliament Palace Skip-the-line Ticket
from $29
5
City Highlights Guided Walking Tour
from $21
6
Small-group tour Bran, Rasnov, and Peles Castles
from $82
7
Peles Castle, Bran Castle, & Brasov Full-Day Tour
from $31
8
Slănic Prahova Salt Mine Ticket and Transfer
from $55
Bucharest keeps its best century hidden behind the concrete.
Belle Époque arcades, an old town that drinks until it is light again, and the largest thing Ceaușescu managed to build. These three walks between them explain how the city ended up like this.
- 1City Highlights Guided Walking Tourfrom $21
- 2The Real tour of Communismfrom $32
- 3Life under Communismfrom $42
What a day out in Romania actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. Romania is cheap by European standards, and most of the gap between these bands is transport rather than the thing itself.
Old-town walks, palace and museum entry, the salt-mine transfers and short runs out of Brașov.
Full-day standards: the three-castle run from Bucharest, an evening at a bear hide, Turda and the Transfăgărășan by minibus.
Private drivers, two-day Transylvania loops, and the long hauls north to Maramureș and Bucovina.
Three things that happen in Romania and nowhere else.
Castles and mountains are everywhere in Europe. A church with its Bible painted on the outside, a salt mine with a ferris wheel in it, and a river that runs out of road are not.
The Painted Monasteries
Five hundred years ago the monasteries of northern Moldavia had their walls painted on the outside — the whole Bible laid across the plaster for a congregation that could not read a word of it. The blue at Voroneț is distinct enough that art historians gave it its own name. They stand in farmyards, and the weather has taken almost nothing.
- 13-Castle: Peles,Bran,Rasnov,Sinaia Monastery from Brasov w pickup★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 274 reviews
- 2Bucovina Painted Monasteries Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 83 reviews
- 3Princely Court of Târgoviște and Curtea de Argeș Monastery★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 50 reviews
The Salt Mines
Romania hollowed out its salt for centuries and then started putting things in the holes. Turda has a ferris wheel, a rowing lake and a mini-golf course under the hill. Slănic Prahova has chambers you could stand a cathedral in. It is twelve degrees down there in August, so nobody warns you enough about the coat.
- 1Slănic Prahova Salt Mine Ticket and Transfer★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 790 reviews
- 2Turda Salt Mine, Corvin Castle, Alba Carolina Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 184 reviews
- 3Turda Salt Mine, Gorge, and Remetea Full-Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 84 reviews
The Danube Delta
The Danube reaches the Black Sea and gives up, spreading into reed channels that move from one year to the next. More pelicans breed here than anywhere else in Europe, and the villages at the far end of the channels have never had a road to them at all.
- 1Day Trip to Danube Delta★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 39 reviews
- 2Danube Delta – Private Tour with Boat Trip & Traditional Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 24 reviews
- 3Guided Birdwatching day trip to the Danube Delta – private program★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 23 reviews
Four Romanian bookings that will not wait for you.
Most of this country can be arranged over breakfast on the day. These four run on mountain snow, a fixed number of hide seats and timed entry slots, none of which care when your flight lands.
- 01Small-group max 7 – Top Gear Road – Transfăgărăşan HighwayThe high section over the ridge is gated shut for most of the year and opens around the start of July. Outside that window the day turns around at the dam.
- 02Brown Bear Watching in the Carpathian MountainsA hide seats a fixed number of guests an evening and each one needs a permit. Through the depth of winter the bears are denned and the hides do not run at all.
- 03Palace of Parliament Tickets and GuideEntry is by timed guided slot only, the door checks photo ID against the booking, and the good afternoon slots go days ahead.
- 04Day Trip to Danube DeltaThe channel boats run to a timetable set by the light, and the villages at the end of them have no road. Miss the boat and there is no second way in.
When the passes shut and it is dark by four.
November to March closes the mountain roads and cuts the day down to almost nothing. It also empties the castles and opens the other Romania: a hundred metres underground, in a thermal dome on the edge of the capital, or in a cellar with a plate of sarmale in front of you.
By place — the capital, the Carpathians, the Saxon towns
By kind of day — castle, mountain road, mine or table
Bucharest, Sinaia, Brașov, Sighișoara, Sibiu, Cluj: the loop almost everybody drives first.
Bucharest
Sinaia
Brașov
Sighișoara
Sibiu
Cluj-NapocaThe most recent Romanian reviews.
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