Bucharest is the base. Transylvania is the day out.
Which castle day leaves you real time in Brasov, why the Palace of Parliament door wants your passport, and whether the Slanic salt halls beat the rescued bears at Zarnesti. Reviews of the tours you can book from Bucharest.
The old centre, the castle road, the communist city and the salt halls of Slanic.
Four days out that a first Bucharest trip is usually built around, with what each one costs and how the people who went rated it.
01The first afternoonBucharest Highlights Walking TourTwo and a half hours around the old centre with a local guide. The quickest way to get your bearings on day one.
02The castle dayDracula’s Castle, Peles Castle and Brasov Day Trip from BucharestPeles, Bran and Brasov from a Bucharest pickup, back the same night. The trip nearly every visitor ends up taking.
03The communist cityThe Real tour of CommunismThree hours on the Ceausescu decades and the city they left behind, from the apartment blocks to the Parliament boulevard.
04The underground daySlănic Prahova Salt Mine Ticket and TransferThe old salt workings at Slanic Prahova, a cavern the size of a cathedral north of Bucharest, with the transfer included.
Peles, Bran or Rasnov: picking your Transylvania castle day from Bucharest.
The road north climbs the Prahova valley to Sinaia, crosses into Transylvania and fans out towards Bran, Rasnov and Brasov. Every castle day takes a different line through it. This is what each kind costs to board.
Most booked
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · Dracula’s Castle, Peles Castle, & Brasov Old Town · from $40
Bran, Peles and BrasovThe classic loop: Sinaia in the morning, Bran at noon, Brasov old town before the drive home.
Add Rasnov FortressThe hilltop citadel above the Bran road, mostly on days that start from Brasov.
Bears at ZarnestiRescued brown bears at the Libearty sanctuary, often paired with Bran the same day.
The Transfagarasan roadHairpin bends over the Fagaras ridge, open only in the summer months.
Saxon villagesFortified churches at Viscri and Biertan, usually with Sighisoara on the same run.
All 192 Bran Castle days →
Bucharest between the Parliament steps and the Lipscani bars.
Most visitors give the capital one day before heading for the mountains, and most wish they had kept two. Book the Parliament tour early, walk the communist boulevards with a guide, then eat your way through a market hall.
- 1Parliament and the communist cityPalace of Parliament Tickets and Guidefrom $38
- 2Markets and Romanian kitchensTaste Bucharest: A Food Lover’s Tour of Markets & Neighbourhoodsfrom $102
- 3The parks and boulevards by bikeHalf Day Bike Tourfrom $44
- 4Old town after darkBucharest Pub Crawl in the Old Townfrom $26
The tours most people book from Bucharest.
Every tour from the capital →The days out more travellers take from Bucharest than any others, led by the castle loop and the Parliament.
1
Dracula’s Castle, Peles Castle, & Brasov Old Town
Travel from Bucharest to Peleș Castle, Bran Castle, and Brașov with an English, Italian, or Spanish-speaking guide. Expect a full day on the road, castle visits with entrance tickets sold separately, and free time to explore Brașov. Guides such as Otilia, Sonia, Cornelia, and Adrian have led recent departures, but assignments vary.
Seats from $40
Read our review →
2
Dracula’s Castle, Peleș Castle & Brașov Day Trip
from $23
3
Palace of Parliament Tickets and Guide
from $38
4
Bucharest to Dracula Castle, Peles Castle and Brasov Guided Tour
from $33
5
Palace of Parliament Tickets and Guided Tour
from $28
6
Transylvania and Dracula Castle Full Day Tour from Bucharest
from $35
7
Parliament Palace Skip-the-line Ticket
from $29
8
City Highlights Guided Walking Tour
from $21
Six bases for a Romanian trip that starts in Bucharest.
The capital, the Saxon towns over the mountains and the royal summer palace in between. Pick where you sleep and the day trips follow from it.
What a day out of Bucharest really costs.
Every tour on the site, sorted by price. The big-coach castle day sits in the cheapest band, which surprises most people.
Old-centre walks, Parliament tickets, pub crawls and the big-coach castle day.
Small-group castle days, the salt mine, Therme and the run south into Bulgaria.
Private drivers to Transylvania, long food tours with a sit-down feast, multi-day loops.
Three Romanian days you will not find anywhere else in Europe.
Castles exist all over the continent. A salt mountain hollowed into halls, a sanctuary full of bears rescued from roadside cages and a palace built by bulldozing a fifth of a capital do not.
The Slanic Prahova Salt Mine
The old workings at Slanic are trapezoid halls cut deep into a hill of salt, high enough to fit a sports pitch and cool in every season. The walls carry salt carvings left by the miners and the air is dry and still. Most day trips from Bucharest pair it with a late lunch on the drive back.
- 1Slănic Prahova Salt Mine Ticket and Transfer★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 790 reviews
- 2Salt Mine Guided Day Trip to Slănic★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 559 reviews
- 3Slanic Salt Mine Day Trip from Bucharest★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 142 reviews
The Libearty Bear Sanctuary
In the oak woods outside Zarnesti, brown bears rescued from cages beside restaurants, petrol stations and private zoos live out their lives in open enclosures. Visits run as guided walks along the fences at set times, and most tours from Brasov fold it into a day with Bran Castle.
- 1Brasov: Bear Sanctuary, Dracula Castle, and Râşnov Fortress★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 176 reviews
- 2Small group Bears ‘Safari’ on Transfăgărășan -max 7 tourists★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 159 reviews
- 3From Brasov: Brown Bear Watching in the Carpathian Mountains★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 128 reviews
Ceausescu’s Bucharest
In the 1980s a large slice of the old centre was demolished to make room for the Palace of the Parliament and the boulevard laid out in front of it. Communism tours walk that boulevard, the apartment blocks behind it and the square where the regime fell in December 1989.
- 1Palace of Parliament Tickets and Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 3,182 reviews
- 2Palace of Parliament Tickets and Guided Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 1,877 reviews
- 3Parliament Palace Skip-the-line Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 1,518 reviews
Four Bucharest bookings that will not wait for your flight.
Most of Bucharest can be arranged the night before over a ciorba. These four run on ID checks, a mountain road calendar and fixed visiting slots.
- 01Palace of Parliament Tickets and GuideEntry is by guided tour only, and you show a passport or national ID card at the door. Weekend slots fill first.
- 02Small-group max 7 – Top Gear Road – Transfăgărăşan HighwayThe high road over the Fagaras ridge usually opens at the start of July and closes again by November. Outside those months the pass is shut.
- 03Brasov: Bear Sanctuary, Dracula Castle, and Râşnov FortressThe sanctuary only admits visitors on guided walks at set times. A tour that already holds a slot spares you the drive for nothing.
- 04Dracula’s Castle, Peles Castle, & Brasov Old TownPeles Castle is closed to visitors on Mondays. A castle day booked for a Monday sees it from the outside only.
For the August heat and the January freeze in Bucharest.
The capital bakes in high summer, often well past thirty degrees, and freezes hard in winter. Both have the same answer: go underground or under glass. The thermal pools at Therme, the salt halls at Slanic, a museum afternoon or a long wine tasting.
Bulgaria, the Danube Delta and the Black Sea, all within a day of Bucharest.
Bucharest sits about an hour from the Danube and the Bulgarian border. The hilltop fortress at Veliko Tarnovo is a day trip from here, and so are the reed beds of the delta and the Black Sea coast at Constanta.
By place, from the capital to the mountains
By kind of day: castle, city, mountain or table
Bucharest, Sinaia, Bran, Brasov, Sighisoara, Sibiu: the loop most first trips follow.
New reviews of tours from Bucharest.
Freshly reviewed from Bucharest →
Private Transfer and 3H Tickets to Therme Bucharest
Read our review →
Snowmobiles, Sky Lift & Winter Sports – Private Tour
Read our review →
Day Trip Through Brasov in Transylvania and Bran, Peles, and Rasnov Castles
Read our review →
Day Trip from Bucharest to Dracula Castle, Brasov and Peles Castle Sinaia
Read our review →
Premium 8-Day Private Culinary Vacation in Romania
Read our review →
Slavery in Romania Myths and Truths About Gypsies
Read our review →
2 Days – Private Tour to Transylvania – Brașov, Sighișoara, Sibiu
Read our review →
Royal Delights – Sinaia with Peles Palace and Gardens Day Trip from Bucharest
Read our review →
Therme Spa Ultimate Experience | Transfer – Full Access All Areas
Read our review →