Romania: Bucharest, Transylvania, Peleș, the Danube Delta, best time to visit, getting there and costs 2026

Romania suits you if you want to combine cities, castles and monasteries on one trip: Bucharest, the fortified churches of Transylvania, Peleș Castle in Sinaia or the churches of Moldavia. Eleven sites in the country are on UNESCO's World Heritage List, including the Danube Delta (as of September 2026).

New in Bucharest in 2026 is the fixed tourist tax of 10 lei per guest and night; in 2025 it was still 1% of the accommodation price. Tickets for Peleș Castle have been available only online or from a machine since 3 December 2025. And demand is growing: from January to July 2026, 8.5% more passengers flew from Germany to Romania than in the same period of the previous year (own analysis).

Romania suits you less if you can only travel in July or August and want to avoid heat. Then the daily high in Bucharest is above 30 °C on average. A beach holiday with a flight straight to the coast is also difficult: only 191 passengers boarded for Constanța from Germany in 2025.

Getting there from Germany

From the 22 main German airports, exactly 1,731,940 passengers whose last known destination was Romania departed in 2025. Among 211 destination countries outside Germany, that is 13th place; connecting passengers abroad are not counted. Just under 47% had Bucharest-Otopeni as their destination (807,406). Next come Cluj-Napoca (258,865), Timișoara (239,221), Sibiu (210,324), Iași (82,285) and Suceava (48,899).

Most started from Munich (445,819), Dortmund (311,921), Memmingen (249,954) and Frankfurt (233,940). The source is the Federal Statistical Office; totals, ranking and breakdown are own analysis.

Bucharest-Otopeni (OTP): train to the north station

CFR Călători trains take you every day from Henri Coandă Airport to București Nord station in 20 to 25 minutes (as of September 2026). The flat fare is 6.50 lei; if you only pay on the train from the conductor, you spend 13 lei (fares since 14 December 2025).

In the city, a journey by bus, tram or trolleybus with STB costs 3 lei for 90 minutes, and with the metro 7 lei for 120 minutes. On buses, trams and trolleybuses with a Visa and Mastercard logo, you hold a contactless bank card, your phone or your watch to the validator (as of September 2026).

Cluj, Timișoara, Sibiu and Brașov

Cluj-Napoca (CLJ): Lines 5 and 8 and line A1, which the airport calls “A1E”, run into the city. According to the airport, you need about 26 minutes to the centre (page dated 23 February 2026). A journey with CTP costs 3.50 lei, which can also be paid contactless on board (as of September 2026).

Timișoara (TSR): The express bus E4 takes you to the Bastion stop in the centre, and the E4b to the main station. A 60-minute ticket costs 5 lei (fares of 31 July 2025).

Sibiu (SBZ): Tursib line 11 stops right at the terminal, and the 60-minute ticket costs 3.5 lei (as of September 2026).

Brașov-Ghimbav (GHV): The airport is 12 km from Brașov and has been in operation since 15 June 2023. According to the airport, Wizz Air flies to Dortmund, Memmingen and Nuremberg, among others (as of September 2026).

Regions and destinations at a glance

Passenger numbers: 2025, own analysis. Where there is a dash, the sources name no drawback.

Brașov and Bran. The Black Church in Brașov costs 30 lei for adults, and from 16 October 2026 to April 2027 it closes at 18:00 (page dated 26 August 2026). The founding charter of Bran Castle dates from 19 November 1377. The standard ticket with guided tour and royal park costs 40 RON (28 September to 31 December 2026); in summer it was 60 RON (as of September 2026).

Transylvania. The old town of Sighișoara has been a World Heritage Site since 1999, as a testimony to the Transylvanian Saxons. Added to this are seven villages with fortified churches, such as Biertan, where three rings of walls surround the church, as well as Viscri and Prejmer. In Saschiz, according to the National Heritage Institute, the first church was built in 1496 that was planned from the outset as a fortified building in itself.

Suceava and the churches of Moldavia. With “Ștefan cel Mare”, Suceava has an airport of its own, whose website presents the town as the “gateway to Bukovina”. Eight churches of Moldavia are World Heritage Sites, including Voroneț, Humor and Sucevița. Building the church of Voroneț took three months and three weeks in 1488 under Stephen the Great, and the interior painting followed in 1496.

Danube Delta. According to the World Heritage description, no other delta in Europe is as large and as well preserved, and more than 300 bird species are counted there.

Best time to visit: Bucharest and the coast compared

The figures are WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 that Romania has reported to the WMO: mean daily high and low and precipitation per month.

In Bucharest, July and August bring on average 17.6 and 18.6 days with at least 30 °C; on the coast there are only 15.3 in the whole year. In May and September Bucharest reaches a mean of 24.1 and 25.0 °C by day. According to the weather service ANM, however, May is changeable, and the rain then often comes as heavy downpours. In autumn, according to ANM, October is the most settled month, and Bucharest then counts 5.6 rain days on average.

Getting around the country

Rail

What a journey with CFR Călători costs depends on the kilometre zone, class and train type. Where a reservation is compulsory, you pay a seat reservation extra, 6.50 lei on InterCity and InterRegio (fares since 14 December 2025). The official Infofer timetable also lists trains of private railways such as Softrans or Astra Trans Carpatic and links to their ticket sales (as of September 2026).

Example Bucharest–Constanța: the InterCity takes around 2 hours, the InterRegio 2 hours 20 minutes. In 2nd class with a seat reservation you pay 105 and 92 lei respectively (as of May 2026). In its announcement of May 2026, CFR gave a 10% discount if you buy at least 11 days before departure.

In 2026 the summer trains to the coast ran from 12/13 June to 6/7 September. Towards the Danube Delta you take the train via Medgidia as far as Tulcea Oraș (as of May 2026).

Car and roads

Without the “Rovinieta” e-vignette you may use neither motorways nor national roads; only motorcycles do not need one. The vignette is booked to your number plate, which fixed and mobile cameras capture; you do not pass through a toll station. You can buy it at petrol stations, at the border or online, also in German (as of September 2026).

The Fetești–Cernavodă Danube bridge costs cars an extra 19 lei per crossing (as of 26 September 2026). Cars may drive 50 km/h in built-up areas, 90 outside them, 100 on expressways and 130 on motorways. A limit of 0.0 per mille applies at the wheel, and outside built-up areas and on the motorway you drive with dipped headlights all year round, in the daytime too. A fire extinguisher and two warning triangles are compulsory equipment (as of September 2026).

A German driving licence is enough; according to ADAC, you do not need an international one. You find petrol stations open round the clock mainly on the main roads; in rural areas most close as early as 21:00 (as of September 2026).

Money and costs

The table gives prices from the operators and the city of Bucharest as they appear there: in lei, RON or euro.

You pay in the Romanian leu (RON); Romania has not yet introduced the euro. According to ADAC, Visa, Mastercard and mobile payment are accepted mainly by hotels, supermarkets and shops in the cities. For villages, small shops and smaller restaurants you should carry lei in cash (as of September 2026).

The tourist tax in Bucharest was decided by the city's General Council on 23 December 2025 for 2026. It applies in all accommodation, from hotels to campsites, and can also be collected via the booking platform. Two people therefore pay 60 lei for three nights (own calculation).

Practical information

Clocks in Romania run one hour ahead of German time all year round. According to the constitution, the official language is Romanian. The country has been part of the EU since 2007, so you phone and surf there at the same prices as at home (as of September 2026).

You can reach the emergency services free of charge on 112. The mains supply is 230 volts and 50 hertz, and the sockets are type C and F. According to ADAC, plugs from Germany fit without an adapter (as of September 2026).

Until the end of 2026, 30 November, the national day on 1 December, and 25 and 26 December are still public holidays (holiday list as of 8 January 2026). On public holidays, Salina Turda, for example, charges the weekend price.

The current rules on entry, safety and health are set out by the German Foreign Office.

Who Romania is not for

• Anyone who wants to drive in a relaxed way: In 2025, according to provisional figures, 68 people per million inhabitants died in road traffic in Romania, against 34 in Germany (European Commission, March 2026).
• Anyone who wants to avoid heat: In July and August Bucharest has on average 17.6 and 18.6 days respectively with at least 30 °C (1991 to 2020).
• Anyone looking for a mild winter: In January, according to ANM, the mean temperature is below zero almost everywhere in the country, and Bucharest then counts 26.7 frost days on average.
• Anyone planning a beach holiday with a flight to the coast: Only 191 passengers flew from Germany to Constanța in 2025.
• Anyone who wants to pay by card everywhere: Outside the cities and in small shops you still need cash, according to ADAC.
• Anyone who wants to visit a castle spontaneously: Peleș is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and entirely closed from 2 November to 1 December 2026, and tickets cannot be returned.