2 weeks in Romania in May

Perhaps this will help.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/trip-reports-on-romania-sept-2025

I would add that the guide we used does a lot of photography tour guiding (he was headed to one after finishing our trip). I’m not one for tours, but we definitely got value for money on this private tour. You might want to use Teo for Maramures and Bukovina in particular.

I agree with TexasTravelMom. The big issue is not really getting there but knowing where to go. And having a local guide, at least for the areas that TTM mentioned, will get you to places that you may not have realized existed (especially in Maramures). And keep in mind that public transportation in Romania is probably not at the same level as you will find in most places in Western Europe, especially when you get to the more outlying areas. Definitely in Maramures it would be difficult to get to some of the wonderful places we saw without either a car or a driver/tour guide.

For what it's worth, my favorite places in Romania were Bucharest, Brasov, Bukovina, Maramures, Timișoara, and Sibiu.

I agree: Maramures is special--and really not visitable by public transportation. It's worth taking a multi-day tour of that area. I found one via the webpage of the Retro Hostel in Cluj-Napoca, the city from which the tour departed. I'm sure there are other options for touring that area.

https://www.retro.ro/retro-tours

Romania was very inexpensive at the time of my 2015 trip, and I'm sure it remains a lot less expensive than western Europe. My 2-day tour was actually 2 nights and 3 full days. It cost not much more than the equivalent of 100 euros plus 20 or 25 euros for 2 nights and 3 excellent, home-grown meals at a rural B&B. Our group was just 3 people, so we used the guide's car.

That tour didn't run on any particular schedule, so I was lucky there was enough demand at the right time for me. However, I suspect even today that tour could be arranged for just two people at quite a reasonable price.

We also spent time in Maramures and Bucovina in September, and these two regions, with the wooden churches, rural villages, painted monasteries, and mountain vistas, made our trip especially enjoyable and memorable. We also spent time in Cluj, Sibiu, Sighisoara, Brasov, and Bucharest. I agree with others that you either need to drive or take a tour to see Maramures and Bucovina. My husband did all the driving, and it really was very easy. Hardly any traffic in most places, and most of the roads are in good condition.

The Retro prices are still affordable (in my opinion) but they have definitely gone up since 2015. We priced both Retro (Florian) and Teo (and several others) in January. Per day, costs were close to the same. And both private tours were cheaper than the “small group” tour companies who take 8-10 or even more.

The train Bucharest to Brasov was under 3 hours but trains to other areas are long. There are busses and you could do quite a bit that way but Bucovina and Maramures are just hard - but absolutely worthwhile. I had no idea. If you aren’t driving, consider a guide for these areas. You will need 5 days and 6 wouldn’t hurt.

I also really liked Sibiu. If your wife likes to photograph buildings, the architecture is very photogenic. We had 2 nights - I would have like 3 or 4. Timisoara might be a bit out of the way with 2 weeks, unless you are fast movers. We were fast because someone else was making all the arrangements and we didn’t waste time on parking, finding lunch or dinner, etc. Even so, I could have used more days, with our itinerary.

You might have time for Bucharest, Brasov, Bucovina, Maramures, and Sibiu. But probably not more.

Thanks appreciated - will have a bit more of a google around these points. May look as well and see if driving is feasible or desired

The Retro prices are still affordable (in my opinion) but they have definitely gone up since 2015.

I found that out as well. Before I joined with Texas Travel Mom and CWSocial on the private tour with Teo, I researched a tour using Retro (with Florian as the guide) and for 3 days (2 nights) the costs would have been about half that of the 13-day private tour we went on with Teo. One caveat; this was the price for a solo traveler, and the cost would have obviously gone down for 2+ travelers, but it was still much pricier than I expected.

Terry, here is our itinerary in case it helps you plan, especially if you decide to rent a car.

We flew from Boston to Iasi, Romania (with a layover in Vienna). Why Iasi? It is in Moldavia not too far from Bucovina. It's a lovely city to spend a few nights. And it saved us a lot of driving. If we flew in and out of Bucharest, we would have a lot more driving to do because Bucharest is in southern Romania and Maramures and Bucovina are in northern Romania. So we didn't have to backtrack or make a loop.

Iasi - 2 nights
Gura Humorului (to see the painted monasteries) - 2 nights
Sighetu Marmatei - typically referred to as Sighet (to see the wooden churches, Sighet Prison Museum and Merry Cemetery - 3 nights
Cluj - (to see the Turda Salt Mine) a lovely city - a nice surprise - wish we had more time here - 1 night
Sibiu - 4 nights - we did day trips from here - absolutely love Sibiu
Sighisoara - 1 night
Brasov - 2 nights
Bucharest - 2 nights

If you are interested in seeing Peles Castle, be sure to make reservations at least several days in advance. I didn't think it was necessary to have advance reservations in September, and we were not able to get tickets. One reason is that we were there on a Sunday, and it was mobbed.

During my 2015 trip I estimated (roughly) that it didn't much matter whether I took a bus or train--I covered about 30 miles per hour. I'm retired and never rent a car in Europe, so I'm accustomed to the limitations of public transportation, but the lack of express trains in Romania definitely affects how much ground you can cover per day or per week. Logistically, it's quite different from traveling around western Europe. Unlike the rural areas of Maramurs and Bucovina, you can get to the significant cities mentioned in this thread, but not very fast.

thanks for help looks like we are going for
3 nights in Bucharest
3 nights in Brasov
3 nights in Sighisoara
4 nights in Sibiu
3 nights in Sinaia
1 night back in Bucharest

All using the train then we will see how it goes and return another time to do the north. Maybe combine coming from Hungary or Moldova. May look to do it via car or campervan in future - just dont want to drive this time as have other driving trips planned in June and sept.
Must confess when looking at the accomadation did have to double check that hadnt just checked for the day rate.

Thanks for circling back. You have a very tidy tight set of locations doable by public transportation. Be sure to come back with a report - there isn’t a ton of info here for Romania.

I’d suggest staying a few days in Bucharest for the old town. If you want a short hike with great views, Sinaia has Peles Castle and some easy trails in the Bucegi Mountains.