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.

Dear Terry,
Based on your latest post about where you plan to stay and how many nights, I have a few suggestions from my experience as a tour guide and a Romanian who has visited those places many times.

Sinaia, Brasov, and Sighisoara share many common sights and activities. If you spend 3 nights in Sinaia, you might get bored unless you plan is to sleep, relax, read or go to the hotel spa. I'd spend 2 nights in Sinaia. In Sighisoara, I'd do the same, 2 nights will give you plenty of time to see the quaint medieval town and visit some villages around.
I'll keep 3 nights in Brasov in the idea of having day trips outside Brasov to visit and enjoy the beautiful scenery and the Saxon fortified churches and fortresses, like Harman, Prejmer, Rasnov, Bran or Rupea.
Again, 4 nights in Sibiu might be a stretch, unless you decide to use Sibiu as a base to go further into the Western Carpathians and the Western Transylvanian counties, like Hunedoara and Alba. Or even do some hikes in the Fagaras Mountains area. If that's not on your list of interests, again 4 nights will bring a lot of boredom.
I don't know if the way you listed the towns where you are going to stay reflect a chronological order, or not. But if you plan indeed to start in Bucharest and go to Brasov, Sighisoara, Sibiu and from there to Sinaia and back to Bucharest, I highly recommend changing the order. This itinerary is complicated and counterintuitive, even with a car, not to mention by train.

I would rather go like this:
Bucharest
Sinaia
Brasov
Sighisoara
Sibiu
Bucharest
Bucharest to Sinaia and Sinaia to Brasov is going to be the easiest and most comfortable train rides. Brasov to Sighisoara will take 3 hrs 40 mins (the fastest) or 4 hrs 25 mins (the slowest), but delays are very likely to happen. Sighisoara to Sibiu is shorter, 2 hrs 15 min but there are only 2 direct trains per day. Sibiu to Bucharest gets even more complicated and tricky. There is only one direct train at a decent hour, late in the afternoon, and it takes at least 6 hrs and 30 mins, if there are no delays, which is unlikely, to get to Bucharest. Inforer.ro has all the info about the trains in Romania, prices and so on.
I hope my very long message is helpful, and feel free to ask more questions if you have.
Safe travels and enjoy your Romanian adventures!

feedback from trip: We flew from Edinburgh with KLM Bucharest via Amsterdam. Security was 15 mins. Took 100 bus from the airport into Bucharest then 7 minute walk to the Airbnb. Spent 3 nights in Bucharest about £65 a night for a great apartment, this wasn't enough time in Bucharest only caught a glimpse. Bucharest really easy to get around with public transport.

Train from Bucharest to Brasov. Booked in advance via the app and booked first class express train. The train was older but comfortable, left exactly on time but arrived late, was really slow - often the clock would say travelling 17 km/h. Not sure if there was a great deal of difference with first and second? Train station really easy to see where to get the train etc, the ticketing etc worked great and conductors were really quick to check ticket and really friendly

Then spent 3 nights in Brasov, again Airbnb and was again circa £60 per night superb. Whilst there we did go to Bran castle and we used the bus from autogara2. Read a few reviews that said this was hard to find and basically a nightmare. We found it really easy to find and when you get there were a few small buses there and then have a clear sign in their window saying where they are going, when you board the driver knows where you are going but points to a spreadsheet in the window with a matrix of the prices , I think its cash only we certainly assumed that and had exact money ready. Bus was fine again an older bus but perfectly fine, quick and easy. We also booked the castle in advance and had the first slot at opening , it was busy but got straight in but in hindsight wish we had booked say 1 or later as would have been quieter after the initial rush - we went on Monday so opens at 12.
We also went up to the Brasov sign via the Tampa chairlift. Think 3 nights in Brasov was fine but you could easily spend more time there and use as a base.

We then got a train from Brasov to Sighisoara - first class express, super slow late train, cheap - the trains definitely seem to take 2 to 3 times longer than expected. Again Airbnb £70 per night but again superb value. I think most people would say 3 nights is too long here but I enjoyed the slower pace.

To Sibiu for 4 nights , train regional 2nd class. Perfectly ok rally slow and late. We did the astra museum , the zoo and then just really around the town. This again would be a great base to travel around if you had a car or can probably do with the local buses and vans.

Moved to Sinaia for three nights , first class express and yes slow and late. Accomadation Airbnb , cheap and good but Sinaia seems to be like two towns in one the north and the south , we stayed in the south and ideally should have been in the north. We visited Peles castle, booked in advance and went to the first tour, this was really busy and we had 48 Slovakian students on the English tour that clearly had no interest in the place so talked the whole way around, I think if we had waiting to the later ones it would have been quieter and a lot better. Then went to Pilisor and this was a lot quieter and only 5 in our tour group so guide could be heard and went through lots more. We also went to nevermore academy in Bustini - we bought the ticket from the machine then had to wait 60 mins to get our allocated train although it seemed that 2 others passed by that stopped at Bustini , we later learned on the return that if you look on the board some trains are marked privat you could have jumped on them and just paid on board. Nevermore academy does get slagged of a bit as the tour is in Romanian only and you scan codes and get a bit of info, ours probably was strange as their was probably about 15 in the group , 2 who spoke Romanian and then probably about 10 that spoke English, the guides English was excellent as well but catered to the 2 - personally I wasn't that bothered and can see both sides of this argument. To me it was worth it as well it's Wednesday.

slight add on to above

Then went back to Bucharest via 2nd class rail , again slow and late. We stayed 1 night and flew home.

We heard so many don't hire a car its a nightmare but roads looked ok and driving didn't seem erratic, I would hire a car next time in order to see more. Cost wise Romania is extremely attractive to us. I wouldn't have any issues getting trains but they are really slow.
All towns in cities felt extremely safe to walk about and everyone was friendly and welcoming. Outside of the tourist bits english wasnt widely spoken but german is so can muddle through in a few goes also google translate works great, indeed we had a whole meal and all communication with waitress was with this .

Would also maybe look at coming in from say Budapest and then going back from say Sofia or such like. Certainly i would say if never been then get it on your list

Certainly i would say if never been then get it on your list

I agree 100%!

Thanks for coming back to report on the process of traveling by train.

You are right - there’s a lot to see in Bucharest and 3 days is short. But it’s a start. And I agree the apartments in Brasov and Bucharest were very reasonable. It sounds like you had a wonderful time!

After riding with Teo, the only place I would not be interested in driving is in Bucharest - like many major cities across Europe.

Now I am starting to feel like I need a return.

The train stories bring back memories. Why my statement early on. But sure, perfectly workable. I rode them a lot on on a trip about ten years ago, I knew what to expect and had a blast like I bet you did. Makes me want to go back. Hey, if you liked. There is this great narrow gauge train that runs through the forests and hills in Bulgaria.

Great trip report. I am enjoying it. I want to go back.

agree wouldnt drive in bucharest as they like the horn but everywhere else looked pretty easy and thats included for me they drive on the wrong side, roads looked ok , petrol is pretty expensive but probably same as scotland anyway