6 Days in Bucharest: The Castle Run

Six days is the shortest window that fits Sighisoara properly. Peles and Bran come first from a Bucharest and Brasov base, then you push on to the Saxon citadel for one overnight before the long ride home. Only got 5 days? Skip Sighisoara and see the 5 day version . Want a buffer day in Bucharest at the end? Take the 7 day itinerary instead.

Book these before you go

Day 1: Arrival and the Old Town at night

Land at Henri Coanda Airport (OTP), take Express Bus 100 (about 3 RON) or the direct rail shuttle to Gara de Nord (20-25 minutes). Line M6 does not reach the airport yet in 2026. Check in, then dinner of sarmale and mici in Lipscani’s Old Town.

Day 2: Peles and Pelisor, Sinaia

Train to Sinaia, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours. Peles Castle, built for King Carol I between 1873 and 1914, is carved walnut paneling and stained glass, a genuine royal residence: the full tour costs 100 RON adult / 25 RON student, ground-floor-only runs 50 RON / 12.5 RON. Pelisor adds about 30 RON adult / 7.5 RON student. Book your timed slot before you leave, both castles cap daily visitors since June 2025. Return to Bucharest for the night.

Day 3: Relocate to Brasov, then Bran Castle

Train to Brasov, roughly 2.5 to 3 hours, check into a hotel there. Bran Castle is 30-45 minutes away by bus or taxi. Its “Dracula’s castle” branding is a 1970s tourism invention, Stoker never visited Romania and Vlad the Impaler’s real link to the building is thin at best. Go anyway for the hilltop fortress and Queen Marie’s rooms, standard adult entry runs about 120 RON. Evening in Brasov’s old town: the Black Church, Council Square.

Day 4: Rasnov Fortress and Mount Tampa

A full day around Brasov: Rasnov Fortress, a hilltop medieval stronghold a short bus ride away, then the cable car up Mount Tampa for Carpathian views. Second and last night in Brasov, tomorrow you push further north.

Day 5: Relocate to Sighisoara

Train from Brasov to Sighisoara, a further 3.5 to 4 hours. This leg is why Sighisoara is an overnight, not a rushed day trip, from Bucharest it’s 6 to 6.5 hours direct. Spend the afternoon and evening inside the UNESCO-listed medieval citadel: the covered stairway, the Clock Tower, and the house traditionally identified as Vlad the Impaler’s birthplace, a genuinely stronger, if still contested, claim than Bran’s. Overnight inside or near the citadel walls.

Day 6: Sighisoara morning, then home to Bucharest

A last walk of the citadel’s cobbled lanes and defensive towers before the long ride back: direct trains to Bucharest run 6 to 6.5 hours, or split the trip with a shorter transfer through Brasov. Either way, budget the whole day for travel and arrive back in the capital by evening.

Why does Sighisoara need an overnight and Brasov doesn’t?

Distance and train speed. Brasov is a 2.5 to 3 hour hop from Bucharest, short enough to day-trip in a pinch even if relocating is smarter. Sighisoara sits a further 3.5 to 4 hours past Brasov, or 6 to 6.5 hours direct from Bucharest, numbers that make a same-day round trip a wasted day of pure transit rather than a visit.

Is Sighisoara’s Vlad the Impaler connection more real than Bran’s?

More real, not airtight. A house inside the citadel is traditionally identified as Vlad’s birthplace and the claim has genuine local and historical grounding, unlike Bran’s largely debunked “imprisonment” story. Treat it as the stronger of two contested claims rather than settled fact, and enjoy the citadel on its own considerable medieval merits either way.

Day Focus Travel time Rough daily cost (RON)
1 Arrival, Old Town dinner 20-50 min airport to center 200-300
2 Sinaia: Peles and Pelisor 1.5-2h each way by train 300-380
3 Relocate to Brasov, Bran Castle 2.5-3h to Brasov, 30-45 min to Bran 350-450
4 Rasnov Fortress, Mount Tampa Local bus and cable car 250-350
5 Relocate to Sighisoara 3.5-4h from Brasov 300-400
6 Sighisoara morning, return to Bucharest 6-6.5h direct or via Brasov 250-350

Buy the Brasov to Sighisoara ticket a day ahead rather than at the counter, the direct services are fewer than the Bucharest-Brasov corridor and do sell out on summer weekends.