7 Days in Bucharest: The Castle Run
Seven days is the full loop: Peles and Pelisor at Sinaia, Bran Castle and Rasnov Fortress from a Brasov base, an overnight in Sighisoara, and a buffer day back in Bucharest so the flight home doesn’t ride on a delayed train. Tighter on time? The 6 day version drops the buffer day; the 5 day skips Sighisoara entirely.
Book these before you go
- Peles and Pelisor timed entry slots , book online before summer, capped at 2,000 and 1,500 visitors a day
- Bran Castle tickets
- A Brasov hotel for nights 2 and 3
- A Sighisoara guesthouse for night 4 , inside the citadel walls if you can get it
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.
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, direct from Bucharest it’s 6 to 6.5 hours. 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 back 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. Budget the whole day for travel and arrive back in the capital by evening.
Day 7: Buffer day and departure
Keep this day deliberately light. Spend it at Therme Bucuresti, the large thermal-spa complex outside the city, or a slower morning in Cismigiu Gardens and a last round of Old Town shopping. Either way, a buffer day here absorbs any delay from the previous day’s long train ride without threatening your flight out of Henri Coanda.
Why build in a buffer day instead of flying out right after Sighisoara?
Because the return leg from Sighisoara is 6 to 6.5 hours of train with real delay risk on a single-track regional line, not a guaranteed connection. Scheduling your flight for the morning after that ride, rather than the same evening, means a late train costs you a relaxed day at Therme Bucuresti instead of a missed flight.
Is Therme Bucuresti worth a full day after six days of castles?
Yes, precisely because it’s the opposite of a castle. It’s a large indoor thermal-spa and waterpark complex outside the city with zone-based pricing depending on how many hours and which section you pick, a genuinely different, low-effort way to close out a trip heavy on trains, cobblestones, and timed entry slots.
| 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 |
| 7 | Buffer day, Therme Bucuresti | Local only | 200-350 |
Book the flight home for the afternoon or later on day 7, not the morning, that single-track return train from Sighisoara is not something to cut close.