7 Days in Bucharest: The City-Only Itinerary
Seven days extends the same spine as our 6 day version : Days 1-6 cover the Palace of the Parliament, the 1989 revolution sites, the Village Museum, Cismigiu Gardens, a full Therme spa day, and the Cotroceni and Primaverii neighborhoods, and Day 7 is a deliberately loose wrap-up day before departure. This is a city-only week, if you want to bolt on the Transylvania castles, our Bucharest guide has that trip mapped separately.
Book these before you go
- Palace of Parliament tour: phone booking mandatory, at least 24 hours ahead, no online sales, passport or ID required, rules on cic.cdep.ro
- Hotel in or near the Old Town: check rates on Booking.com
- Therme Bucuresti on a weekend: pricing is dynamic and it gets busy, worth reserving ahead
- A guided Bucharest communism and 1989 history tour: book via GetYourGuide
- A Palace of Parliament skip-the-line English tour: book via Viator
| Day | Focus | Getting around | Rough daily cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palace of Parliament, Old Town | Walking plus one Bolt ride | 150-220 RON |
| 2 | Revolution Square, Athenaeum | Metro or Bolt | 130-200 RON |
| 3 | Village Museum, King Michael I Park | Metro | 100-160 RON |
| 4 | Cismigiu Gardens, Calea Victoriei | Walking | 90-150 RON |
| 5 | Therme Bucuresti (full day spa) | Bolt or shuttle to Balotesti | 150-260 RON |
| 6 | National History Museum, Cotroceni, Primaverii | Metro plus Bolt | 90-150 RON |
| 7 | Old Town wrap-up, departure | Walking, then Express Bus 100 or train to OTP | 80-140 RON |
Day 1: Palace of Parliament and the Old Town
Start at the Palace of the Parliament, still not fully finished since Ceausescu began it in 1984, commonly cited as the heaviest building on Earth. The standard tour runs about 60 RON adult, 30 RON student, 20 RON child, plus a 10 RON basement add-on, booked by phone at least 24 hours ahead, nothing sells online or at the door. Bring an actual passport.
In the afternoon, walk into the Old Town (Lipscani) and sit down for sarmale and ciorba at Caru’ cu Bere or Hanul lui Manuc, roughly 115-135 RON per person with drinks, then stay out along Strada Lipscani once it’s dark.
Day 2: Revolution Square and the Romanian Athenaeum
Spend the morning at Piata Revolutiei, where Ceausescu’s final speech was booed down live on 21 December 1989 before his execution four days later. The Memorial of Rebirth obelisk (“the potato,” to locals) marks the spot, ringed by the former Royal Palace, now the National Museum of Art of Romania (24 RON per gallery, 32 RON combined, free the first Wednesday monthly), and the domed 1888 Romanian Athenaeum (about 15 RON for a standalone look-inside ticket outside concert hours).
In the afternoon, graze on mici (about 5-15 RON a piece) from a street stall and let the day run slower than Day 1.
Day 3: The Village Museum and King Michael I Park
Spend the morning at the Village Museum (Muzeul Satului), over 300 authentic wooden churches, farmhouses, and windmills relocated from across rural Romania, inside King Michael I Park. Entry is 40 RON adult, 20 RON senior, 10 RON student, half price Monday and Tuesday, no advance booking needed for general admission.
In the afternoon, stay in the park, walk the lake, and rent a boat if it’s warm enough.
Day 4: Cismigiu Gardens and the Belle Epoque boulevards
Spend the morning at Cismigiu Gardens, Bucharest’s oldest public park, free entry, a boating lake, and outdoor chess tables. In the afternoon, walk Calea Victoriei, the “Little Paris” showcase boulevard of ornate early-1900s buildings like the CEC Palace, keeping the nickname honest: WWII bombing, the 1977 earthquake, and Ceausescu-era demolitions mean this survives in patches, not as a wall-to-wall streetscape.
Day 5: Therme Bucuresti, the spa day
Give the whole day to Therme, out in Balotesti just north of the city. Pricing runs zone-based: roughly 100-130 RON for a full day in the Galaxy zone, up to 200-260 RON in the priciest all-zones pass, with a Monday-Thursday 17:30-18:30 discount window. Treat it as a deliberately slow day.
Day 6: Cotroceni, Primaverii, and an honest look at the history museum
Start with a caveat: the National Museum of Romanian History is under a major, multi-year renovation in 2026, and most of the building is closed. What’s open, the Historical Treasure room holding Romania’s crown jewels, the Lapidarium, and a Trajan’s Column replica, is worth closer to 45 minutes than a full morning.
In the afternoon, wander Cotroceni, a leafy, upscale district home to the Cotroceni Palace (Romania’s presidential residence, partly open as a museum on a more limited basis), then Primaverii and the wider northern embassy district, a quiet, villa-lined contrast to six days of density, including the former Ceausescu family residence, now partly open as a museum.
Day 7: Old Town wrap-up and departure
Keep the morning genuinely unscheduled, this is the day for whatever you skipped or want to repeat, another pass through Calea Victoriei, a last plate of papanasi (the fried-dough dessert with sour cream and jam), or a slow coffee somewhere in the Old Town rather than another ticketed sight. If your dates land in late August or September 2026, check whether the George Enescu International Competition (23 August-19 September 2026) has anything on, it’s a real classical-music event, though note it’s the Competition, not the full biennial Festival, which skips 2026 entirely.
For departure, Express Bus 100 runs from the city back to Henri Coanda Airport (OTP) for about 3 RON, or take the direct rail shuttle from Gara de Nord for roughly 6.50 RON, both beat a taxi on both price and predictability. Leave more time than feels necessary, Bucharest traffic on the airport road is genuinely unpredictable at peak hours.
Should my 8th or 9th day be a castle day trip instead of another city day?
If you have an extra day or two, yes, that’s exactly the point at which Peles Castle in Sinaia or Bran Castle and Brasov start making sense as an add-on rather than a rushed detour. This itinerary deliberately keeps all seven days inside Bucharest so you’re not sprinting; our Bucharest guide picks up from here for the Transylvania side of the trip.
Is a week too long for just Bucharest itself?
Not if you take Day 5 and Day 7 at the slow pace they’re written for. Seven tightly scheduled sightseeing days would feel like too much city, but this itinerary deliberately includes one full spa day and one genuinely unscheduled morning, which keeps a week here from turning into a forced march through museums.
Get the Palace of the Parliament phone booking locked in for day one, then let Day 7 be as slow as the rest of the week has earned.