r/solotravel

My first travel in 2024! I wanted to share my experience of Romania. I stayed for 8 nights: my time was split between Bucharest (2 nights), Sinaia (1 night), Brasov (3 nights) and Sibiu (2 nights), so I primarily spent my time in the Transylvania region.

For context, I am a 22 year old woman from the UK, and this was my second solo trip.

My itinerary:

Bucharest

• Before travelling to Romania I had read a lot of people's opinions that Bucharest is skippable. I would generally disagree with this. I think Bucharest is well worth visiting for a few days if you have the time - if you are really pressed for time, I agree with the assessment that other cities and towns in Romania may be more worth visiting. I spent about 1.5 full days (2 nights) in Bucharest and felt like this was enough to do pretty much everything I wanted to, although I did have a busy first day.

• On the night I arrived, I went for dinner and walked around the old town. I liked briefly visiting the Stavropoleos Monastery - it is very pretty and central. I was surprised when I arrived as it felt like the old town was very quiet! I didn't expect this at all. It felt a little busier the next day so perhaps the rain earlier that day had put people off.

• The highlight of Bucharest for me was the House of Ceaușescu, the former Communist leader. I only learnt about this last minute-ish when reading about what was close to the village museum, which I also visited - and I was very happy that I booked on this tour! A tour guide takes you around the former house, turned museum. It was very beautiful and interesting. I would note that photos aren't allowed.

• Speaking of, I also visited the Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum in the same morning. I thought this was well worth walking around, even though when I went the interior to most of the buildings was closed because it rained the night before. Still worth a visit!

• In the afternoon I visited the National Gallery, visiting the Romanian and European art galleries. Entrance fees are separate to all galleries, and there are some other galleries that I didn't visit. I was glad that I visited both of these, as there were some really beautiful paintings. Would recommend for those who love art.

• In the evening especially, I spent some time walking around seeing the general sights. The Palace of Parliament is pretty, although something about it seemed rather 'empty' to me. Piata Unirii is nice to sit at when the sun is setting. The area opposite the national gallery is also pretty.

• Overall I did like Bucharest, and would recommend it for those who have time to visit for a full day or two. I personally didn't think it needed more than this.

Sinaia

• I took the train from Bucharest to Sinaia, which took about 1.5 hours. This was an easy and simple journey, albeit crowded.

• When researching, I obviously came across Peles (and Pelisor) Castle, which was a big priority for me to visit. I was debating whether to do a day trip here and then continue to Brasov on the same day, but decided to break the journey and stay a night in Sinaia. I was really glad I did so! It is true that aside from the castles and Sinaia Monastery, there isn't many 'activities' to do, but it was a really beautiful and scenic place and I felt entertained walking around. The mountains are stunning and there was snow on the top of them despite it being sunny, which was pretty to see.

• Peles Castle, as I expected, was amazing. Really one of the highlights of the trip. I paid for a tour of two out of three floors, which I was really impressed by, and honestly probably should've gone for the third (I had just read a few comments that the first two were the most worth it). When I went, it was actually snowing, but once I came out of the castle it had turned sunny which was really nice! The views from Peles, which is up a hill, were gorgeous.

• I will say that Pelisor Castle was not very impressive to me. I know that it is much smaller than Peles so did not expect to be wowed in the same way, but I didn't think it was particularly worth it. But then again, as you are already there and Pelisor is only a few minutes' walk away, if you want to visit it may be worth it.

• Sinaia is a fairly small town and I really enjoyed, the next morning, walking from one end to the other. The houses are lovely to see, especially when the sun is out. I would recommend stopping in Sinaia for one night, if people have time, on the way to Brasov.

Brasov

• The next day, I then took an hour long train to Brasov from Sinaia, which went by quickly. It was cheap as well, like all travel, I found.

• Walking around the old town in Brasov is really nice, especially when it was sunny. Seeing the views from Tampa Mountain and the White Tower, for instance, was well worth it. The fortifications surrounding the city are nice to walk around in general. I spent most of my first afternoon in Brasov walking around.

• The next day, it was lovely weather so I took advantage of this by being outside most of the day. I walked loads this day. I walked to Brasov's fortress, which was around 20 minutes walk uphill. I wasn't expecting too much as I know the fortress was closed, but it surprised me - it was still lovely to walk around in the sun.

• This day I also went to the Tales of Communism Museum. I would say this was worth it, and the staff member was very friendly. There was a lot to read in a small space, and I found the stories about women's experiences, particularly on the abortion bans, very emotional and important to read. I would recommend to people that have enough time in Brasov, but I don't think it's essential if your priorities are more outdoors.

• I had planned to visit a few other museums, but because the weather was nice I decided not to - it's good to have flexibility and not book everything ahead in this sense.

• I took the cable car up to Tampa mountain, and decided to walk back down. It was a lot steeper than I anticipated. It didn't take long, probably around an hour, but you do need appropriate shoes and so on. It was pretty though.

• I then decided to do a day trip to Bran castle. Honestly, I was not expecting much as I had read a lot about Bran castle being a tourist trap, and so on. I'm happy to say that it exceeded my expectations! I thought the outside of the castle was really beautiful, and it felt quite fitting on a cloudy day, and the surroundings were pretty as well. The inside of the castle was also interesting and I found the history very captivating.

• I do think that some people's negative experiences of Bran castle likely stem (at least in part) from how busy it is, which I can understand. I had booked a ticket a few weeks before, and I still waited outside for around an hour with other people waiting to get in. This isn't ideal if the weather isn't great. And inside, it can feel like you are surrounded entirely by big groups of people in some rooms. I'm not sure what could be done to address this other than limiting the amount of tickets sold. It was very busy on the time I went. Therefore, I would recommend Bran, but this is something to keep in mind.

• I was also going to combine Rasnov fortress into this day trip, but I decided not to - combined with the irregular bus schedules, the fact I felt like I was developing a cold that day, and Rasnov fortress being closed on the inside, I decided not to. I'm sure it would be a good trip if the fortress opens again.

• Overall, I thought Brasov would be a bit bigger than it actually was. In reality it is a fairly small/medium sized town. Honestly, I was a bit worried that my itinerary may feel rushed with multiple travel days - however, because the transport was all quite easy and not very long, I felt like I could have even visited one more location, and perhaps taken a night off Brasov. Naturally this depends on your preferred pace of travel. In hindsight, I would have loved to visit Sighisoara for one day - perhaps next time!

Sibiu

• Sibiu was the last stop on my trip. I took a 2.5 hour bus from Brasov, because this was cheaper than the train and (I think) the same amount of time or even less. The bus ride was fine, and like all public transport I took between cities and towns, the scenery was nice to see. This kept me occupied for a few hours!

• On the last full day, it was really bright and sunny, which let me appreciate how pretty Sibiu is. It is a quaint town, and feels quite small. I spent a lot of time walking around to see the fortifications, churches, and the 'eyes' of Sibiu...

• On an evening I went up St. Mary Cathedral. This gave nice views but I thought the outside of the cathedral was much more impressive. On the other hand, the Council Tower was really worth climbing, and it was only 2 lei (around £0.35) to enter. This gave the best views of Sibiu that I saw.

• I also went to the village museum in Sibiu! Honestly, I didn't really need to visit two village museums in just over a week. I think after seeing two in a short amount of time, things didn't 'impress' me as much, but I would still say it is worth visiting. There were some buildings in particular that were really interesting, and there is a lake that gives nice views.

• Public transport in Sibiu was particularly cheap and easy to navigate.

• There wasn't all that much to do in Sibiu, and I thought I had the right amount of time at around 1.5 days, including one busy full day. I was glad to visit as it was gorgeous.

• Sibiu airport was tiny. In hindsight, I definitely didn't need to arrive just over 2 hours early as it is so small, but I always err on the side of caution...

Restaurants

• La Caeun in Brasov was a nice restaurant to eat at. The service was friendly and they had a good menu.

• Gaura Dulche in Brasov was also a nice place to eat. I really liked their vegetable soup and beef goulash.

• Happy Gelato in Brasov has delicious ice cream. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was.

• I found that restaurants in Bucharest were quite a bit more expensive than elsewhere, which I suppose is standard for capital cities. I did like the beef soup I had at both Vatra and Manuc's Inn.

• I also had a nice tasting meal in Bistro 27 in Sinaia, which was very quiet.

Budget/spending

• I haven't tracked it religiously, but I think on average I spent around £30 a day on food and activities, not including my hotels/Airbnbs and the odd activity I had booked ahead of time (e.g. Bran castle). I don't think this is bad at all considering that I didn't cook and chose to eat out multiple times a day. I could have definitely done it cheaper if I had wanted to cook at the accommodation, but I like to enjoy the local cuisine as a priority.

• The food at most restaurants isn't dirt cheap, but it is definitely cheaper than - for instance - London, where I live, and many other Western European cities, as a benchmark. I felt like I got good value most of the time.

• Because there is so much you can do outdoors, I imagine you coul budget travel Romania quite effectively, particularly if you like hiking every day or something like that.

What went right:

• I found the public transport system throughout the cities and towns I visited to be very reliable and easy to use, which was great! I was slightly worried, reading other people's experiences (albeit often from a good few years ago) that I may have delays and issues moving from place to place, but I was pleasantly surprised in this regard! The biggest 'delay' was around 5-10 minutes, so it was absolutely fine, and very cheap. It was also really easy to get from Bucharest airport to the city centre.

• Nowhere I went felt too busy, which was actually nice. It didn't feel overly touristy, except for Bran castle which felt like an exception.

• The scenery was truly beautiful. I was surprised with how much time I spent outdoors. Usually I am the type to enjoy going to multiple museums, and I did still see a few (mainly the Communist museum in Brasov and the art galleries in Bucharest) but I was content to spend most of my time outdoors, surrounded by the mountains. It really was lovely, especially when the sun was out.

• I really loved the castles. If I go back to Romania in the future, I would love to visit more castles.

• I think I spent a good amount of time in each place, for my pace. If anything, as mentioned before, I wish I visited Sighisoara or another location potentially as another day trip, or a night here. If you like a slower pace of travelling and less walking all in one day, you could probably spend a little longer in each place, but I found it enough.

• Importantly, I felt safe everywhere I went in Romania. No one queried why I was on my own or made me feel uncomfortable about this.

• I found that the vast majority of places took card, which made things easier on the whole.

• Generally, I felt like Romania had a brilliant mix of stunning outdoor scenery and interesting museums and galleries, although I only visited a few of the latter. I feel like it has something for a variety of audiences, and would very much recommend.

What went wrong:

• Not much went wrong thankfully!

• Obviously this is uncontrollable so not worth overly stressing about (if you can avoid doing so...) but on the (just over a) week that I visited, the weather was not always the best. I think I went at a bit of an unlucky time since the weather both in the weeks before, and just as I was leaving, was a lot warmer! But like I say you cannot control this. I will say though - although it was inconvenient some days when it rained, even if the weather forecast says it will rain all the time, it is very unlikely to actually rain all day, every day. I was concerned with the weather forecast before going, as it said it would mainly rain the whole time, but in reality it rained on a few occassions, and at least half of these entailed very light rain. And on the positive side, it actually lightly snowed one day, which was very pretty, and on some days it was sunny and warm!

• In some areas, there were not many ATMs, and one I used had a terrible rate. I would say this is just something to keep in mind. Most places I visited took card - I only had to get cash out once, for a coach journey that didn't take card.

• Online maps weren't always accurate and didn't always have information on buses, etc. Generally this was fine but on the slightly more rural/small town routes this was a bit of a hindrance.

• In a similar vein, although I found it generally easy and fine to travel from place to place via public transport, I can appreciate that it would be easier to visit more rural locations (for instance, Prejmer fortress, which I wasn't able to visit in the time constraints) with a car.

Thanks for reading!