Must-see attractions in Romania

  • Romania, Transylvania, Exterior

    Corvin Castle

    Transylvania

    Some castles perch on mountains, others skulk in mist-shrouded hills, but Hunedoara’s juts out from an industrial jungle. Despite being surrounded by…

  • Romania, Castelul Peles (Peles Castle), facade seen from gardens set against blue sky

    Peleş Castle

    Sinaia

    Over 40 years, dozens of builders, artists and wood-carvers brought Peleş Castle into existence. The neo-Renaissance masterpiece was commissioned by…

  • Palace of Parliament

    Bucharest

    The Palace of Parliament is the world’s second-largest administrative building (after the Pentagon) and former dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu’s most infamous…

  • The Endless Column (Column of Infinite) made by Constantin Brancusi in Targu Jiu, Romania symbolizes the Infinite Sacrifice of Romanian soldiers and it is considered the top point of the modern Art.; Shutterstock ID 242715793; purchase_order: 65050; job: ; client: ; other:
242715793

    Endless Column

    Wallachia

    The Endless Column, one of Constantin Brâncuşi's best-known and most celebrated works, sits at the eastern end of Calea Eroilor (20 minutes on foot from…

  • Alba Iulia medieval fortress aerial view at sunset; 
Alba Carolina Citadel

Shutterstock ID 675419281; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

    Alba Carolina Citadel

    Transylvania

    Alba Carolina Citadel is the crowning attraction of Alba Iulia. Within this star-shaped citadel are museums, churches and the Unification Hall that sealed…

  • Romanian Athenaeum

    Bucharest

    The exquisite Athenaeum is the majestic heart of Romania’s classical-music tradition. Scenes from Romanian history are featured on the interior fresco…

  • Former Ceauşescu Residence

    Bucharest

    This restored villa is the former main residence of Nicolae and Elena Ceauşescu, who lived here for around two decades up until the end in 1989…

  • Hotel Castel Dracula

    Transylvania

    One of the high points of any vampire-themed trip to Transylvania is kitsch Hotel Castel Dracula. Its blood-curdling decorations, and location on a…

  • Grigore Antipa Natural History Museum

    Bucharest

    One of the few attractions in Bucharest aimed squarely at kids, this natural-history museum, showing off Romania's plant and animal life, has been…

  • Colorful Garden

    Cişmigiu Garden

    Bucharest

    West of Calea Victoriei is the locally beloved Cişmigiu Garden, with shady walks, a lake, cafes and a ridiculous number of benches on which to sit and…

  • Făgăraş Citadel

    Transylvania

    Encircled by a moat fringed with willow trees, Făgăraş Citadel is an impressively intact fortification from medieval Transylvania. The oldest part of this…

  • Military Barracks

    Wallachia

    This small, spare museum just outside the train station contains the military barracks where former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena…

  • Poienari Citadel

    Wallachia

    The Poienari Citadel was once a powerful fortress guarding entry to a strategic pass linking Wallachia with Transylvania. The castle's vantage point was…

  • St Mary's Evangelical Church

    Sibiu

    Sibiu's Gothic centrepiece rises more than 73m over the old town. Inside, marvel at ghoulish stone skeletons, 17th-century tombs and the largest organ in…

  • Princely Court

    Wallachia

    Curtea de Argeş was an early capital of Wallachia, and these ruins from the 13th and 14th centuries mark the spot where the court once stood. The main…

  • Zosim Oancea Glass Icons Museum

    Transylvania

    This museum of painted icons, named after the priest who collected them, is a true hidden gem. Unlike the sombre wooden icons you’ll see elsewhere in…

  • Art Museum

    Wallachia

    The art museum is the only real must-see in Craiova, both for the art itself, including a small but important collection of six works by internationally…

  • x-default

    Fabrica de Pensule

    Cluj-Napoca

    More of a living, breathing creative space than a gallery, Fabrica de Pensule teems with just-made artwork by local and foreign creators who use this…

  • x-default

    St Michael's Church

    Cluj-Napoca

    The showpiece of Piaţa Unirii is 14th- and 15th-century St Michael’s, the second-biggest Gothic church in Romania (after Braşov’s Black Church). Its neo…

  • Sarmizegetusa Regia

    Transylvania

    The Sarmizegetusa Regia archaeological site is Romania’s Stonehenge. Only stones remain, enclosed by pretty woodlands, but they reveal compelling clues…

  • The medieval Castle of Bran. The castle  guarded in the past the border between Transylvania an Wallachia. It is also known for the myth of Dracula.; Shutterstock ID 114267793; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; Project no. or GL code: 56530; Network activity no. or Cost Centre: Online-Design; Product or Project: 65050/7529/Josh Vogel/LP.com Destination Galleries

    Bran Castle

    Transylvania

    Rising above the town on a rocky promontory, Bran Castle holds visitors in thrall. An entire industry has sprouted around describing it as ‘Dracula’s…

  • View of Snagov Monastery near Bucharest, Romania

    Snagov Monastery

    Bucharest

    Tiny Snagov Island, at the northern end of Snagov Lake, is home to Snagov Monastery and Vlad Ţepeş' alleged final resting place. The small stone church…

  • Museum of the Romanian Peasant

    Bucharest

    The collection of peasant bric-a-brac, costumes, icons and partially restored houses makes this one of the most popular museums in the city. There’s not…

  • Vacaresti Nature Park in Bucharest, Romania.

    Văcărești Nature Park

    Bucharest

    What was supposed to be a 6km-long dam during the communist era, left abandoned after the 1989 Revolution, turned over 22 years into a vast urban delta…

  • Citadel

    Sighişoara

    Sighişoara's delightful medieval buildings are enclosed within its citadel, a Unesco-listed complex of protective walls and watchtowers. Walking in the…

  • Windmill from Constanta County at Museum of Folk Civilisation in Astra, Sibiu, Romania, Europe

    ASTRA National Museum Complex

    Transylvania

    Five kilometres from central Sibiu, this is Europe's largest open-air ethnographic museum, where churches, mills and traditional homes number among 400…

  • Bellu Cemetery

    Bucharest

    The city’s most prestigious burial ground houses the tombs of many notable Romanian writers – a map inside the gate points out locations. Many Romanians…

  • Brukenthal Palace

    Sibiu

    Brukenthal Palace is worth visiting as much for its resplendent period furnishings as for the European art within. Duck beneath the Music Room’s…

  • Stavropoleos church

    Stavropoleos Church

    Bucharest

    The tiny and lovely Stavropoleos Church, which dates from 1724, perches a bit oddly a block over from some of Bucharest's craziest Old Town carousing. It…

  • Theodor Aman Museum

    Bucharest

    This is the lovingly restored residence and studio of 19th-century Romanian painter Theodor Aman. Aman's skill was in small, finely rendered oil paintings…

  • National Village Museum

    Bucharest

    On the shores of Herăstrău Lake, this museum is a terrific open-air collection of several dozen homesteads, churches, mills and windmills relocated from…

  • Libearty Bear Sanctuary

    Transylvania

    Not enough time to join a bear hide excursion to see these impressive carnivores lumbering through their natural habitat? Libearty Sanctuary is the next…

  • Râşnov Fortress

    Transylvania

    Commonly paired with Bran Castle on day trips from Braşov, Râşnov Fortress might just be the more enchanting of the two. The medieval citadel, built by…

  • Fortified Church

    Transylvania

    Biertan’s late-Gothic church, ringed by concentric walls and flanked by towers, is among the largest and most impressive in Transylvania. The triple-naved…

  • Black Church

    Braşov

    Romania’s largest Gothic church rises triumphantly over Braşov’s old town. Built between 1385 and 1477, this German Lutheran church was named for its…

  • Brâncoveanu Monastery

    Transylvania

    Wondrously decorated with carved columns, apocalyptic frescoes and gardens with barely a petal out of place, Brâncoveanu Monastery is as pristine as its…

  • Agapia Monastery

    Moldavia & the Bucovina Monasteries

    Agapia Monastery is an active nunnery, housing 300 to 400 nuns in two locations. The main monastery, Agapia din Vale, stands at the western end of Agapia…

  • Iron Gates Museum

    Wallachia

    While the museum houses an ethnographic and natural-sciences section, as well as an aquarium displaying Danubian species, the highlight is a scale model…

  • Orthodox Synagogue

    Romania

    Oradea's Orthodox synagogue dates from 1890 and was the main house of worship for around a third of the city's Jewish residents before WWII. It survived…

  • National Art Museum

    Bucharest

    Housed in the 19th-century Royal Palace, this massive, multipart museum – all signed in English – houses two permanent galleries: one for National Art and…

More destinations you need to see