Bucharest to Brașov: still the leu, CFR trains, castle day trips, and data that thins out on a mountain road.
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Romania is a capital that looks like several decades parked next to each other, then a mountain range that still has villages where the bus is an event. Bucharest is wide boulevards, cheap-and-good food and a nightlife that starts late. Brașov is the base for the castle circuit if you refuse to sleep in a tour bus.
CFR trains are how you do the country if you like windows. They can be late. They can also be the best part of the day. Buy in the official channels and do not trust a platform rumour as a timetable.
The Carpathians are hiking and bears that are not a cartoon. Stay on marked trails, hang food if you camp, and treat a shepherd dog as a colleague with teeth. The leu is still the money — cards in cities, cash in the hills.
Essentials
Traveler tips
Real advice from people who have been to Romania, curated by our team with links to the original sources.
Card machines charge RON. A 'convenient' exchange on the Royal Palace side of town is a hobby you do not need.
Sleep in town, day-trip Peleș and Bran, eat a proper dinner that is not a tour set menu.
Build slack. A tight airport connection after a 'scenic' train is how you donate a ticket.
Marked trails, no food in the tent, and a wide berth for dogs that work the flock.
Old Town is loud. Residential neighbourhoods are for the soup you will remember.
Rick Steves Travel Forum
Forum regulars who hit a broken cfrcalatori.ro checkout switch to the CFR Călători bilete online app, not a reseller that doubles the fare. Astra Trans Carpatic is the private extra on some Brașov runs. You do not need to book Bucharest–Brașov months ahead the way you book a Paris–Lyon TGV. The conductor wants the ticket ID on the phone.
View sourceRick Steves Travel Forum
Contactless bank cards work on the airport 100 into town and on many Brașov city buses. A weekly STB pass that includes the metro is a different product from the cheaper bus-and-tram paper; travelers who compared notes paid different prices because they bought different networks. Validate every board. Bucharest Nord is where the Brașov train actually lives.
View sourceTripAdvisor Forums
The high section between Bâlea and the south wall closes when the snow says so, often from autumn into early summer. Treat it as a day from Sibiu or Brașov with stops at the lake and Vidraru, not a year-round shortcut from Bucharest.
View sourceTripAdvisor Forums
Sinaia's royal house sells hourly entries that do not move or refund. Book the official Peleș window and decide the floor tour before you tap pay. Bran is the postcard; seeing it from the path is enough for many people who already slept in Brașov.
View sourceFAQ
No. You pay in lei (RON). Cards work in cities; keep cash for the mountains.
Only if those countries are listed. Day trips across the border are common and plan-sensitive.
Towns and resorts yes. Ridge walks no. Offline maps.
Desks exist. An eSIM has Bolt and the metro map before you hit the unofficial taxi lobby.
App and card sales cover many routes. A small-station window may still want lei.
eSIM plans
CFR platforms, Uber/Bolt in Bucharest and a guesthouse WhatsApp in the hills all want data at OTP. A Romania eSIM is online before you pick the wrong interchange for the old town.
If you add Budapest or Sofia, that is a regional plan conversation. The border towns are close. The SKU is not.