Bucharest Off Beaten Path: 6 Day Itinerary
Six days in Bucharest keeps the 5-day city spine, Palace of Parliament, Revolution Square, Cismigiu, Curtea Veche, Therme Bucuresti, and Primaverii Palace, and allows exactly one day to leave the city: Peles Castle in Sinaia. That is the only day trip on this itinerary; the rest stays in Bucharest on purpose. Want the deeper Transylvania version with Bran and Brasov added in? See our 7-day itinerary , or drop the day trip entirely with the 5-day plan .
Book these before you go:
- Palace of Parliament tour : phone-booked 24 hours ahead, no online sales, bring a passport
- Old Town hotels on Booking.com : book early during Christmas-market weeks
- A Peles Castle day trip from Bucharest : Peles and Pelisor run a timed-slot system since June 2025, book ahead in summer
- A Bucharest communism and city walking tour : covers the 1989 history in a few hours
Day 1: Palace of Parliament and the Old Town
Book the Palace of Parliament tour by phone at least 24 hours ahead per the official visiting rules , +40 733 558 102 or 103, no online sales exist. Bring an original passport, the tour costs 60 RON for adults, 30 RON for students, plus a 10 RON basement add-on where offered. Explore Lipscani in the afternoon and find Macca-Villacrosse Passage, the fork-shaped 1891 yellow-glass arcade. Dinner at Caru’ cu Bere runs 115-135 RON per person.
Day 2: Revolution Square and the Village Museum
Piata Revolutiei is where Ceausescu’s final speech collapsed live in December 1989, the obelisk here is nicknamed “the potato.” Add the Athenaeum’s 15 RON visit-only ticket and the National Museum of Art of Romania, 24 RON per gallery or 32 RON combined. Visit Muzeul Satului , the Village Museum, 40 RON for adults, in the afternoon, then walk King Michael I Park.
Day 3: Cismigiu Gardens, Calea Victoriei, and Curtea Veche
Cismigiu Gardens, free entry, is Bucharest’s oldest park, known for outdoor chess. Walk Calea Victoriei past the CEC Palace, a surviving fragment of the old “Micul Paris” boulevard. Finish at Curtea Veche, the free open-air ruins where Vlad the Impaler’s own 1459 document names this spot his residence, the honest version of the story Bran Castle sells north of here.
Day 4: Therme Bucuresti
Spend a full day at Therme Bucuresti in Balotesti. The Galaxy zone runs roughly 70-90 RON for 3 hours or 100-130 RON for a full day, other zones and the all-zones pass run up to about 260 RON, and a Monday-to-Thursday evening discount between 17:30 and 18:30 cuts the price further.
Day 5: Primaverii Palace and Obor Market
Visit Primaverii Palace, the Ceausescu family’s former private residence, now a museum, in the morning, then walk Piata Obor for a working local market rather than a souvenir strip, and finish with a quiet afternoon in Cotroceni before your last night in the Old Town.
Day 6: Sinaia day trip, Peles and Pelisor castles
Take the train from Gara de Nord toward Brasov and get off at Sinaia, roughly 1h15-1h30 depending on service, fares around 25-50 RON. Peles Castle, King Carol I’s opulent 19th-century summer residence, costs 100 RON for adults and 25 RON for students; the smaller adjoining Pelisor Castle costs 30 RON adults and 7.5 RON students. Since June 2025 both run a timed-slot system with hard daily caps, 2,000 visitors at Peles and 1,500 at Pelisor, so book ahead in summer rather than risk a sold-out slot. Hours run Wednesday 10:00-17:00 and Thursday through Sunday 9:15-17:00, closed Monday and Tuesday. This is the one day on the whole trip you leave Bucharest, and it is worth it for Peles alone.
| Day | Focus | Travel time from Old Town | Rough daily cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palace of Parliament, Old Town | 10-15 min walk or metro | 150-220 RON |
| 2 | Revolution Square, Village Museum | 15-20 min metro | 120-180 RON |
| 3 | Cismigiu, Calea Victoriei, Curtea Veche | Walkable, under 20 min | 100-160 RON |
| 4 | Therme Bucuresti | 30-40 min by car from center | 180-280 RON |
| 5 | Primaverii Palace, Obor Market | 20-30 min metro or taxi | 130-200 RON |
| 6 | Sinaia, Peles and Pelisor castles | 1h15-1h30 by train each way | 250-350 RON |
Is Peles Castle worth a whole day trip?
Yes, and it is a stronger single visit than Bran Castle’s Dracula branding two hours further north. Peles is a genuinely opulent royal interior built for King Carol I, while Bran’s connection to Vlad the Impaler is a marketing invention historians mostly reject. If you only add one day trip to a Bucharest visit, this is the one.
Do you need to book Peles Castle tickets in advance?
In peak season, yes. The timed-slot system introduced in June 2025 caps daily visitors at 2,000 for Peles and 1,500 for Pelisor, and summer weekends can sell out. Booking a day or two ahead removes the risk entirely.
Buy your Sinaia train ticket the day before if you can, since the Bucharest-Brasov corridor runs frequent service but the earliest morning trains fill up fastest in summer.