One Week in Bucharest: An Offbeat Itinerary
A full week in Bucharest runs the entire 6-day spine, Palace of Parliament, Revolution Square, Cismigiu, Curtea Veche, Therme Bucuresti, Primaverii Palace, and one Sinaia day trip to Peles Castle, then closes with a slower seventh day back in the city instead of a second day trip. This route deliberately keeps Transylvania to that single Sinaia day; for a deeper castle-and-mountains trip, see our Bucharest castles and day-trips guide instead. Shorter version: the 6-day itinerary .
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 : timed-slot tickets 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, and finish with a quiet afternoon in Cotroceni.
Day 6: Sinaia day trip, Peles and Pelisor castles
Train from Gara de Nord toward Brasov, get off at Sinaia, roughly 1h15-1h30, fares around 25-50 RON. Peles Castle costs 100 RON adults, 25 RON students; Pelisor costs 30 RON adults, 7.5 RON students. Both run a timed-slot system since June 2025, capped at 2,000 and 1,500 visitors a day, so book ahead in summer. Hours run Wednesday 10:00-17:00 and Thursday through Sunday 9:15-17:00, closed Monday and Tuesday.
Day 7: Stavropoleos Church and Herastrau’s lake
Close the week slowly. Stavropoleos Church, built in 1724 in the ornate Brancovenesc style, a uniquely Romanian blend of Byzantine, Ottoman, and Renaissance details, sits a few steps off Lipscani and costs nothing to step inside. Spend the afternoon at King Michael I Park, formerly Herastrau, renting a paddle boat on the lake rather than adding a museum. Have your last dinner back in the Old Town, ideally somewhere you have not already tried this week.
| 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 |
| 7 | Stavropoleos Church, Herastrau lake | Walkable and 15 min metro | 80-140 RON |
Why does this itinerary only include one day trip?
Because the city itself, not Transylvania, is the point of a Bucharest trip on this route. A week gives room for one genuine “leave the city” day at Peles without turning the rest of the week into transit days to Bran and Brasov, which work better as their own overnight extension than as day trips bolted onto a Bucharest stay.
Is a week too long for Bucharest alone?
Not with one day trip built in. Six of these seven days stay inside the city and still cover distinct neighborhoods and themes rather than repeating the Old Town, and the seventh closes on purpose with a quiet, cheap day rather than another packed itinerary.
Save Stavropoleos and the lake for your last day on purpose, it needs almost no planning and gives you slack if an earlier day, especially the Sinaia trip, runs long.