One Week in Bucharest: Castles and Peaks

A full week runs the entire 6-day route through Sinaia, Brasov, and Sighisoara, then adds the one castle none of the shorter versions reach: Poenari Fortress, the ruined clifftop citadel that was actually Vlad the Impaler’s seat, unlike Bran. There is no train to Poenari, so this closing day runs on a rental car or a private driver out of Bucharest, not the rail network the rest of the week uses.

Book these before you go

Day Focus Travel time Daily cost (RON)
1 Arrival, Old Town OTP to center, 25 to 50 minutes 150 to 250
2 Sinaia, Peles and Pelisor Train, 1h25 to 1h30 each way 250 to 350
3 Travel to Brasov, Bran Castle Train 2.5 to 3h, taxi 30 to 45 min 300 to 450
4 Brasov old town, travel to Sighisoara Train, about 1h15 250 to 350
5 Sighisoara citadel, full day On foot 150 to 250
6 Sighisoara morning, train to Bucharest Train, about 6h 200 to 300
7 Poenari Fortress, Curtea de Arges Car, roughly 2.5 to 3h each way 350 to 550

Day 1: Landing in Bucharest, not staying long

Rail shuttle from Otopeni to Gara de Nord runs about 6.50 RON. Settle into an Old Town hotel and eat somewhere serving mici and a cold beer, the mountains start tomorrow.

Day 2: Sinaia, Peles and Pelisor castles

Sinaia is 1 hour 25 to 1 hour 30 by train. Peles Castle (100 RON) and Pelisor (30 RON) cover the day. Back to Bucharest for the night.

Day 3: Travel to Brasov, then Bran Castle

Train to Brasov, 2.5 to 3 hours, then a taxi or bus a further 30 to 45 minutes to Bran, 120 RON adult, a real fortress carrying a Dracula story invented for tourists in the 1970s. Overnight in Brasov.

Day 4: Brasov’s old town, then on to Sighisoara

Morning in Brasov for the Black Church, Council Square, and Sforii Street. Afternoon train to Sighisoara, about 1 hour 15. Check in for two nights.

Day 5: A full day inside Sighisoara’s citadel

Walk the fortified walls, the covered wooden stairway, and the house traditionally identified as Vlad the Impaler’s birthplace, a documented claim historians treat as far more credible than Bran’s. Dinner inside the citadel.

Day 6: Sighisoara morning, then back to Bucharest

Use the morning for the clock tower museum or a last coffee in the main square, then take the roughly 6 hour direct train back to Bucharest, arriving with the evening free rather than scrambling for a late departure. Sleep in Bucharest, one day still to go.

Day 7: Poenari Fortress, the castle Bran only impersonates

Rent a car or book a private driver for the roughly 2.5 to 3 hour drive to Poenari, near Curtea de Arges. This is the actual seat of Vlad the Impaler, a ruined citadel on a cliff reached by climbing around 1,480 uneven steps, with none of Bran’s gift shops or tour buses. Pair it with Curtea de Arges Monastery, the burial church of several Romanian royals, on the way back, then return to Bucharest by evening for your last night or a late flight.

Why does Poenari need a car when everything else on this route runs by train

Because it sits off the Bucharest-Brasov rail corridor entirely, in Arges County to the south rather than along the Transylvania line. No direct train serves it, and the closest stations still leave a long taxi ride to the fortress itself, so a rental car or a booked driver is genuinely the only practical option, not a preference.

Is Poenari worth a full day when Bran already covers the Dracula angle

If you want the site with an actual historical claim rather than a marketing one, yes. Bran’s connection to Vlad the Impaler is largely debunked; Poenari was his real fortress, abandoned and ruined rather than restored for visitors, which is exactly why it takes more effort to reach.

Check Poenari’s opening hours before you drive out, the site has no train alternative if you arrive to find it closed for the day.