Bucharest Old Town
Bucharest's Old Town (Lipscani) is a compact grid of pedestrian streets between Calea Victoriei and the Dambovita River. Free to walk.
City in Romania
Bucharest
13 things to see
Bucharest is one of the cheapest capitals in Europe, and a lot of its best sights cost nothing. The Palace of Parliament, the world’s second-largest administrative building, is free to admire from the outside and looks its grandest at golden hour, and the same goes for the Romanian Athenaeum and the cafe-lined lanes of the Lipscani old town. Spend a slow afternoon in Cismigiu Gardens, the city’s oldest park, or walk the lake paths of sprawling Herastrau, both free to enter and full of locals. Several major museums, including the National Museum of Art, open their doors free on the first Wednesday of every month, so plan that date around culture if it lines up. Bucharest also makes a cheap base for day trips by train into Transylvania, with Brasov and Sibiu both reachable, or out to the Black Sea coast at Constanta. Visit in late spring or early autumn for mild weather and lower room rates than the summer peak.
What to see
Things to do in Bucharest
What each one costs, where the cost is known.
Calea Victoriei
Calea Victoriei is Bucharest's most historic boulevard, running from the Dambovita River to Piata Victoriei. Free to walk.
Cismigiu Gardens
Cismigiu Gardens is Bucharest's oldest and most central park, 16 hectares of shaded paths, an artificial lake with rowing boats (cheap in summer), a Roman Garden, and a Writers' Alley lined with busts of Romanian poets. Free.
Saint Anthony Church Bucharest
Also known as the Old Princely Court Church, this is the oldest surviving church in Bucharest, dating to the 16th century. Free to enter, it sits next to the ruins of Vlad the Impaler's court in the heart of the old town.
Herastrau Park
Herastrau Park is Bucharest's largest park, wrapping around a lake in the northern part of the city. Free.
Macca-Vilacrosse Passage
The Macca-Vilacrosse Passage is a fork-shaped glass-roofed arcade in the center of Bucharest, built in the 1890s and bathed in amber light from the yellow glass canopy. Free to walk through.
Manuc's Inn
A 19th-century caravanserai and the oldest surviving inn in Bucharest, with a courtyard that now houses a restaurant and beer garden. Free to enter the courtyard and look around, it sits at the edge of the old town and represents the city's Ottoman-era trading heritage.
Palace of the Parliament
The Palace of the Parliament is the heaviest building in the world and the second largest administrative building after the Pentagon. Guided tours are paid at a modest price and must be booked in advance.
Revolution Square
Revolution Square (Piata Revolutiei) is the central square where the 1989 Romanian Revolution played out, toppling the Ceausescu regime. Free.
Romanian Athenaeum
The Romanian Athenaeum is a neoclassical concert hall in the center of Bucharest, home to the George Enescu Philharmonic. The exterior and lobby are free to admire.
Stavropoleos Church
The Stavropoleos Church is a tiny 18th-century Orthodox church hidden in the Old Town, with an ornate stone facade, a carved wooden porch, and a courtyard cloister filled with medieval tombstones and fragments. Free.
Therme Bucharest
Therme Bucharest is the largest thermal bath complex in Europe, located north of the city center with shuttle buses from downtown. Entry is paid but significantly cheaper than similar facilities in Western Europe.
Village Museum
The Village Museum (Muzeul Satului) is an open-air ethnographic museum inside Herastrau Park, displaying over 270 authentic buildings gathered from villages across Romania. Entry is a modest fee.
On foot
Walks and free tours in Bucharest
Tip-based tours and self-guided routes, which is usually the cheapest orientation there is.
Bucharest Contrasts Walk
The Bucharest Contrasts Walk is a self-guided route through the city's layered history, from Revolution Square to the old town to the dictator's palace. Free. Budget travelers walk from democracy to dictatorship in two hours and understand why Bucharest is the most complicated capital in Europe.
Filter every place by type, country and price.
Browse all places