Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia has one of the most impressive star-shaped fortresses in Europe, beautifully restored and completely free to walk through.
Country
Romania
12 cities and towns
Romania is one of Europe’s most underrated budget destinations, with Carpathian mountain scenery, medieval Transylvanian towns, and a cost of living that stretches every euro twice as far. The walled old towns of Brasov and Sibiu are free to wander, as is the university city of Cluj-Napoca, and the capital Bucharest anchors any first visit. The country’s diversity of landscapes and cultures, from Danube Delta to painted monasteries, rewards travelers who stay longer, and shoulder season in late spring or early autumn keeps both prices and crowds low.
Where to go
Cities and towns in Romania
Each one with what it costs to spend a day there.
Arad
Arad is a western Romanian city with Austro-Hungarian architecture lining its boulevards, serving as a natural gateway into Transylvania on cheap trains from Budapest at a fraction of Vienna's cost.
Brasov
Brașov sits in a bowl of forested Carpathian peaks at the southern edge of Romania's Transylvania, and it remains the easiest base for travelers who want medieval Saxon stonework, alpine air, and a working ski village within a thirty-minute drive.
Bucharest
Bucharest is a sprawling capital with the world's second-largest administrative building, a lively old town, and some of the cheapest nightlife in any European capital.
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca is Transylvania's unofficial capital and Romania's most dynamic city, with a thriving arts scene, cheap student nightlife, and a growing food renaissance.
Constanta
Constanța is Romania's oldest continuously inhabited city and its main Black Sea port, layered on top of the Greek colony of Tomis where the poet Ovid spent his exile.
Iasi
Iași is the cultural capital of Moldavian Romania, a former princely seat that hosted the country's first university and first national theater, and served as Romania's wartime capital while the union of Bessarabia was directed from here in 1918.
Oradea
Oradea's Art Nouveau architecture rivals Budapest's but at Romanian prices, with ornate facades lining a recently restored city center and thermal baths fed by natural hot springs.
Sibiu
Sibiu is one of Transylvania's most beautiful towns, with pastel buildings featuring "eyelid" windows, a lively main square, and an excellent base for Carpathian hiking.
Sighisoara
Sighișoara is one of the few inhabited medieval citadels left in Europe, a fortified hilltop that still works as a lived-in town rather than a museum, and the UNESCO listing reflects that distinction.
Sinaia
Home to Peles Castle, widely considered the most beautiful castle in Romania, this Carpathian mountain resort town delivers alpine scenery at eastern European prices.
Timisoara
Timișoara is the Banat capital where the 1989 revolution that ended Ceaușescu's regime began, and the city wears that history openly across its three central squares. It is also a Habsburg-pattern town with pastel facades and a serious café culture, freshly polished after its 2023 European Capital of Culture year.
Coverage of Romania is still thin. The full list is here.
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