Romania travel — honest answers.

EU/EEA/CH passport: no, ID card is enough. UK/US/CA/AU/NZ/JP and many others: no visa for stays up to 90 days. Romania joined Schengen fully on 31 March 2024 for air and sea — land borders followed. From a German airport you go through internal Schengen.

Romanian Leu (RON). About 1 EUR ≈ 5 RON. Cards work everywhere in cities and most villages — even our smallest hosts take card. Carry 200–400 RON cash for markets, small road-side stops, and rural tips.

Best: ATM in arrival hall after you land (ING, BCR, BRD, Raiffeisen). Skip Euronet — they take a hidden fee. Currency exchange offices in old towns are usually fair; airport ones outside ATMs are the worst.

10% in restaurants if you liked it (often not included). Round up for taxis and drivers. A small note for a fortified-church priest is welcome. Hosts: not expected, but appreciated for housekeepers who go above and beyond.

EU/UK licences: yes. Non-EU: yes for up to 90 days, an International Driving Permit is recommended but not strictly required at every rental. Bring the original — copies are not accepted.

Main routes are good. Mountain passes are excellent in summer, closed Nov–Mar (Transfăgărășan, Transalpina). Village roads can be patchy. Drive defensively at dusk — horses, dogs, kids.

Yes for any motorised vehicle on national roads. Cheapest at the border or online (erovinieta.ro). 7-day pass is around €4. Rentals include it — confirm at pickup.

50 km/h in town, 90 outside, 100 on dual carriageways, 130 on motorways. Police are visible and use speed traps — they accept apologies, not bribes. Pay any fine at a bank with the receipt.

OMV, Petrom, Mol, Rompetrol. Almost all are open 24/7 with shops. Card or cash. Diesel and petrol are both around €1.40–1.55/litre as of 2026.

In cities (Bucharest, Brașov, Cluj, Sibiu, Timișoara), yes. In our houses we have filtered taps. In remote villages we provide bottled. Springs in the mountains are usually fine — locals do.

Same as Germany — 230V, Type C and F sockets. Bring a UK / US travel adapter. Cabin power is sometimes solar with limited capacity — we will note it on the house page.

Romania has excellent 4G/5G — better and cheaper than most of Western Europe. Orange, Vodafone, Digi all good. EU roaming applies. Our village homes have fibre (200+ Mbps); two cabins are intentionally off-grid (we will tell you).

Yes. Lower violent-crime rates than France, UK, or Germany. Petty theft in Bucharest old-town like any capital. Stray dogs are essentially gone since 2013 — you might see one in a village. Bears: do not feed, do not approach, keep cabin food sealed.

Romanian (Latin family, easy if you have any French/Italian/Spanish). English is widely spoken in hospitality. German is still alive in the Saxon villages (Viscri, Biertan, Sibiu old families) — your host might surprise you. Hungarian in some Transylvanian areas.

May–June: meadows in flower, all roads open, before crowds. September–October: foliage in the forests, harvest, plums for țuică, fewer tourists. July–August: hot in cities, perfect in mountains. December: Brașov & Sibiu Christmas markets, snow at altitude. November: usually wet and grey, we sometimes recommend skipping.

Transfăgărășan officially 1 July – late October (often closed earlier in snow years). Transalpina similar, sometimes earlier (mid-June). Below 1,500m, all roads year-round.

April–October with our guided hides. May–July is peak — cubs are out with mothers. Outside the hides, you can see them along Transfăgărășan in summer (please do not feed them — fines are heavy).

No. We earn a commission from the homes we book and the partners we work with. Our planning is free, and you pay the home what you would pay them directly — no markup.

Most of our homes prefer 2–4 night minimums. We can sometimes negotiate single nights in shoulder season. Drop us a line.

Each home has its own — typically full refund 30+ days out, 50% refund 14–29 days out, no refund inside 14 days. We always recommend travel insurance for unforeseen events.

About half our homes welcome pets. We will filter accordingly. Bring proof of rabies vaccination if crossing the border with a dog or cat.

Honestly, limited — most of our houses are 200–500-year-old buildings with steps. We have two single-floor properties that work; ask us.