How Much Should You Budget for Your Holiday in Romania? A Local’s Guide

If you’re planning to visit Romania, you’re probably wondering how much you should budget for your Romanian vacation and whether the country is still cheap to visit.

People (and outdated guides) still present Romania as that dream, budget-friendly destination, but the reality nowadays is that the country, for a tourist, is no longer dirt-cheap. On the contrary!

Prices all over the world have gone up, and Romania is no exception. Still, I can tell you from my own experience living and traveling here that Romania can be an affordable destination if you plan it right.

And in today’s updated guide, I will get as in depth as possible to make sure you come fully prepared for the expenses here, no matter if you’re planning to visit Transylvania, Romania’s amazing beaches, or any other place(s) in the country.

Is Romania Expensive to Visit? [Plus Daily Budget]

Even though Romania remains one of the cheapest countries to visit in the EU, the prices of everything have gone up significantly compared to previous years. In some cases, you can pay double (or even more) compared to just 3-4 years ago.

But yes, Romania remains a cheap country to visit relative to Western Europe. While your travel style and spending habits will influence numbers heavily and the sky is the limit, I have a realistic baseline for those focused on their wallets.

Plus, there are many other things involved here: what part of Romania will you visit? Will it be a large city like Bucharest or Timisoara, a smaller one like Drobeta Turnu Severin, or maybe you’ll visit the expensive seaside resorts in Mamaia or the traditional villages in Transylvania?

So, assuming that you are traveling with a partner, a daily budget of around €85 per person should be enough for thrifty travelers to cover food, some entertainment costs, and accommodation (without plane tickets – we’ll talk about these below).

If you are a bit more luxury-oriented and want to try upscale restaurants and visit more places, it would be safer to come with a daily budget of at least €100 to €125 per person.

In other words, a decent 7-night stay in Romania would start, for a couple, at around €1,400 (without transportation costs, but with food & attractions included).

Note that Romania uses the Leu (RON), so you will be paying in local currency everywhere you go. Right now, one Euro equals about five RON.

How much is accommodation in Romania?

Prices vary a lot depending on your destination, the time of the year, and what kind of comfort you expect.

Nightly rates vary greatly from around €20 per night in a hostel or a rural pension to around €70-€80 per night for a double room in a budget hotel (2-3 star).

Expect to pay from €90 to €150 per night for a nice double room in a 4-star hotel in major cities like Bucharest or Cluj-Napoca, as well as touristy places (think Sinaia or any of the top mountain resorts, as well as the Black Sea’s coast).

Note: except for the hostel, these prices are per room, so two people will split these costs.

The best option here would be to check prices for your exact destination and dates on Booking.com. This is the platform I use for booking short stays, as I usually find better deals on AirBnb (but definitely check the latter too just to be sure).

Flying to Romania & Getting Around

Plane ticket costs vary a lot depending on where you come from. Most countries in Europe will offer low-cost flights to Romania for anything between €40 – €100 per round trip, especially if you book them well in advance.

If you’re traveling from farther away, prices quickly jump to at least a few hundred Euros, but usually around the €500 – €700 mark. Double check and book well in advance for the best deals.

Also keep in mind that there are multiple international airports in Romania, so Bucharest is not your only option.

You might find better deals and land closer to your final destination by checking flights to Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Timisoara, and other cities.

Some airlines offer very cheap connections to these regional hubs. Because yes, in many cases, you will not end up visiting a place that has its own airport, and you will still have to travel around a bit.

Once you arrive, though, things get easier and are usually affordable. For getting around in the cities – including smaller ones – you have affordable taxis, but also ride-sharing options like Bolt and Uber. I recommend ride-sharing to avoid getting scammed by taxi drivers.

For traveling between cities and to popular tourist destinations, you have plenty of buses and trains – although the latter are generally slow and a bit outdated. You can also rent a car if you prefer to drive, but I advise you not to, because drivers in Romania are a bit reckless.

Food & Drinks budget

Once you get to Romania and have your accommodation paid for, the biggest expense will most likely be food (and drinks).

And since you’re here for a holiday, you will most likely want to try out some delicious traditional Romanian food at local restaurants.

Romania does not really have a massive street food culture, and unfortunately the charming, small family restaurants that are present in so many countries over the world do not exist in most Romanian cities.

But you can still find good options basically anywhere in the country and even though prices are the highest they have ever been, you can still eat out and spend reasonable amounts of money.

Prices vary greatly, with plenty of budget options available alongside more extravagant fine dining.

A daily menu in a cheaper restaurant where locals eat can cost between €7-€8 (35 to 40 RON) for a two-course meal – usually a hearty soup and a main course.

You might not get the most photogenic meal ever, but you will be completely satisfied with the taste and quality.

Normally, a decent meal like the one in my photo above would cost around €10 (without drinks) or €15 with a local beer, juice or lemonade included.

Fancier restaurants in touristy places are more expensive, with a main course usually starting from €15 and quickly going up the fancier your food choices are.

If you love pastries, fast food or easier “grab and go” options, Romania has a ton of delicious (and affordable) options here:

• A large freshly baked pretzel (covrig) costs around €0.5.
• A large “merdenea cu branza” (cheese-filled pastry) is around €1.
• You can grab a croissant and a good specialty coffee in most places for around €3 to €4.
• A massive, heavy shawarma can be bought for around €6 and will easily keep you full until dinner.

So, when budgeting your food, I would recommend setting aside a minimum of €20 to €30 per day, per person.

This would allow you to experience food from local restaurants while mixing in fast-food types of meals and maybe some supermarket runs for snacks, fruits and water.

If you want to eat only at good restaurants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then you should budget at least €50 per day per person.

For this money, you will be able to enjoy great food and surely add a bunch of extra pounds of pure Romanian fat to your waistline. No problem, that is what you do during vacations!

Of course, these are options for those with a somewhat limited budget. There are luxury places where a 3-course meal can cost €100 or more, but we’re not talking about those.

Most likely, the people who afford eating at such places won’t read articles about budgeting for their upcoming trips… but if they do, that’s good for them!

IMPORTANT: I have not included a “party budget” here. If you want to go out each night and drink a couple of beers (~4 Euros a piece) or fancy cocktails (starting at 5 Euros per drink), your will spend a lot more.

Tipping Culture in Romania

Tipping is customary in Romania and you’re expected to leave around 10%-15% of your total bill if the service was good.

In some places, leaving a set amount or rounding up (from 47 lei to 50, for example) is also customary instead of the strict 10%.

In many modern restaurants and cafes, the card machine will actually prompt you to select a tip percentage or amount before you tap your card, which makes the whole process incredibly easy.

I have a dedicated article to tipping in Romania if you want to make sure you do everything right.

Budget for attractions, sightseeing & entertainment

Throughout the country, prices are usually about the same when it comes to sightseeing, various forms of entertainment and public transportation.

When it comes to visiting museums or other attractions, prices range from as low as €2 to €20 per person, with discounts offered to children or the elderly (but double check as this is not a rule).

The more important attractions are usually more expensive: for example, our ticket to Peles was about €20, while the visit to the Palace of Parliament costs around €16.

In the end, it all depends on what you plan to see depending on where you go. If trips outside of the city are involved, you will pay more. If the attractions are local, they can even be free of charge.

So for attractions and entertainment, I would budget around €120 for 7 days in the country, per person.

The Romanian Beach Budget

We’ve already talked about the best time of the year to visit Romania, so if you choose the high season and a popular destination (like going to the beach in mid-July or early August), expect prices of everything – from accommodation to food – to be much higher.

The seaside is a beast of its own and since you will probably not go there during the winter months, I think it’s safest to budget more than you would for a regular trip to the country. By the beach, everything is more expensive.

Therefore, for visiting any beaches in Romania during the high season, I think a budget of at least 70 Euros per day, per person is a good starting point for food & drinks unless you have some or all the meals covered by your hotel.

Some places are more expensive (like Mamaia) while others are cheaper. But they are all way more expensive than your regular Romanian city, that’s a fact.

You will also pay extra for sun loungers (up to €10 per day), parking if you need it (up to €20 per day), and basically anything you can think of. So yes, starting this year, beach-going in Romania is really expensive.

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Conclusion

In the end, you should remember that most of the places in Romania are priced for Romanian tourists, and since income in this country is still relatively low compared to Western European countries, so are the general costs.

You can check out my article about the cost of living in Romania to see even more price estimations.

All in all, if you have a very tight budget, there are just a few places where your dollars or euros would be extremely valuable – and Romania is one of them!

Have you been to Romania on holiday? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!