It’s time to talk about Peles Castle in Romania, probably the most famous castle here, together with Dracula’s castle in Bran!
I have revisited Peles with my family and found it just as impressive, but I decided to update this article with new photos, but also everything you should know about it: how to get there, operating hours, ticket prices, as well as my personal opinion about the place.
You’d think that after visiting something as impressive as the Palace of Parliament, nothing else can impress you anymore, but fortunately, that’s not the case!
How to get from Bucharest to Peles Castle in Sinaia
You can book this Peles & Dracula Castle day tour, which has everything covered (leaving from and returning to Bucharest) and you get to see two amazing castles, not just one!
If you’re more of the DIY type, you have trains leaving regularly from the Gara de Nord in Bucharest (over 20 trains per day), with ticket prices starting at around €10 for a second-class seat, for the 1.5 hour ride. You can check out all the options on the CFR website.
For a similar price, you can also take a bus, but I recommend the train as it’s more comfortable. But you can check out the bus options here.
We always travel by train, no matter what the time of the year is. The train station in Sinaia is an attraction too (make sure to check out my article about all the things to do in Sinaia here).
Once you get to Sinaia, the best option is to take a taxi to the castle (they will rip you off a bit, so expect to pay up to 10 Euros, although a fair price would be around €5).
Read my article on how not to get scammed by taxi drivers in Romania to prepare for the encounter.
EXTRA TIP: While the taxi driver will most likely give you their card (ours did), make sure you ask for one if they don’t, in case you want to call them for a ride back.
Or you can do like we usually do and hike up to the Peles castle. From the train station, it’s about 30 minutes, but you will also pass by most of the other main attractions in the city.
Peles Castle opening hours & ticket prices
Castle’s location: link to Google Maps (you can walk from anywhere in Sinaia, but expect to walk up a lot).
Castle’s opening hours (between Jan 1st – April 29th & Oct 14th to Dec 31st):
- Mon & Tue: Closed
- Wed: 10 AM to 5 PM
- Thu – Sun: 9:15 AM to 5 PM
Opening hours 30.04.2024 – 13.10.2024
- Mon: Closed
- Tue: 9:15 AM to 5 PM
- Wed: 10 AM to 5 PM
- Thu – Sun: 9:15 AM to 5 PM
My Tip: If you don’t get my recommended skip-the-line ticket, try to get there early in the morning, as it’s the least crowded. Starting around 11 AM, it gets REALLY crowded.
Peles ticket prices:
There are huge discounts for children (those under 7 can visit for free), students, seniors and those under 26. Below, you have the price for a ticket for one adult:
- Basic tour (1st floor): 50 lei (€10) – takes around 45 minutes
- Optional tour I (1st and 2nd floor): 100 lei (€20) – takes around 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Optional tour II (1st, 2nd and 3rd floor): 150 lei (€30) – takes around 1 hour and 45 minutes
You can check all the prices and discounts, as well as check the updated prices by visiting the castle’s official website.
We always choose the Optional Tour I, which shows you enough of the castle to be satisfied. Even the basic tour can be considered enough, as it covers the main halls, which are the most impressive ones.
Don’t forget, you can book a guided tour in advance and avoid having to worry about getting your ticket, waiting in lines, or whatnot.
Visiting the Peles Castle
Now, it’s time for all the amazing spoilers: photos from the castle itself, as well as additional details you need to know. The place looks, just like all the photos in this article will show you, like a place that came to life from a fairy tale.
IMPORTANT! I highly recommend booking this skip the line, guided tour here. Not only that you will learn everything about the castle, but you will avoid this:
Back to the Peles castle itself, it’s beautiful, and the mountain views, with all that fresh mountain air and green grass (or beautiful snow) and trees make the whole thing even better. You can’t help but fall in love with the place as soon as you see it!
Everybody was looking at that snow pile on the roof, which can be seen in the pthoto above, which actually fell before we got in – but the area below it was fenced, so there was no risk for the tourists
As for Peles, construction work began in 1873, when Romania’s King Carol I decided to build a summer retreat for himself and his family.
It is said that he simply fell in love with the area when he first saw it – and I can totally understand why.
The architecture combines different features of classic European styles. Even more interesting is the fact that the castle was built in a few stages, new additions appearing in 1893 and 1914, both created by a different architect.
He was really good, because today it’s impossible to guess that this isn’t a palace built in one go.
As you can see, this is indeed a palace (by the looks of it and based on what it was used for), but for some reason everybody calls it a castle in Romania.
I am not really sure if there’s an explanation for this or King Carol was just a modest man who thought “palace” sounds too fancy. He had no reasons to feel embarrassed with his place, though!
There is definitely a lot more to see and learn about the Palace, but I don’t want to spoil everything for you. However, there are two more important photos that I want to share:
The King’s Royal Robe
All in all, I really enjoyed the visit there and I found both the interior and the exterior jaw-dropping. Definitely a must-visit if you are in Romania – and even more so if you already are in Bucharest, Brasov, or one of the nearby cities.
It’s great for adults and children alike – our son, who was 10 when we visited, admitted that he didn’t get bored and actually liked the whole area (although both floors were a bit too long for him).
Check prices for the tour here (book it in advance!)
And for those who can’t have enough, there’s also an extra bonus, just a few hundred meters away: the Pelisor Castle (which would translate as “the Small Peles”). Really makes you feel like you’re in Austria, right?
We decided against visiting it and I guess it was more or less the same thing as its bigger brother.
The smaller version was built in 1889 for Ferdinand, the heir to the throne. Interestingly, Ferdinand was not Carol’s son, but his nephew and he was brought to Romania from Germany to take on the duties of the king.
PIN this for later
Wrapping up
As you can see from my photos above, visiting Peles Castle is a must. The city itself – Sinaia – looks really good and, even though small, it can offer some nice views and great dining spots, including a great one right next to the castle.
So if you get hungry after your visit, check my guide to the best restaurants in Sinaia before choosing one.
Put aside at least half a day for the whole thing or, even better, plan to get there in the morning and leave in the evening so that you fully enjoy the entire experience: outside of the castle, there are sometimes small huts selling all sorts of trinkets, corn on a cob and various snacks or sweets.
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Hi Ho Calin,
Very beautiful edifice! Your photos are impressive, for sure! The whole experience seems reminiscent of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.
I will say it seems Peles appears more temporal than the “Disneylandish” Bavarian castle.
Is there a gift shop on the premises?
Even tho’ it’s a schlep to Peles by foot, do a lot of people do it, anyway? I remember there were buses from city center to Neuschwanstein, and taxi, and horse-drawn carriage options, too. I think it’d be nice to have a carriage option to the castle Peles.
Re Uber, how do the licensed cab drivers relate? Isn’t Uber a drain on their income? (Even the rip-off cabs
must be upset, too.;-)
Looks like a filling brunch in the photo. Was that a hamburger? Do some Romanians prefer soy burgers as a more healthful option? I frankly can’t tell the difference in taste, and I don’t have any guilt, as no animal was killed to feed me, and I helped reduce my cholesterol, too.
Looking forward to a trip report from Oradea;-) (Maybe you can do it on another one of your trips to Budapest?;-)
Thanks!
~Teil (USA)
Hello Teil,
Many people still go by foot to the castle – I know we did when I last visited 10 years ago. And now that you mentioned it, I don’t remember seeing a gift shop there. That’s pretty strange indeed!
Regarding Uber, taxi drivers protested in Bucharest, but most of the people are with Uber here. The taxi drivers are known for behaving rudely, refusing rides and treating passengers with disrespect, which is the total opposite of Uber and the reason why more and more people go with the latter. Unless they change, I am sure they will be removed from the picture – and deservedly so!
Regarding the food – yes, that was a hamburger. I’ve never seen soy burger options wherever I went and I think you should indeed look carefully in order to find one – and that probably just in the larger cities.
Absolutely gorgeous images! It is a beautiful place and we were both duly impressed. It deserves the hype and we had a wonderful time visiting. My mouth is watering with the recollection of that burger and especially those chips..so light and crispy. Great breakfast indeed! My gosh..to think we almost missed that train! What a way to meet your wife..haha! running through the train station! The staircase for show was so cute. I always say this when l visit this castles! It’s good to be the king. I remember one of the old dogs lying and soaking up the sun in the garden when you guys first went down. I was thinking he had the right idea. Thanks for taking us to experience this wonderful place. Awesome place and memories :-).
I am happy you enjoyed it! It is indeed something else to experience it live and we were lucky that the weather was on our side too! And the running thing – that’s part of the game and the funny stories to remember 🙂
I could kick myself for passing that up. I remember the train stopping at the train station which I thought looked pretty nice. The history of the Romanian royal family is interesting and I am going to totally mangle it (please correct me). I think King Carol I was already a German prince who was imported to be the king of the new Romanian nation which was comprised of Moldova and Wallachia. He came from Hohenzollern in Baden-Württemberg and a branch of the Prussian royal family. The family has a very fancy castle back in Germany. It’s probably just propaganda, but Carol I and his successors did a lot to make themselves “Romanians” by converting to the Orthodox religion and trying hard to make the common Romanians like them by being benevolent and all that. That Romania became a “great” nation in 1918 with all its regions united into one country certainly didn’t hurt their mystique. I find it remarkably prescient that they threw Romania onto the side of the Allied Powers during WW I when their roots might have encouraged them to throw in their lot with Germany or remain neutral. Unfortunately, King Carol II did not have the same wisdom and Romania started WW II on the side of the Axis Powers before switching under his son Mihai to the Russian and allied side and eventually being forced out by the Russians and the Romanian communists in 1947. The family lived in Switzerland ever since and have suffered a scandal recently regarding the “third-in-line” to the throne who knocked up a young Romanian woman and won’t accept paternity of the child. But I don’t think the Romanians will be restoring the monarchy any time soon. Sorry, maybe your readers aren’t that interested in history, just pretty pictures and you gave them a lot of those, thanks!
Hello Stuart,
Yes, you are correct about the imported king. The main reason why he was “imported” – apart from the fact that there weren’t any blue-blooded people in the country – was the fact that they needed somebody with solid influence and backup for the united Romania to be accepted by the world. And he was indeed the one who greatly helped evolve the country into the modern times.
And yes, there are scandals within the royal family, now that king Mihai is taking his final breaths. One of the younger relatives (I really don’t follow this so I don’t know exactly whose grandson he is) actually tried to visit Mihai a final time, wasn’t allowed to and a fight started on the premise… talk about royal behavior!
I will do my best to include a bit of history in future articles. When you live here and you’ve heard the stories a million times, you start considering them boring or known by everybody else 🙂 That is clearly not the case and I will do my best to find the right balance between information and entertainment.
Excellent and beautiful place but everyone should focus that the castle closes ridiculously early , especially in the summer.
Yes, I noticed that they run by a strange schedule – last group at 4PM. More time to enjoy Sinaia afterwards 🙂
Hello!
We plan to pay a visit of Peles Castel, on the 24th of this month, during a privat journey in Romania.
Thanks for the nice and helpful presentation. You’ve helped us to take some decisions about the visit.
I din’t find any possibility to purchase tickets ahead by internet or by other means. Are you familiar with such a possibility, in order to save some time on the lines, which are supposed to be quite long in this time of the year, especially on Sunday ?
Thanks for your effective and kind help,
Unfortunately, it is not possible to buy the tickets online. But I hope you won’t spend too much time waiting in line and you’ll enjoy Peles and Romania as a whole!
We still have great memories of our visit and l especially, am glad we picked that over Dracula’s Castle. So beautiful! The weapons room ruled.
It is the type of place that creates some amazing memories. Like you say: it’s good to be a king! 🙂