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Romania

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description Romania Overview

Romania is a country in southeastern Europe with a Black Sea coastline and borders with Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Moldova; Bucharest is the capital. Its people speak Romanian, a Romance language, and the Carpathian Mountains curve across the centre of the country. Transylvania preserves Saxon fortified churches and towns such as Sighișoara, while the painted monasteries of Bucovina reflect Byzantine artistic tradition and are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Communist rule ended in the 1989 revolution, Romania joined the European Union in 2007, and the Danube Delta ranks among Europe's largest wetlands.

help Romania FAQ

Can you actually visit Dracula's castle in Romania?

Yes and no — Bran Castle in Transylvania is heavily marketed as 'Dracula's Castle', though Bram Stoker's 1897 novel never actually names it as Count Dracula's home. The castle is instead loosely tied to the historical Vlad III, the Wallachian ruler who inspired the character.

Is Romanian a Slavic language?

No, Romanian is a Romance language descended from Latin, making it a close cousin of Italian, French and Spanish. You can often decode Romanian signage faster from Italian than from the Slavic languages of some of its neighbours.

Does Romania use the euro, and is it in the Schengen Area?

Romania keeps its own currency, the leu (RON), despite joining the EU in 2007. It joined the Schengen Area for air and sea borders in March 2024 and removed land border checks on 1 January 2025, so road travel is now largely checkpoint-free.

What is the Transfăgărășan road and is it worth driving?

It is a dramatic alpine highway across the Făgăraș Mountains, built in the early 1970s under Nicolae Ceaușescu, climbing to about 2,040 metres near Bâlea Lake. Top Gear famously praised it as one of the greatest driving roads in the world, and it is typically closed in winter by snow.