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Craiova. Your city. Your world.
Discover Craiova as it deserves to be known.
Craiova right now
12°C · Rain · feels like 11°C
So we'd suggest
Rain? The day for the Brâncuși rooms →The Art Museum on Calea Unirii holds early Brâncuși in the Jean Mihail Palace — and the Oltenia Museum and Casa Băniei, the oldest building in the city, are a few minutes away on foot.
🎄 Season guide
Craiova Christmas Market
Piața Mihai Viteazul, 13 November 2026 – 3 January 2027. It opens about a fortnight before Sibiu, Bucharest and Brașov — for two weeks it is the only major market open in Romania.
Until the market opens · 13 November
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Everything on the site
Where do you want to start?
The whole menu, laid out. A city guide, a region, and the practical pages the people who live here use.
What to seeSix original Brâncuși in a Belle Époque palace, the museums, the churches and the Belle Époque street itself.The Christmas market13 November – 3 January. It opens a fortnight before Sibiu, Bucharest and Brașov.
OlteniaTwo UNESCO sites, a cave with a published genome and the Danube — every distance measured and dated.
Food & drinkRestaurants, cafés and the old town's drinking street — with live opening hours.
Where to stayBy area, with live prices on a map centred where you are going.
The neighbourhoodsEighteen areas, from the Belle Époque centre to the towns of Oltenia.Plan the tripItinerary builder, the weather month by month, what it costs, how to get here and how to get around.Read before you goEighty-three guides: the market, the day trips, with children, by season — and the inbound routes from Sofia and Belgrade.City hall, translatedFive portals on four domains. Which one pays a tax, which one books a counter.Pharmacies & emergenciesThree are open around the clock. Every listing says whether it is open right now.Local businessesDentists, car repair and ITP, gyms, salons, nurseries and tradesmen.
Beyond the centreOltenia: two UNESCO sites, the Danube and a wine roadTârgu Jiu, Horezu, Tismana, Segarcea and Drobeta — with every distance measured from Piața Mihai Viteazul, and the prices nobody else will source.Beyond the centreBrâncuși, from the student bust to the Endless ColumnHe learned to carve in Craiova. The Art Museum holds the beginning; the ensemble he laid out in 1937–38 is two hours north. One day, both ends.
⚽ The club
CS Universitatea Craiova
A city of 230,000 that reached a European semi-final. The Craiova Maxima side, the Ion Oblemenco, and a straight answer to why two clubs now carry almost the same name.
Start from an area
Craiova is a Belle Époque centre with a ring of blocks around it and a ninety-six-hectare park to the south. Half an hour away are the Crown Estate cellars at Segarcea; within two and a quarter hours, two UNESCO World Heritage sites and the Danube.
Centre
Calea Unirii, Piața Mihai Viteazul and almost everything worth seeing, inside a twenty-minute walk. Stay here.
Romanescu
Ninety-six hectares of park laid out by a Paris-medalled French architect, the zoo inside it, and the best restaurants outside the centre.
Station & Brâncuși
Where you arrive by train or coach, twenty-five minutes' walk east of Calea Unirii. Cheaper beds, honest trade-off.
Sărari
The old low-built quarter immediately north of the centre — the one residential area worth walking through on purpose.
Attractions
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Where to stay
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Restaurants
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Cafés & patisseries
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Pubs, craft beer & wine bars
See all (23) →
4.5(1,504)out of 5 on Google€€€€
Closed · opens 11:30
Cocktail bars & nightlife
See all (7) →
Where to stay in Craiova
Live prices and availability on a map centred on this exact spot — hotels, apartments and hostels, so you can judge the walk from here rather than guess from an address.
Bookings made through this map earn us a commission. Your price is unaffected.
What's on
See all →13 November
Craiova Christmas Market
Piața Mihai Viteazul
31 December
New Year's Eve in Piața Mihai Viteazul
Piața Mihai Viteazul
4 June
ExpoFlora
Strada Theodor Aman
5 June
Craiova Days
Piața Mihai Viteazul
Read before you go
See all →
Belle Époque CraiovaOltenia's landowners got rich on grain and spent it on French architects. The result is the most coherent Belle Époque street in southern Romania — and the writers all went to Sibiu instead.
Churches and monasteries in CraiovaThe Belle Époque centre is from 1880–1914; several churches predate it by centuries. Two working monasteries sit inside the city limits and almost no visitor finds either.
Churches and monasteries in OlteniaCraiova's visible history has a four-century hole in it, and the architecture that fills it is out in the region: Hurezi of 1690, UNESCO-listed and the building that named a style, and Tismana of the 1370s on a rock above a gorge. Plus two within twenty minutes of the city that almost nobody sees.Before you go
Compare hotel pricesOne search across the booking sites — central hotels, apartments near Calea Unirii and guesthouses out in Oltenia side by side, so you see who really has the lowest price for the same room.Compare stays →Wine tastings & cellar visitsSouthern Oltenia is warm enough to ripen Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Fetească Neagră, which is unusual in Romania. Segarcea is twenty-nine kilometres south and visits are by arrangement, not drop-in.See wine experiences →Brâncuși day tripsThe Art Museum here holds his early work; the ensemble he laid out in 1937–38 is 110 km north at Târgu Jiu, on the UNESCO list since 2024. With a driver it is one day; by public transport it is two.Compare day trips →
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Frequently asked about Craiova
Is Craiova worth visiting?
Yes, for three specific things rather than as a general city break: the Brâncuși collection at the Art Museum, which holds the 1907 Kiss; Romanescu Park, ninety-six hectares laid out by a French architect and a gold medallist at the 1900 Paris Exposition; and the Christmas market, twice top of European rankings. Two days covers the city; a third gets you to Târgu Jiu or Segarcea.
How many days do you need in Craiova?
Two for the city — the Belle Époque centre and Calea Unirii, the Art Museum, the Oltenia Museum and Casa Băniei, an afternoon in Romanescu. A third day for one trip out: Târgu Jiu for Brâncuși, Segarcea for wine, or Horezu for the monastery.
When is the Craiova Christmas market in 2026?
13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, with "Tărâmul elfilor" as the theme. That is about a fortnight earlier than Sibiu, Bucharest and Brașov, which makes Craiova the first major Romanian market to open. The 2026 daily opening hours had not been published when we checked in October.
How do I get from Bucharest to Craiova?
By train from Gara de Nord, or by car on the A1 and DN65/DN6 — roughly 230 km. Craiova also has its own airport (CRA), with Wizz Air flying most of the routes, including London, Madrid, Barcelona, Italy and Germany.
What is Craiova known for?
Brâncuși, who studied here and whose early work including the 1907 Kiss is in the Art Museum; Romanescu Park, one of the largest city parks in Romania; its Christmas market; and Universitatea Craiova, whose 1982–83 UEFA Cup semi-final the city still measures every season against.
