Getting to Craiova

By train is the right choice if Craiova itself is the trip. Trains leave București Nord several times a day on the line through Videle and Roșiori; it is one of the better main lines in the country and the kind of route you can work or read on. You arrive at Piața Constantin Brâncuși, about twenty-five minutes' walk east of the centre or a few minutes by taxi — in the city, not at a ring road.

The train's real advantage is December. The [Christmas market](/christmas-market) is in the middle of a pedestrianised centre, parking near it is the single most common complaint, and the market sells mulled wine by the litre. None of that is a problem if you came by rail.

By bus, coaches run the route and are the cheapest option. They are slower than the train and drop you at a terminal rather than in the centre.

By plane from Bucharest there is no point — but read the next section anyway, because you may not need Bucharest at all.

This is the section worth reading twice.

Craiova International (CRA) sits about eight kilometres east of the centre on Calea București. Wizz Air operates most of the routes, with London, Madrid, Barcelona, several Italian and German cities among the destinations; Animawings and SunExpress add others, and the network changes seasonally.

If your trip is Craiova and Oltenia rather than Bucharest and Transylvania, flying into CRA instead of Otopeni saves roughly four hours and the cost of a hire car for the transfer. A great many people book Otopeni out of habit and then drive 230 km.

Check the route map before you book the obvious airport. The [airport page](/airport) has the current picture and the arrivals board.

The route from Bucharest is the A1 motorway south-west, then DN65 and DN6. About 230 km.

Why it is not the Prahova Valley. Anyone who drives out of Bucharest regularly knows that road north becomes a car park on Friday evening and again on Sunday afternoon. The Craiova road does not behave like that: it crosses the plain rather than climbing into the Carpathians, carries far less weekend leisure traffic, and has no valley to funnel everyone into one lane. Allow for the usual exit from the capital and the rest is predictable. That predictability is the strongest practical argument for Craiova as a weekend from Bucharest.

When the car is the right choice is when Craiova is the base rather than the destination. Every [day trip in Oltenia](/oltenia) effectively needs one — the monasteries, the cave at Baia de Fier and Rânca have no useful public transport at all.

The rovinietă, the road toll vignette, is required on national roads and is checked by camera. Hire cars normally include it; if you are driving your own, buy it before you set off from the official shop.

One summer warning. The Oltenian plain in July and August averages a daily high of 30 °C. A car whose air conditioning does not actually work is a bad way to arrive — see [the weather month by month](/weather).

From Timișoara and the west, Craiova is the natural stop on the way south-east, and the road runs through Drobeta-Turnu Severin and the Danube gorge if you want to make a trip of it.

From Sibiu and Transylvania, the route comes down through Râmnicu Vâlcea and passes within reach of [Horezu](/oltenia/horezu), which turns the drive into a day out rather than a transfer.

From Târgu Jiu, 110 km north, it is an hour and fifty minutes — which is why the [Brâncuși pairing](/brancusi) works in a single day in either direction.

From the Danube ports — Calafat, Bechet, Drobeta — Craiova is the regional centre everything funnels into, and the distances are on [the Oltenia page](/oltenia), measured rather than estimated.

Currency is the leu (RON). Cards work almost everywhere in the centre, including at most market stalls in December, but coverage at smaller stalls and at the [ride operators](/christmas-market) is patchier — carry some small notes.

From the station to the centre is a twenty-five-minute walk or a short taxi ride. From the airport it is a short drive; arrange it rather than assuming, because the transfer options change — see [the airport page](/airport).

Once you are in the centre you need nothing. Craiova is small and flat: the museums, the restaurants, the bars and the market are all inside a fifteen-minute walk of Piața Mihai Viteazul. The one exception is [Romanescu Park](/parks), which is a longer walk south or a short ride.

The tourist tax is charged per person per night by your accommodation and is not included in the rate you see online.

Booking Otopeni without checking Craiova. The commonest and the most expensive. If Wizz Air flies to CRA from your city, you have just saved four hours each way.

Driving into the centre in December. Calea Unirii is pedestrianised through the core and the feeder streets fill from mid-afternoon. Park once on the ring and walk in; fifteen minutes gets you across the whole centre.

Arriving in July without a plan for the middle of the day. A 30 °C daily high and a centre with almost no shade is not a walking-around city between eleven and five. Build the day around the [museums](/attractions) and [Romanescu](/parks).

Treating Craiova as a stop rather than a base. Two UNESCO sites, the oldest monastery in Wallachia and the Danube are all within two and a quarter hours, and the distances are measured on [the Oltenia page](/oltenia). The city is worth two days; the region is worth the rest of the week.