Why this page exists
Romanian public holidays close more than visitors expect, and the information about what is open is scattered across the places least likely to update it.
This is the practical version: which days are holidays, what shuts, what does not, and what to do instead. The calendar itself is on the public holidays page, which carries the current year rather than a list we would have to re-type.
The pattern, which is the useful part
Public offices close completely. Everything in the city hall section — taxes, documents, the registry — is a working-day proposition. The online portals stay up; the counters do not.
Banks and most shops close, and the big ones reduce hours rather than shutting. Mercur Center on Calea Unirii and Electroputere on Calea București are the reliable fallbacks because a shopping centre almost always opens something.
Museums close or shorten. The Art Museum, the Oltenia Museum and the rest do not publish timetables we would print with a date, and holidays are exactly when their stated hours stop applying. Museums in Craiova says the same thing at length: ring.
Restaurants split. Some close for the family day, some do their best trade of the month. The only reliable check is the restaurants listing, which computes each place's open/closed state from its own opening pattern rather than from a leaflet. The cafés listing does the same.
Pharmacies do not close. Three in Craiova are open around the clock, and the pharmacy page shows which are open at this moment. For anything urgent it is 112 — not a hospital switchboard. Hospitals and emergencies.
Parks never close, and on a holiday they are where the city actually is. Romanescu, the park guide, and playgrounds and parks.
Places in this piece
The big ones, by character
New Year — the city does a public New Year's Eve in Piața Mihai Viteazul, and the Christmas market runs to 3 January, so the first days of the year still have the lights with far fewer people in front of them. New Year in Craiova.
Orthodox Easter — the quietest good week of the year here, because Oltenians go to villages rather than cities. The centre empties, accommodation is at its cheapest outside January, and the midnight service is the central event of the Romanian year. Craiova at Easter.
1 May — the start of the outdoor season rather than a city occasion. Everyone leaves: to the Danube, to the hills, to a garden. Craiova on 1 May.
1 June, Children's Day — tied to Craiova Days, the city's own festival, which lands in the first week of June with a free stage in the main square.
1 December, National Day — public ceremonies, and a cold day in a city whose winter is fog rather than snow.
Christmas — the market has been running since 13 November, a fortnight before Sibiu, Bucharest and Brașov, and by Christmas week it is at its busiest. Why Craiova opens first and the market with children.
One date that is not a holiday but behaves like one: 13 November, when the Christmas market opens. The centre fills, parking becomes a problem and the good restaurant tables go. It is worth knowing in the other direction too — the fortnight that follows is the cheapest, quietest moment to see the market, because nowhere else in Romania has one open yet.
Where to stay nearby
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 to actually do on a closed day
Walk the centre. Calea Unirii is free, outdoors and better empty — and on a holiday it is empty. The Belle Époque façades are the thing to look at and the architecture guide explains what you are seeing.
Go to a church. Free, open, and on a religious holiday they are the one thing in the city operating at full capacity. Churches and monasteries in Craiova.
Drive out. Roads are empty on holidays and Oltenia is an hour and a half away in several directions — though the same warning applies there, and more so: almost nothing in the region publishes dependable hours at the best of times.
If the weather is bad, Craiova in the rain has the indoor list, with the caveat that half of it is affected by the holiday too.
Planning around them
Book accommodation early for Easter and Christmas, which are the two that fill. Where to stay.
Do not plan a city-hall errand near a holiday. Counters close, and the day after a holiday is the busiest of the month — local taxes and documents and ID explain the booking systems, which is the way to avoid the queue entirely.
Check before you drive anywhere specific. That is the standing rule on this site and holidays are when it matters most.
