Why this city is a reasonable place to study
Craiova is a university city with the rents of a provincial one, and that combination is the whole argument.
The University of Craiova is the anchor, with the Military College "Tudor Vladimirescu" and a full set of national colleges feeding it from below — see secondary schools in Craiova for the school layer. What that produces is a student population big enough to run a bar scene and small enough that the city does not price around it.
The cost of living is the headline. Craiova is among the cheaper major Romanian cities for a room and a meal, noticeably below Bucharest and Cluj. The sourced picture is on the prices page and in what a trip costs — and we do not print rent figures, because the ones circulating online have no date on them and change faster than we could maintain.
Where students actually live
Centru is the expensive option and the one that saves you a commute. Everything is walkable, which in a city this flat genuinely means everything.
Craiovița Nouă, Rovine and Brazda lui Novac are where most of the city lives: socialist-era blocks, cheaper, with their own shops and their own parks. Grădina Rovine and Parcul Hanul Doctorului are the neighbourhood green.
Gara & Brâncuși puts you next to the station, which matters if you go home most weekends.
Every area is covered on the neighbourhoods pages, with what is actually there rather than an estate agent's description.
Places in this piece
Getting around on a student budget
Walk. The centre is fifteen minutes end to end and the city is flat — there is no hill anywhere in Craiova. This is the single biggest practical difference from Cluj or Brașov.
Public transport covers the neighbourhoods; getting around has the practical version and transport tickets covers how buying one works.
A bike is viable precisely because of the flatness, with the caveats in cycling in Craiova.
Do not keep a car in the centre. Street parking is paid and contested, and in December part of the centre closes for the Christmas market. Where to park.
Going out
The scene is concentrated, which is good news when you are new.
The old town lanes around Traian Demetrescu are effectively the drinking street — Curtea Berarilor, The 20's and Old Court Biergarten are all on or beside it, and Craft on Eugeniu Carada is the best-reviewed in the city for local craft beer.
Big Ben and Fado Irish Pub are the long-standing central ones; Steam Punk is the other.
Craiova at night has the full version, the pubs listing and nightlife listing show live opening status, and tipping and service charge answers the question nobody asks out loud.
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.
Coffee and somewhere to work
This matters more than the bar list and nobody writes it down.
Harvest and Nao's have the highest ratings in the city. Kune on Lipscani is the quiet one, which makes it the one to work in. Bulldog and Coffee Story are the other two.
Specialty coffee in Craiova and the cafés listing with live opening status. If you are working rather than studying, Craiova for digital nomads covers wifi, desks and the rest.
Sport and the thing that unites everyone
CS Universitatea Craiova is not a side interest in this city. A place of about 230,000 people reached a European semi-final in 1982–83, and that is still the reference point — Craiova Maxima and the 1983 semi-final.
Matchday at Ion Oblemenco covers going to a game. The stadium holds a little under 31,000, which for a student city means tickets are gettable.
For actually doing sport rather than watching it, gyms lists what is where.
The practical background
Pharmacies: three in the city are open around the clock, and the pharmacy page shows which are open at this moment. Emergencies: 112, and hospitals has the addresses.
Anything involving the city hall — residence, documents, local taxes — is translated in the city hall section, which exists because the official site has five portals on four domains and no obvious way in.
Term-time weather: autumn is the good season, winter is fog rather than snow, and the exam period in June runs into the first real heat. The weather page month by month, Craiova in autumn and in winter.
Weekends out
This is Craiova's underrated student advantage: you can leave cheaply and be somewhere real in under two hours.
Rânca at 134 km for snow and hiking, Târgu Jiu at 110 km for the Brâncuși ensemble, Peștera Muierilor at 119 km, Drobeta at 113 km along the Danube. All measured and dated on the Oltenia page.
