Why you probably need one
For Craiova itself, no. The centre is flat and fifteen minutes end to end, and a car in it is a parking problem rather than a convenience. Getting around covers the walking and the buses.
For Oltenia, yes — and it is not a preference, it is the requirement. The monasteries, the cave and the Brâncuși ensemble have no useful public transport at all. That single fact decides the shape of most trips here, and it is why the Oltenia page gives road distances rather than timetables.
What a car unlocks, every distance measured from Piața Mihai Viteazul and dated:
- Târgu Jiu 110 km — the Brâncuși ensemble, UNESCO-listed since 2024
- Horezu 113 km — a monastery on the list since 1993, and a pottery craft recognised in 2012
- Drobeta 113 km — Trajan's bridge piers still in the Danube, along the Iron Gates gorge
- Peștera Muierilor 119 km — a whole genome published in *Current Biology* in 2021
- Rânca 134 km — 1,600 m, snow in winter and nine degrees cooler in July
- Segarcea 29 km — the Crown Estate cellars, close enough to be an afternoon
Three days in Oltenia is the itinerary that uses them.
Where to hire
At Craiova airport, which is the obvious option if you are flying in — Wizz Air operates it from London, Madrid, Barcelona, Italy and Germany among others, and arriving at CRA rather than Bucharest saves four hours and the hire car you would have needed anyway.
In the city, from the usual international and local operators.
Compare before you commit. Rates vary more between operators on a route like this than they do in a big capital, because the market is smaller.
Ready to look? Compare car hire in Craiova — we may earn a commission, and it does not change your price.
What to check before you sign
The excess, not the daily rate. This is where the money actually is, and it is the single most common surprise. Ask what the deductible is and what reduces it.
Fuel policy. Full-to-full is the only one that does not cost you something.
Cross-border, if you are going on to Bulgaria or Serbia. This matters here more than in most of Romania: Sofia is four to five hours and Belgrade about five and a half, and both are realistic onward trips from Craiova. Most hire agreements restrict or surcharge crossing, and Serbia — outside the EU and outside Schengen — usually needs extra paperwork. Ask before you book, not at the desk.
Air conditioning. Not a luxury here. July and August average highs around 30 °C on the plain with no evening cool-down, and a two-hour drive to Horezu in that is genuinely unpleasant without it. How to escape the heat.
A child seat if you need one, and bring your own if you can — this is true across Romania, and taxis will not have one either. Craiova with a baby.
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.
How many days you actually need it
This is where people overspend. A car is useless to you in the city and essential outside it, so hire it for the days you leave rather than for the whole stay.
A two-day trip needs no car at all. One day and two days are both walkable itineraries.
A three-day trip needs one day of car, for whichever of Târgu Jiu, Horezu or Drobeta you pick.
A week is where it earns its keep, because the destinations are in different directions and you cannot pair them — Târgu Jiu and Horezu are both roughly 110 km away, but 110 km away *from each other's opposite side*.
Driving here
The roads are national roads, not motorways. 110 to 134 km means an hour and a half to two and a quarter, not the motorway hour the number suggests. Plan the day around that.
Winter is fog, not snow, in the city and across the plain — low cloud sitting in the Jiu valley for days. It does not close roads, it reduces visibility, and it is the defining winter condition here. Craiova in winter and the weather page.
The mountain road is different. Rânca sits at 1,600 m on the Transalpina and carries real mountain weather. Check before going in winter rather than assuming.
Nothing publishes reliable hours. Across Oltenia almost nothing has a timetable we can date — the cave posts its schedule as a photograph — which is why the Oltenia page gives phone numbers. Ring before a two-hour drive.
Parking when you get back
The centre is paid and contested, and in December part of it closes for the Christmas market. The move locals use is to park once and walk in, because the centre is fifteen minutes end to end.
Where to park in Craiova has which garages take cards, and if you are staying overnight, pick a hotel with its own parking and leave the car there — where to stay.
If you would rather not drive
A private transfer covers airport runs and fixed-price door-to-door trips: book a transfer.
For the city alone you do not need any of this. Walk, and use the services pages for anything practical.
