🚆 Arriving by rail
Gara Craiova: the railway station
One station, in Piața Constantin Brâncuși, on the main line between Bucharest and the west of the country. How long the trains take, where to buy tickets, and how to get from the platform to Calea Unirii — twenty-five minutes on foot, or a few by taxi.
Tickets and timetables
CFR Călători, the state operator, runs most trains through Craiova, including the InterRegio services to Bucharest and towards Timișoara. The national timetable at mersultrenurilor.infofer.ro shows every operator; CFR tickets are sold online, in the app and at the station. For December weekends, when the Christmas market pulls traffic from the capital, buy ahead — seat reservations are included on InterRegio trains.
Gara Craiova
Gara Craiova stands in Piața Constantin Brâncuși, about 2.5 km east of Piața Mihai Viteazul — roughly twenty-five minutes on foot, or a few minutes by taxi. It sits on the main line that runs from Bucharest towards Timișoara and the west, and it is the hub everything in Oltenia connects through.
The square it stands in is named after Brâncuși, which is a reasonable introduction to the city: he studied here, and his early work including the 1907 *Kiss* is in the Art Museum at the other end of your walk.
From the platform to the centre
- On foot. Twenty-five minutes west, flat the whole way. Pleasant with hand luggage, less so with a suitcase.
- Taxi or app. The rank is in front of the station, and ride-hailing apps pick up here. The easy answer with luggage or after dark, and cheap by capital-city standards.
- City bus. Local lines serve the station; see getting around for how tickets work.
Do not book accommodation near the station to be close to the trains. Nothing you came to see is out here — book in the centre and take one short ride on arrival. See where to stay.
Where the trains go
We are deliberately not printing journey times. Romanian timetables change twice a year and are altered by engineering works in between, and a stale figure on a travel page is worse than no figure — check mersultrenurilor.infofer.ro, which shows every operator, or the CFR Călători site.
What is stable is the shape of the network:
- Bucharest (București Nord) via Videle and Roșiori — the busiest connection and the one most visitors use. Book ahead for December weekends, when the Christmas market pulls traffic from the capital.
- Timișoara and the west, through Drobeta-Turnu Severin and the Danube corridor.
- Târgu Jiu, north — one of only two Oltenia day trips that work without a car, and the one that takes you to the Brâncuși ensemble.
- Drobeta-Turnu Severin, west — the other car-free day trip, for Trajan's bridge and the Iron Gates museum.
What the train cannot do for you
This matters more here than in most Romanian cities, so it is worth stating plainly.
The monasteries, the cave and the mountain have no useful rail service. Hurezi, Tismana, Peștera Muierilor at Baia de Fier and Rânca all effectively require a car or a tour. If your trip is built around Oltenia rather than around Craiova, arrive by train if you like but hire a car when you get here.
Segarcea, twenty-nine kilometres south for the wine, is the same story — close, but not by rail.
Practical
- Book ahead for December weekends and for any long weekend or holiday.
- Luggage. Do not assume left-luggage is open; check on arrival.
- At night, treat it like any large station: keep your bag close and use the rank or an app.
Coming from the airport instead
If you are arriving from abroad, check whether Wizz Air flies to Craiova airport (CRA) from your city before you route yourself through Bucharest and the railway. It is eight kilometres from the centre, and it is the single biggest time saving available on a trip here.
Staying near the station
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.
