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Bucharest
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Photo by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Best time to visit Bucharest

Romania · Europe

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Bucharest

Tap a month for its page

  1. Bucharest in January: avoid
  2. Bucharest in February: ok
  3. Bucharest in March: good
  4. Bucharest in April: sweet spot
  5. Bucharest in May: sweet spot
  6. Bucharest in June: sweet spot, busy
  7. Bucharest in July: sweet spot, busy
  8. Bucharest in August: sweet spot, busy
  9. Bucharest in September: sweet spot, busy
  10. Bucharest in October: sweet spot
  11. Bucharest in November: ok
  12. Bucharest in December: avoid
  • Sweet spot
  • Good
  • OK
  • Avoid
  • Busy
Go in Apr–Oct — these months score within a whisker of each other; 30C max, 6 rainy days. Mar is the next best.

Things to do in Bucharest

  • Palace of the Parliament The world's second largest building (after the US Pentagon)…
  • Arch of Triumph The current arch was inaugurated in 1936…
  • Romanian Atheneum A beautiful building is home of the George Enescu Philarmonic.
  • Cotroceni Palace Museum Has collections of objects that belonged to the former Romanian royal family.
  • Stavropoleos Church Built in the early 18th century…
  • Revolution Square Site of part of the Romanian Revolution of 1989.
  • Curtea Veche Museum The ruins of the crown palace of the Wallachian princes…

Tours and tickets in Bucharest

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Bucharest), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

MonthMax °CRain days HumiditySun h/day VerdictWhy
Jan 5° 6d 82% 5.3h avoid bitter cold: 5C daily max
Feb 7° 5d 78% 6.2h ok 7C max, 5 rainy days
Mar 12° 7d 72% 7.8h good 12C max, 7 rainy days
Apr 17° 6d 67% 9.8h sweet spot 17C max, 6 rainy days
May 22° 9d 68% 11.2h sweet spot 22C max, 9 rainy days
Jun 28° 6d 68% 12.9h sweet spot busy busier than usual
Jul 30° 6d 62% 13.3h sweet spot busy busier than usual
Aug 31° 2d 56% 12.5h sweet spot busy busier than usual
Sep 25° 3d 60% 10.6h sweet spot busy busier than usual
Oct 19° 5d 73% 8.1h sweet spot 19C max, 5 rainy days
Nov 12° 8d 84% 5.0h ok 12C max, 8 rainy days
Dec 7° 7d 88% 4.1h avoid 7C max, 7 rainy days

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at the centre, 15 km from the airport (OTP): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest from July to September; quietest from December to February.

Then and now

Bucharest's August days now average 30.7°C, 3.7°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 6 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
1981–902.5°3.8°10.2°16.7°22.0°25.1°26.9°27.0°23.7°16.9°8.6°4.6°
2017–264.7°7.1°12.4°17.5°22.1°27.7°30.0°30.7°25.4°18.9°11.5°6.6°
Change+2.2°+3.3°+2.2°+0.8°+0.2°+2.5°+3.1°+3.7°+1.7°+2.0°+2.9°+1.9°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far Bucharest is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Cost of livingcheap — prices run about 44% of the United States' (World Bank, 2025)
CurrencyRomanian leu
LanguagesRomanian
PlugsType C and F, 230 V
DrivingOn the right
Calling code+40
Travel advice No advice against travel — UK Foreign Office, updated 2026-09-18
HealthUK Foreign Office health advice

Facts from Wikidata (CC0), the UK Foreign Office (Open Government Licence) and the World Bank, refreshed 2026-10-08. The advisory is written for British travellers; entry rules depend on your passport.

Being there

On arrival

  • Paying — The currency is the leu (RON). Everyday life runs largely on cash, though cards are widely accepted in the big cities. Change euros only at banks, exchange offices or hotels, as changing money in the street is illegal; carry crisp notes, since worn ones may be refused, and use ATMs inside banks or in well-lit public places.
  • UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
  • Tipping — A tip of 5 to 10% is usual in restaurants, cafés and taxis and at hairdressers.

Getting around Bucharest

Bus 100 runs round the clock from Henri Coandă airport to Piața Unirii, by way of Piața Victoriei and Piața Romană: every 15 minutes from 6am to 10pm on weekdays (every 20 at weekends) and every 30 minutes at night. On STB's buses, trams and trolleybuses a ride costs 3 lei and lasts 90 minutes, changes included: tap a contactless bank card or phone on a validator marked Visa and Mastercard, or buy an STB card at the airport's ticket machine, which takes cash and cards and issues the card free with two rides on it (a ride that adds the metro costs 7 lei for 120 minutes). For a taxi, order one at the booth in the arrivals hall.

  • Apps — Rides: Bolt, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Taxi drivers sometimes overcharge visitors: take a licensed, metered taxi showing its company name and price list on the side, check the meter runs at that rate (higher at night and outside the city), and order one through your hotel or an app rather than hailing it in the street.

Bucharest has one of the most extensive systems of public transport in Europe, even though it can sometimes be confusing and crowded. The easiest option for the tourist is probably using a contactless card. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Bucharest, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

  • Emergency — 112 (any emergency).
    TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 8 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (16)

Bucharest in pictures

Grave of the D. Bungetzianu Family in the Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest, Romania (12)
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Neoclassicism Enthusiast, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Street sign of Strada Stănileși in Bucharest, Romania
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Neoclassicism Enthusiast, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Biblioteca Central de la Universidad de Bucarest, Bucarest, Rumanía, 2016 05 29, DD 97 99 HDR
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Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Bucharest is like

Bucharest (Romanian: București) is Romania's capital and largest city. Bucharest has a very interesting mix of old and new: finding a 300-year-old church near a steel-and-glass tower that sits next to a communist-style building is commonplace in Bucharest. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing
Palace of the Parliament (Palatul Parliamentului), strada Izvor 2-4 (near Piața Unirii (Union Plazza). - M1, 3 'Izvor' - entrance is on the north side). More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing
There are two free weekly guides published in Bucharest featuring all the events of the week, as well as listing the addresses of most restaurants, clubs, pubs, bars, cinemas etc. in the city. More on Wikivoyage
Getting in
The IATA code BUH IATA corresponds to "all" airports in Bucharest, not a specific one. Băneasa (Aurel Vlaicu) Airport (BBU IATA) (5 km north of the centre). More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe
The emergency number in Romania is 112. Bucharest is one of the safest capitals in Europe, far safer than Berlin, London and Rome. More on Wikivoyage
Staying healthy
Those with allergies may find Bucharest annoying in that it is both hot and very dusty in the summer, with temperatures easily exceeding 30 °C in July and August, so bring whatever you might need to stay comfortable. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Bucharest, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Bucharest

Nearby

Kind of place

Bucharest is in Romania, Europe. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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