Romania: Regions, Cities & Travel Guide

What is Romania known for?

România is known for its mountain landscapes, its rural countryside, and its historic cities. The Danube winds toward the Black Sea, and the country holds seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, one natural and six cultural. Variety defines it.

Old cities such as Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Brașov, and Timișoara draw visitors alongside the capital, Bucharest, and the shore of the Black Sea.

Where is Romania?

România sits in Southeast and Central Europe, on the lower course of the Danube and the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. Five countries border it. Ukraine lies along the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, and Moldova to the east.

The Black Sea closes the southeastern corner, and the Danube crosses the south of the country before it empties into the sea. Water frames the borders. Away from the rivers and the coast, mountain landscapes and unspoilt rural areas fill much of România.

The land climbs inland. Historic cities such as Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Timișoara, and Brașov sit among the hills and plains, while Constanța lies toward the Black Sea and Bucharest anchors the interior. North of the Balkan Peninsula, the country bridges the plains of Central Europe and the mountains of the southeast.

The rural districts stretch between the towns, where old villages and farmland cover the ground between the mountains and the river valleys. Seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites lie scattered across these landscapes, from the coast to the mountains. The country reads as many landscapes at once.

What is the history of Romania?

România took its modern shape in 1859, when the union of its principalities formed a single country. The union made the nation. From that founding the country gathered a range of ethnic, linguistic, and confessional groups, a mix that still runs through its cities and countryside.

Different faiths and languages settled side by side, and that older pattern shaped the character of the regions. Historic cities such as Brașov, Cluj-Napoca, Iași, and Timișoara carry the older layers of that past in their streets and buildings. The past sits in the stone.

Culture ran alongside politics through România's history. The country's cultural heritage survives in six of its UNESCO World Heritage Sites, set among the historic cities and the countryside. Each site records a chapter of the country's cultural past, kept among the historic cities and rural regions.

Modern milestones followed. România joined the European Union in 2007, tying the country into the wider continent of Central and Southeast Europe. Through all of it the Danube and the Black Sea kept their old role as the country's routes to the world beyond.

History still runs to the water.

What is Romania like?

România feels like several countries folded into one. Its people speak more than one language. The ethnic, linguistic, and confessional groups found across the country give its towns and villages distinct characters, and the old cities each keep a flavour of their own.

Old churches and town squares stand at the centre of each city, each shaped by the community that built it. Brașov, Cluj-Napoca, Iași, and Timișoara carry that variety in their squares and churches. Difference is the rule here.

Life in România runs between the cities and the countryside. The rural areas hold much of the old way of living, with villages and farmland spread through the hills and the river valleys of the interior. Along the Danube and the Black Sea the pattern shifts toward the water, where ports and coast towns face outward.

Food, festivals, and faith differ from region to region, carried by the many communities of the country. The country's cultural heritage, marked by its UNESCO World Heritage Sites, ties the modern cities back to that older rural world. It is a country of contrasts.

What is the climate of Romania?

România has a temperate climate, shaped by its position between Central Europe and the Black Sea. Winters run cold, summers warm. The mountain landscapes hold snow well into the cold months, while the lower Danube plain and the Black Sea coast stay milder through the year.

Away from the sea, the interior swings further between the seasons than the shore.

How do you get to Romania?

România connects to Europe by land, water, and air, with the capital, Bucharest, as its main point of entry. Most arrivals pass through Bucharest. Land borders open from Hungary and Serbia in the west, Bulgaria across the Danube in the south, and Ukraine and Moldova in the north and east.

The Black Sea gives the country its sea link, while the Danube carries traffic inland from the coast. Roads and rail tie the cities together.