If you decided to go full on explore mode in, a car will definitely make things easier across Romania, especially that trains can be slow on longer routes.
Before you jump on driving in Romania make sure you can navigate a country that doesn’t have the friendliest drivers nor the best roads.
We advise against renting a car if you only plan to visit Bucharest. It’s one of the busiest cities around when it comes to traffic and parking is scarce.
Renting a car at the airport in Bucharest
Where to rent from?
The main airport in Bucharest (Henri Coandă, indicative BUH) has plenty of options when it comes to car rental.
Big international brands such Avis, Budget or Sixt are present along local operators such Autonom.
To get to the rental offices, turn right once you’ve picked up your luggage and got out through the gates at Henri Coandă Airport (if you’ve picked up your luggage from belts 4 or 5, you need to go up one level to the main arrivals hall). Follow the corridor until you reach the dedicated car rental area (it will be on the right hand side).
Best practices while renting a car in Romania
Most companies do require a deposit in line with the class of your rental car as well as optional insurance contracted directly from the rental operator. The lowest deposit we’ve seen around in about 100 EUR, but can quickly go up with the rental class.
Most companies will require a credit card to be able to rent in Romania.
Is my driving license valid in Romania?
If you’re an EU driving license holder, you won’t need anything else to be able to drive in Romania. However, if you hold a non-EU driving license, you might be required to have an International Driving License together with your national one. This is usually obtained from your local Driver’s Associations (like AAA is the US). Check with your Foreign Affairs office if this is the case for you.
The legal limit for driving in Romania is 18 years old (can be lower for certain types of vehicles), but beware that most rental companies will require the driver to be at least 21 years old to be able to rent. Also, there is a requirement to have had a license for most than a year.
Driving in Romania - best practices
There’s nothing in particular you need to know before driving in Romania as it’s law is fully aligned to the EU one.
Romania drives on the right side of the road.
Speed limits in Romania
50 km/h – inside any town, village or city (unless a different speed limit is mentioned)
90 km/h outside any town/city or village (this can increase to 100 km/h if the roads an European one – E indicative)
120 km/h – any express road (DX indicative)
130 km/h on motorways (A indicative)
Local regulations - good to know
The alcohol limit while driving in Romania is 0, this means even a tiny amount of alcohol consumed will get you fined.
There are also plenty of drug tests being carried on important routes.
Getting gas in Romania
Most gas stations in Romania are open 24/7, so you won’t need to use your credit card at the pump, or get any amount blocked before you can use the pump. Also, most have a proper supermarket available.
You will easily find both diesel and petrol at any gas station, some providing LPG as well (unlikely you will rent a car that requires LPG though).
Some of the bigger gas station chains started implementing fast chargers for electric cars. Still, make sure you plan your charging thoroughly before going through the country in an EV as not every area is covered by fast chargers.
Driving in Bucharest
Before you decide to drive in Bucharest, you should know that the city is packed with cars, meaning that you will have a hard time reaching anywhere especially during rush hour.
If driving is a must, here are few tips.
Parking in Bucharest
There are both street parking options as well as garages you can part within the city. Locals have the rabbit of parking anywhere there is a bit of room, but we really advise against doing this as your car could be towed away. Note that some areas outside downtown Bucharest have different rules or parking apps, always look over the info boardsaround the parking lot.
Using public parking lots - blue lines
The public parking lots have the best coverage around the city and are marked with blue lines. You will find those on most streets, usually requiring paralel parking.
The pricing is 5 lei (or 1 EUR) each hour, or you can get a day pass for 30 lei (or 6 EUR). There are few options to pay, but the best is probably the app called Parking Bucuresti, you can download this using the links below. It’s a fairly simple app available in English. You will only need the license plate and card details to pay for your parking.
Using a public garage
This is especially useful if you need to leave your car around downtown, there are 2 garages around Piața Universității (University Square).
Those have few free spots even during the day, but are rather on the upper side in terms of prices, ranging between 11 lei (5.5 EUR) for the 1st hour and a 60 lei (12 EUR per day).
