Bran Castle (aka Dracula Castle) – quick travel guide

Tips and recommendations for going to Bran Castle and general info about it.

Bran Castle, along with Transylvania region, is a massive tourist attraction in Romania. Just about anybody going to Bucharest or Romania will probably think of stopping by Brasov (cute town) in the Transylvania region and along with it Bran Castle (aka “Dracula Castle”) and Peles Castle.

Personally…unless you have A LOT of time to spend in Romania, I would absolutely skip this castle. It’s small, lame, not as pretty as Peles Castle…and not worth the time lost that you could have spent in a prettier and more eventful Brasov. I did a day trip to Brasov in late November and would have much rather spent the precious daylight hours walking around Brasov than wasting it getting to and back from Bran Castle. If you got only 3-4 days in Bucharest, and dedicating 1 day for Brasov (and half that day for Bran Castle)…I definitely wouldn’t do it. Spend that day in Brasov instead, or a mountain town somewhere, or go to Peles Castle if you definitely want to see any castle.

But if you insist…here’s how you get to Bran Castle!

Getting to Bran Castle from Brasov:

• Brasov is the nearest big town.
• I hear there’s a bus from Brasov to Bran Castle, that’s probably the cheapest way but might not be most convenient.
• I suggest using Uber or Bolt. But if you’re by the train station, many taxi guys will offer to drive you and will quote a rate cheaper than Uber. They’ll also offer to wait for you and then drive you back. Be careful when they offer to wait. Many will go run errands or do something else and then you have to wait for them to come back to you. Either just don’t do this arrangement. Or message them earlier to avoid waiting. The wait time is especially a killer when you’re trying to move quickly to save daylight hours or go elsewhere.

Getting to Bran Castle from Bucharest:

• From Bucharest, you have 3 options. Either take a tour (which uses a bus), or taking train to Brasov, or renting/driving a car.
• Going via tour is most logistically convenient since you don’t have think about anything.
• Train is next best option. You take the train from Bucharest to Brasov, and it takes either 2.5 hours or 3 hrs or 3.5 hours…depending on which one you choose. Don’t worry, there are trains leaving every 20-30 minutes but they vary in speeds.
• Driving, I hear is a big hassle and risk. Many rental companies find every way not to give back your security deposit. Also I don’t recommend driving on weekends when roads are super crowded and more traffic.
• Once you get to Brasov, you can follow the section above.

What to see and do in Bran Castle:

• Look up Bran and Peles Castle opening hours before going.
• The castle itself can be done in 1hr, that’s with you stopping and taking photos.
• It’s not a big castle at all. It’s more like a fancy house on a hill.
• Walk through the tourist market and then through the grass part to get to the water. From here you take a photo of the outside of the castle on the hill.
• Then climb the hill and go into the castle. Walk around and take photos as you like. It looks more like a rich person’s house than a medieval castle.
• I didn’t do the extra paid subterranean tour.
• Bathrooms are near the entrance/exit on the backside.

If you wanted to have some extra fun with pictures. Wear all black clothing and buy some fangs in the market for your goth pictures in/around the castle.