Car Rental - Bucharest

Bucharest has been the capital of Romania for centuries and boasts a host of medieval and older features. Over the years, the city’s architecture changed under communist rule but today it’s shrugging off that grey concrete past with a brand-new youthful energy. Here you can see Brutalist architecture next to wooden churches and districts popping with vitality.

Car rental in Bucharest is the perfect way to see all that this fine city has to offer, before taking to the roads of Romania, perhaps to trace a path through the Carpathians, or to explore the wonderful castles with their place in vampire lore.

Browse our collections and choose the right car rental in Bucharest for your needs, pay when you book or on collection and, if you need any assistance with your rental during your trip, contact our 24-hour helpline.

Bucharest is a city in the throes of change. It might not be one of the powerhouse capitals of Europe, but history on a grand scale has played out here.

Whose Palace?

The Palace of Parliament aroused much controversy during its planning and construction. In order to make room for its bulk – it’s the second largest administrative building in the world, just behind the Pentagon – 30,000 people were moved and a number of buildings demolished. Ceausescu called it ‘The People’s Palace’ but the vast edifice, including a nuclear bunker, was never finished.

You can see the building that resulted only by guided tour, booked in advance. Head for Primaverii Street and you can also visit the former palace of the Ceausescu family, once known as The Golden Palace due to the lavish decoration on show.

Country Life in the City

If you venture out of Bucharest in your car rental into rural Romania, you’ll see that the rustic way of life is alive and well. If you don’t, however, you can still get a flavor of it at the National Village Museum. Consisting of 300 buildings and situated next to Lake Herastrau, here you’ll see constructions dating back to the 17 century, folk art, windmills and wooden churches.

A Garden City

The Cismigiu Gardens are the green heart and soul of Bucharest, offering wonderful respite in the warm summer months. Plants and trees from around the world make this a lush haven, a place designed in the mid-19 century by the German landscaper Carl Meyer. You’ll find a boating lake, a Roman garden, busts of the great and good and a memorial to French troops.

Pretzels Aplenty

Bucharest is a great city to eat out in. It’s affordable, unpretentious and is not yet prey to food fads or trends. Driving around in your Bucharest car rental, you’ll find pretzels everywhere – called ‘covrig’ in Romanian – both on street corners and in stores. In addition to traditional styles, you’ll also find some crazier concoctions containing sausages, apples or chocolate.

One of the city’s most popular restaurants – with locals and tourists alike – is Caru’ cu Bere on Strada Stavropoleos. Behind the grand entrance you’ll enter a restaurant that opened its doors in 1879 and still prides itself on its classic dishes. If you’re here in winter you’ll be glad of the bean soup with smoked pork, served in a bowl made of bread, followed by the ‘sausage showcase’, pork knuckle with horseradish or Moldavian stew.

Keen on tradition but also moving forward into the new century, Bucharest is a city at a crossroads in time. Make the most of your visit with car rental in Bucharest and strike out to explore Transylvania too.

Want to find more things to see and do in the Romanian capital? Check out our Travel Guide to Bucharest.

There are around 100,000 miles of roads in Romania, but only 300 miles or so are freeways. This is a country that still has an unhurried approach to life in some areas, where carts led by horses trot through villages. However, all the main cities are more than amply connected, and driving your car rental in Bucharest itself is straightforward.

You’ll be driving on the right, overtaking on the left, as in the US and most of Europe (except for the UK) and children aged under 12 are not allowed to sit in the front passenger seat. If leaving the city center for the outskirts or elsewhere in Romania, be aware that you’re required to have dipped headlights switched on even in daylight hours. For more information on Romanian driving laws, refer to this handy guide.

In the heart of Bucharest lies the old town, with roads radiating out to all the suburbs. The E81 runs from the west of the city (all the way from the lovely town of Sibiu on the other side of the Carpathian Mountains), right through the center and then out to the south-east and the Black Sea. Follow the E70, initially south-west and then west, and you’ll take in Alexandria, Caracal and the university town of Craiova.

For the north-east of the country, drive your rental car from Bucharest to the E85, which skirts the mountains as it passes Buzau, Focsani before ending in Botosani. Here you’ll find the pretty cultural town that is home to poets and historians.

A great day trip in your rental car from Bucharest would be to drive just over an hour north on the A3 to Ploiesti and then on towards Brasov to see the late 19 century Peles Castle, the former home of King Carol I. There are sculpted gardens, Meissen porcelain, dozens of bathrooms, art from around the world and a huge collection of armor to discover.