Bucharest Attraction Tours: Booking Guide
Bucharest Attraction Tours: A Booking Guide
Three of the capital’s best-known tours will refuse you at the door if you turn up unprepared. One needs a phone call, one needs a booking or an online ticket, and one needs the right paper in your hand. The rest are walk-up. Here is how each works, with prices in lei (RON).
The phone-only one: Palace of the Parliament
The Palace of the Parliament on Strada Izvor accepts visitors on guided tours only. There is no online sale. Individuals ring +40 733 558 102 or 103 between 09:00 and 16:00 on weekdays, at least a day before, and groups of ten or more write to the visitor office. Tours run from 09:00 to 17:00 every day of the week, and the legislature can cancel one when it has a session.
Security checks passports and national ID cards in their physical form. Photocopies, phone photos and driving licences are rejected. Arrive about 30 minutes before the slot and pay at the desk in the Constantin Brâncuși hall on the Izvor side. Rules are posted at cic.cdep.ro . If you would rather pay for an agency to arrange it, search reseller listings and read what the ticket includes.
The booked one: Casa Ceaușescu
The former family villa on Bulevardul Primăverii is visited in 45-minute guided groups of up to 25, in Romanian or English. A standard ticket is 85 lei, and pupils, students and pensioners pay 70. The visit with the 25-minute documentary is 115, and a private tour 295 per person. An audio guide is 27 lei in several languages. Children under seven are free. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, closed Monday and on public holidays. Photography and pushchairs are not allowed. Book through casaceausescu.ro .
The walk-up ones: art and natural history
The National Museum of Art on Calea Victoriei opens Wednesday to Friday 10:00 to 18:00 and at weekends 11:00 to 19:00. A combined ticket is about 32 lei. First-Wednesday entry is free. Galleries rotate, so the museum’s own page, mnar.arts.ro , tells you what is open.
The Antipa Natural History Museum on Kiseleff charges 32 lei for adults, 16 for pensioners and 8 for pupils and students, and tickets can be bought online. Guided visits run on Tuesday to Friday only for groups of up to 20, at 200 lei in Romanian and 400 in English, and need booking a week ahead. See antipa.ro .
Checklist
- Phone the Parliament line before anything else.
- Pack a physical passport or ID card.
- Reserve Casa Ceaușescu and note that Monday is closed.
- Buy museum tickets online where the museum offers it.
Where to go next
Sights that need no reservation are covered on the sightseeing page , and the Bucharest overview has the wider picture.
Verdict
The Parliament tour is the one worth the paperwork, since the building has no equal. Tip: write down your booking confirmation and carry the ID you gave on the phone.