When I visited Romania, I traveled through most of it by bus or train. Certain areas, such as Maramureș County, will likely be easier to travel around by car, as local buses may have limited or odd hours. Between all the other cities I visited, however, I always took a bus or a train.
A co-worker who is from Romania told me to use the following websites:
- Buses: www.autogari.ro
- Trains: https://www.cfrcalatori.ro/en/
My full disclaimer right now is that I have only used these sites for that one trip, so I am by no means an expert in them.
Buses
I used the bus website to research travel times and prices, but I did not purchase any tickets in advance. Instead, I paid directly on any buses that I took. For my particular trip, those were:
- Bus from my entry point into Romania to Baia Mare
- Bus from Brasov to Bran, and the return trip
- Bus from Deva to Hunedoara, and the return trip
The website has Romanian, English, and Hungarian language options in the top right corner. However, putting it into English doesn’t translate all that much. Nevertheless, it’s fairly straight-forward.
- In the section marked “DIN”, write your departure town. Be sure to select it from the drop-down list.
- In “TO”, write your arrival down and select it from the drop-down list.
- Choose your departure date.
- Choose the number of adults you want tickets for.
Adjust any filters on the right-hand side: departure time, bus service operator, type of bus, and “facilities” (leg room and A/C).
Side note: When I first heard about the microbus option, I was a little confused and weirded out. In my mind, it felt like getting in a stranger’s minivan. However, I did eventually ride one of these, and they were perfectly fine. So, if you are worried about them like I was, don’t be.
Search the options and select the one you like the most. Hovering over it will reveal an arrow that says “Vezi detalii”. Clicking on that will open a view of a map, give the specific bus stops and the bus route, will list the amenities, and more.
Be aware of any routes that may run on certain days only. The bus option may be shown with a yellow exclamation mark sign to alert you to further information. Be sure to click the “vezi detalii” button if you are considering those options.
Trains
When I used the train website, I booked all of my internal trains in advance and printed out the tickets. I booked the international train from Hungary by visiting my local train station. Similarly, the day before I left Romania, I booked the international ticket to Hungary at the train station in Deva.
The train website has language options for Romanian and English, located at the far right of the menu bar. Translating it into English translates everything, so there is no need to worry about language confusion. You can choose Domestic or International trains. However, the International option opens in a new tab, and the formatting of the page is slightly different. Still, there is an English option you can choose at the top, and that translates everything.
From there, it is again fairly self-explanatory. Clicking for further details will provide you with stops, a map, and prices. You can also hover over the icons (such as “1st class, sleeper car”) and get the English explanations.
I know this post wasn’t as in-depth as my one about the Hungarian bus website, but I hope it is of some help to those of you who may be planning a trip to Romania.
A Trip Takes Me 
[…] Obviously, choose whichever transportation method makes you the most comfortable or fits best within your budget. I’ll have another post about using the trains and buses between cities. […]
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