Is Brașov Expensive? Real Prices for Food, Transport, Sights and Hotels

The short version

No, Brașov is not expensive by Western or Central European standards, but it is no longer the bargain it was ten years ago. It is one of Romania's most visited cities, prices in the Old Town reflect that, and the luxury end (design hotels, ski weekends in Poiana, private tours) is priced for visitors rather than locals. The good news is that the things that make Brașov special, walking the old town, climbing Tâmpa, looking at the mountains, cost little or nothing.

• Cheap: public transport, museum tickets, coffee, beer, simple meals.
• Fair: mid-range restaurants, the Tâmpa cable car, taxis and ride-hailing.
• Expensive for Romania: Old Town hotels in high season, Christmas-market and ski weekends, Bran on a tour.

All figures below are in lei (RON), the Romanian currency; at the time of writing a euro buys roughly five lei. Prices were checked in September 2026 on official sites or, where noted, on Numbeo's crowd-sourced data.

Food and drink

Numbeo's Brașov figures, updated in early September 2026:

| Item | Typical price | |---|---| | Meal in an inexpensive restaurant | 55 lei | | Three-course dinner for two, mid-range | 250 lei | | Cappuccino | about 17 lei | | Local draught beer, 0.5 l | 15 lei | | Imported beer, 0.33 l | 16 lei | | Bottled water, 0.33 l | about 10 lei |

In practice, a Transylvanian lunch of soup and a main costs 60 to 100 lei a head in the Old Town, less in the neighbourhoods; dinner with wine at a good restaurant runs from 150 to 300 lei a head, and tasting menus at the top addresses cost more. Tips are voluntary and printed on the receipt: 10% is normal. For what to order, see what to eat in Brașov and our restaurant list.

Save money: eat the weekday "meniul zilei" (menu of the day) at traditional restaurants, drink local wine rather than imports, and step two streets away from Piața Sfatului.

Getting around

Brașov's city transport, run by RATBV, is cheap and simple (ratbv.ro, checked September 2026):

• Single ticket: 5 lei, valid 90 minutes on all urban lines, including line 20 to Poiana Brașov.
• Day ticket: 20 lei; three-day ticket: 50 lei.
• Fridays: all city transport is free under the "Green Friday" scheme.
• Pay by contactless bank card at the validator, with the 24pay app or with paper tickets from kiosks. SMS tickets have been discontinued.

Ride-hailing: Uber and Bolt both operate; Uber quotes about 2 lei per kilometre, so a 5 km ride across town is around 30 lei. Traditional taxis start at around 3 lei plus about 3 lei per kilometre on Numbeo's September 2026 figures. Parking in the historic centre currently costs about 3 lei an hour, but the city is consulting on much higher tariffs for the centre and Poiana. More in our getting around guide.

Sights and museums

The core of Brașov is free: the squares, Rope Street, the gates, the walls and the tower platforms. What you do pay for is modest (checked September 2026):

• Black Church: 30 lei for adults.
• Tâmpa cable car: 45 lei return, 30 lei one way.
• Art Museum: 12 lei; Mureșenilor House: 8 lei.
• Zoo: 35 lei for adults, 15 lei for children over six.
• County unified museum ticket: 25 lei for adults, valid 15 days at the county museums, sold at the museum desks. A family ticket for two adults and two children costs 50 lei.

Outside the city, prices rise. Peleș costs 100 lei for adults; Bran lists adults from 90 lei on its official ticket page, although independent sources report higher 2026 prices; Libearty starts at 95 lei. A group day tour to Bran and Râșnov, or a private driver, is where a day-trip budget really goes; see our castles hub.

Sleeping

Accommodation is the item that varies most. The Old Town has everything from hostels to five-star rooms in historic buildings, and prices climb sharply on summer weekends, during festivals, on Christmas-market weekends and over New Year. Poiana Brașov is priced as a ski resort in winter and much cheaper in summer. Add the tourist tax of 12 lei per person per night, a fixed sum collected by the hotel in Brașov and Poiana.

Save money: travel midweek, avoid big-event weekends, stay in Șchei or Blumăna rather than on the square, or book a guesthouse with breakfast. Our where to stay guide compares the areas; every property is in our hotel directory.

Skiing

A ski day in Poiana is good value by Alpine standards. In the 2025/26 season, a one-day lift pass cost 240 lei for adults and 140 lei for children, and a six-day pass 900 lei for adults, with a 50% discount for Brașov residents on Wednesdays (official tariff, checked September 2026). The 2026/27 prices had not been published at that date. Equipment rental and lessons add to the bill; see our ski section and Poiana Brașov.

Sample daily budgets

Per person, per day, sharing a double room, excluding travel to Brașov:

• Careful: a guesthouse or simple hotel, a café breakfast, one restaurant meal, one museum, public transport — roughly 300 to 450 lei.
• Comfortable: a good central hotel, two restaurant meals with wine, the cable car and a museum, a taxi or two — roughly 700 to 1,100 lei.
• Luxury: a top hotel on the square or in Poiana, tasting-menu dinner, a private driver to the castles — from about 2,000 lei, with no real ceiling.

These are our estimates, built from the verified prices above; hotel rates are the swing factor.

The verdict

Brașov costs less than most European city breaks of the same quality, and far less than an Alpine ski town. The expensive part is timing: the same hotel room can cost twice as much on a festival weekend as on a Tuesday in October. Come outside the peaks, see our best time to visit, and the city is excellent value.