Southeast Europe
Carpathian Cheapskate
Romania and Bulgaria on €30 a day
15 days
Duration
$30
Daily budget
Moderate
Difficulty
May – Jun, Sep – Oct
Best months
Castles, painted monasteries, bear-filled forests and Black Sea beaches — at prices that feel like a decade ago. Trains are slow but scenic and cost almost nothing.
The route, stop by stop
🇷🇴 Bucharest · Romania
Enormous Palace of Parliament and Old Town cheap eats.
2 nights$30/day
🏰 Brașov · Romania
Transylvanian squares, Bran Castle, Tampa hike.
3 nights$31/day
👀 Sibiu · Romania
Houses with eyes and the Transfăgărășan trailhead.
2 nights$29/day
🇧🇬 Veliko Tarnovo · Bulgaria
Tsarevets fortress and Bulgaria's best-value hostels.
3 nights$26/day
🎭 Plovdiv · Bulgaria
Roman theatre, Kapana arts quarter, €1.50 beers.
2 nights$28/day
⛪ Sofia · Bulgaria
Free walking tours and Vitosha mountain on the metro.
3 nights$30/day
6 stops · 15 nights
≈ $435 total
Totals are estimates built from the per-night budgets above — your real spend will vary.
Getting around
- →CFR trains (slow, cheap, scenic)
- →Maxi-taxi minibuses
- →BlaBlaCar between cities
Don't forget
- ✓Layers for mountain nights
- ✓Cash — cards patchy in villages
- ✓Torch for monastery hikes
- ✓Basic Cyrillic reading helps in Bulgaria
Ready to walk it?
Save the stops as a trip, track your budget and find hostels along the way.
Start planning free
