What are the ticket prices and opening hours for Peleș Castle in Sinaia, and which days is it closed?

Tickets: which tour you are actually buying

Peleș sells by floor, and the ticket desk is not always clear about it. The basic ground-floor tour is the 50 lei ticket most people mean. Expanded tours covering the upper floors run to about 100 lei.

• Adults: 50 lei

• Pensioners: 25 lei

• Students / under-26 Eurocard: 12.50 lei

• Under 6 and visitors with severe disabilities: free

Entry is timed and daily capacity is capped — in practice around 2,000 visitors a day — so in summer and on Romanian public holidays the sensible move is to book on the official platform, bilete.peles.ro, before you travel. Tickets are non-refundable and tied to the slot.

Opening hours and the two closures nobody mentions

• Monday and Tuesday: closed for interior visits

• Wednesday: 10:00 to 17:00, last individual entry 16:00

• Thursday to Sunday: 09:15 to 17:00, last individual entry 16:00

The first hidden closure is the weekly one. Plenty of people arrive in Sinaia on a Monday and find the castle shut, because the grounds are open and the building looks operational from outside.

The second is the annual conservation period, generally from 2 November to 1 December, when the interior closes for cleaning and preventive maintenance. If your trip falls in that window, treat Peleș as an exterior and grounds visit and check the official site before building a day around it.

Getting there from Sinaia station

Peleș is about 2 km uphill from Sinaia railway station, through the town and then up the wooded avenue past the monastery. It is a pleasant 25 to 30 minute walk with a steady climb, or a short taxi ride.

We stayed two nights in Sinaia in early November 2022, which is a good time: the beech woods are turning, the summer coaches are gone, and the town feels like a mountain resort rather than a queue. The trade-off is the maintenance closure: our dates, 2 to 4 November 2022, sat right at the start of that window, so check the exact closure dates for your year before planning around the interior.

Do not skip Pelișor, the smaller Art Nouveau castle a few minutes' walk above Peleș, which Queen Marie used as her own residence. It is a separate ticket and, for photography, arguably the more interesting interior.

What the ground-floor tour covers

The ground floor is the state portion of the castle: the Hall of Honour with its carved walnut staircase, the armouries with a large collection of blades and firearms, and the reception rooms. It is furnished rather than empty, and photography without flash is generally allowed.

The building was commissioned by King Carol I in the 1870s and is German Renaissance in style, with heavy ornament and a great deal of woodwork. Because of the timed entry, you move through in a group at a fixed pace — this is not a place to linger alone with a camera, so pick the details you want before you start.

Exterior shots are best from the lower terrace in the morning, when the light comes up the valley and the towers are still clear of coach groups.

Frequently asked questions