Romania
Cluj-Napoca trip: full budget breakdown
Plan €1298 for 7 nights in Cluj-Napoca, return flight from London included, or €677 travelling cheap. On the ground that works out at €154 per person per day.
- From
- €70/day
- vs. London
- 86%
- Best month
- Jul
Your trip to Cluj-Napoca
Set the length, the number of travellers and the comfort level: the figures recompute here.
€1,298
per person, flight included
- on the ground
- €1,078
- flight from London
- €220
- per person per day, on the ground
- €154
InstantTripCost estimate
Full 7-night budget breakdown
Per-person estimate including flights from London, split across the six expense categories.
per person · Comfort
| Category | Budget | Comfort | Luxury |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flights | €187 | €220 | €330 |
| Hotel | €203 | €336 | €651 |
| Food | €189 | €441 | €987 |
| Transport | €56 | €126 | €315 |
| Activities | €21 | €98 | €378 |
| Misc | €21 | €77 | €280 |
| 7-night total | €677 | €1298 | €2941 |
Flight from London (annual median).
Unit prices
comfort
Enough to check the total yourself, line by line, at the comfort level you picked.
- €9
- Breakfast
- €18
- Lunch
- €36
- Dinner
- €6
- City ride
- €14
- Site admission
- €154
- A full day
Orders of magnitude derived from our measured ranges, not surveyed venue by venue. Prices vary by neighbourhood and season.
The three tiers
What a budget traveller, a comfort traveller and a premium traveller typically spend.
Budget
€64
per day, approx
- Hotel / night
- €29
- Meal
- €9
- Transit / day
- €8
Comfort
€129
per day, approx
- Hotel / night
- €48
- Meal
- €21
- Transit / day
- €18
Luxury
€279
per day, approx
- Hotel / night
- €93
- Meal
- €47
- Transit / day
- €45
Why visit Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca is Romania's second city and the unofficial capital of Transylvania. It sits roughly equidistant from Bucharest, Budapest and Belgrade, which shaped its history: a Roman camp called Napoca under the present main square, a Saxon wall, three Hungarian centuries, a name in four languages. You walk the place. It fits inside the Someșul Mic valley at 356 metres.
On the comparison's cost index the city comes in at 86 %. That headline number hides the point, because price is not distributed here the way it is elsewhere. Our measurements give €29 a night at entry level, €48 mid-range and €93 upmarket. The gap between the first two tiers is among the tightest in the comparison: in Budapest or Krakow a decent double costs four to five times a dorm bed, in Cluj it costs less than double.
The consequence states itself. The dorm is a poor calculation here and the room is a very good one. Of the eight properties recorded in the mid-range tier, the cheapest land under several beds recorded in the budget tier: the survey files studios into the upper category that bill less than a dorm. No other European city in the comparison has a cheaper mid-range night than Cluj, apart from Bucharest.
The second thing holding prices down is demographic. More than 60,000 students live in a city of 286,598 people, better than one resident in five. That does not only show up at night: it sets the price of a meal, a coffee and a beer, because a student clientele does not follow a tourist grid.
For one person at mid-range comfort, plan around €154 a day on the ground, or €1,078 for a week excluding flights. On a budget the same week drops to €490.
Weather & best time to visit
Average temperatures and conditions by month in Cluj-Napoca.
Best month to visitJuly
Where to sleep in Cluj-Napoca
Choosing a district
Cluj has no metro, and that is what decides the neighbourhood. Buses, trolleybuses and trams cover the city, but walking stays the efficient mode in the centre, which is under two kilometres end to end. Sleeping outside the centre saves little on a bill that already runs from €29 to €93 depending on tier, and costs you a ride every evening.
Piața Unirii - centre historique
Union Square and the streets running off it, with St Michael's church, the birthplace of Matthias Corvinus and Mirror Street, a run of late-nineteenth-century façades. The Roman remains of Napoca surface on the square itself. This is where the measured mid-range studios and apartments cluster, and where you take no transport at all.
Piața Avram Iancu
Five minutes east of Union Square, around the Orthodox cathedral and the Romanian National Opera. The area is more administrative and quieter at night, with bourgeois blocks and wide streets. Same walking distance from the centre, rates a touch below.
Grigorescu
The residential west, along the Someșul Mic, extended by Simion Bărnuțiu Central Park and its lake. Housing blocks, corner shops, almost no visitors. Twenty minutes on foot to Union Square following the river, or two bus stops.
Mărăști - Gheorgheni
The eastern side, on the airport axis, made of housing blocks, malls and campus buildings. Airport bus lines 5 and 8 run through it before reaching the centre. This is where the lowest measured rates sit, at the cost of a daily ride.
The hotels we measured
Accommodation picks by price range.
Cazare Clara Cluj
guesthouse, well rated (8.1/10) from 362 reviews.
Choco Home & Hostel
Hostel, rated excellent (9.3/10) from 213 reviews.
Cazare Clara Cluj
guesthouse, well rated (8.1/10) from 362 reviews.
Emun Central Park Studio
Hotel, rated excellent (9.1/10) from 22 reviews.
Pensiunea Junior
guesthouse, well rated (8.1/10) from 2,607 reviews.
Hotel Paradis
Hotel, very well rated (8.5/10) from 1,554 reviews.
Nest Inn Mirror Apartment
Hotel, rated excellent (9.5/10) from 11 reviews.
Chic 1BR with Office - Calm, Cool & Connected
Hotel, rated excellent (9.8/10) from 46 reviews.
All observed hotels in Cluj-Napoca
24 of 24 surveyed properties shown, the cheapest in each tier. Nightly rate for a 2-night stay arriving 15 October 2026.
| Hotel | Category | Rating | From / night |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flava Hostel | Budget | ★ 7.6 | €17 |
| Cazare Clara Cluj | Budget | ★ 8.1 | €21 |
| Choco Home & Hostel | Budget | ★ 9.3 | €21 |
| Family or Friends Room | Budget | ★ 8.3 | €21 |
| Sport Hostel Cluj | Budget | ★ 8 | €21 |
| Cazare Clara Cluj | Mid-range | ★ 8.1 | €21 |
| Retro Hostel | Budget | ★ 8.4 | €23 |
| BigCitty Rooms | Budget | ★ 8.6 | €24 |
| Florin'S Studio | Budget | ★ 9.7 | €26 |
| Emun Central Park Studio | Mid-range | ★ 9.1 | €28 |
| Pensiunea Junior | Mid-range | ★ 8.1 | €31 |
| Center Mirror Street Studio | Mid-range | ★ 9.3 | €33 |
| Vila Vidalis | Mid-range | ★ 8.9 | €37 |
| Central Park Apartment | Mid-range | ★ 9.6 | €40 |
| Apartament BBB48 | Mid-range | ★ 9.2 | €40 |
| Carpe Diem Cluj | Mid-range | ★ 9.3 | €41 |
| Hotel Paradis | Luxury | ★ 8.5 | €60 |
| Nest Inn Mirror Apartment | Luxury | ★ 9.5 | €64 |
| Chic 1BR with Office - Calm, Cool & Connected | Luxury | ★ 9.8 | €65 |
| Catalog Boutique Rooms Cluj-Napoca | Luxury | ★ 9.4 | €65 |
| Isac Residence | Luxury | ★ 9.6 | €69 |
| HOW Boutique and Hotel | Luxury | ★ 9.2 | €77 |
| D'otel 47 | Luxury | ★ 9.9 | €78 |
| Siesta Boutique Smart Suites | Luxury | ★ 9.6 | €84 |
Eating in Cluj-Napoca
Concrete benchmarks to set your meal budget, from the morning coffee to dinner.
Cluj cooking is a declared Romanian and Hungarian mix, and the dish carrying the city's name says so: varză à la Cluj, a bake of sour cabbage, rice and minced pork, served in most canteens in the centre. Around it the register is Transylvanian: ciorbă de burtă, mămăligă with cream and sheep's cheese, sarmale, papanași for dessert.
Prices read in lei, Romania being in the European Union but outside the euro area. A canteen main runs around 25 to 35 lei, a full lunch menu around 30 lei, a draught beer around 10 lei. The calculation that matters: two sit-down meals a day stay well under the price of one mid-range night, measured at €48.
The 60,000 students explain the gap with capital cities. A restaurant aiming at a university crowd cannot charge tourist prices, and the density of those addresses pulls the whole city down.
Moving around Cluj-Napoca
Transit, distances and the smart moves so you don't pay the tourist tax.
No metro: 25 bus lines, 7 trolleybus lines and 3 tram lines, run by the municipal operator. A ticket costs 6 lei for two rides, which puts daily travel at a fraction of the entry-level night measured at €29. One practical caveat, specific to Cluj: the driver does not sell tickets. You buy ahead at a machine or a booth, and those booths are not outside every stop. Inspection is frequent and the fine is steep.
The airport is the real win. Lines 5 and 8 link it to the centre for 3 lei, and the A1E express runs to Mihai Viteazu Square for 6 lei, payable by card on board. Where most cities force a dedicated shuttle at a special fare, Cluj reaches its airport for the price of an ordinary ticket.
Taxis stay reasonable, around 2.25 lei per kilometre and the same again to start, rarely more than 13 lei from centre to outskirts, cash only. The city is also a rail hub: four trains a day to Bucharest, four to Budapest via Oradea. The train stays the cheapest way to add a second city to the trip.
Things to do in Cluj-Napoca
Recommended activities and tours.
Porolissum
Porolissum was an ancient Roman city in Dacia. Established as a military fort in 106 during Trajan's Dacian Wars, the city quickly grew through trade with the natives and became the capital of the province Dacia Porolissensis in 124.
Archaeological site
Unirii Square
Piața Unirii (Romanian for Union Square) is the largest and most important square in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca. The square is one of the largest in Romania, with dimensions of 220 m by 160 m.
Square
Bonțida Bánffy Castle
Bánffy Castle is an architectural monument situated in Bonţida, a village in the vicinity of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, with construction phases and stylistic features belonging to Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical and Neogothic styles. It is owned by the Hungarian Bánffy family (of which Miklós Bánffy was a member).
Castle
Cluj-Napoca Hintz House
The Mauksch - Hintz House is a historic building on the Main Square of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, which houses the first pharmacy in the city. The classicist façade dates back to the 1820s; the ground-floor and the basement however were built in the Renaissance era.
Museum
Avram Iancu Square, Cluj-Napoca
Avram Iancu Square (named after the Transylvanian Romanian lawyer and revolutionary Avram Iancu) is a central plaza in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca. It is connected to the Unirii Square through the Eroilor and "21 Decembrie 1989" avenues.
Square
Cluj-Napoca Central Park
Central Park is a large public, urban park in central Cluj-Napoca. It was founded in the 19th century and it located on the southern shore of Someșul Mic River.
Park
Saint Mary the Protector monument in Cluj-Napoca
heritage site in Cluj County, Romania
Monument
National Museum of Transylvanian History
The National Museum of Transylvanian History (Romanian: Muzeul Național de Istorie a Transilvaniei, Hungarian: Erdélyi Történelmi Múzeum) is a history and archaeology museum in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It features a permanent exhibition, as well as temporary exhibitions, the "Tezaur" exhibition, and Pharmacy Historical collection - this last opened in the Hintz House, an historical building in the city's center.
Museum
Places referenced on Wikidata. Admission prices vary by season - check each venue's official site.
Paying less in Cluj-Napoca
What moves the needle
What each decision takes off the €1298 total, strongest lever first.
- − €588
Travel cheap rather than mid-range
Hostel or entry-level hotel, local canteens, public transport. Accommodation is where the gap opens up.
- − €308
Stay five nights instead of seven
Two fewer nights also removes two days of meals, transport and sightseeing.
- − €168
Travel as a pair
The room is shared, nothing else is. Travellers themselves name this as the strongest lever.
Differences computed from our own measurements, for a 7-night mid-range stay, excluding flights.
6 tips on the ground
- Only book a dorm if you actually want a dorm. Entry level is measured at €29 and mid-range at €48: the cheapest studios in the upper tier land under several beds in the budget tier.
- September is the best climate compromise. It is the only month holding a 20.1°C high while dropping to 10.2 rainy days, against 15.7 in June and 15.3 in July.
- Do not plan around June expecting a Mediterranean summer: it is the wettest month of the year in Cluj, at 106.3 mm. August is both the warmest month, 25.1°C in highs, and markedly drier at 81.7 mm.
- Reach the centre from the airport on lines 5 or 8 for 3 lei, or the A1E express for 6 lei. A taxi costs roughly ten times that for the same ride.
- Buy transit tickets in advance: the driver does not sell them, and the inspection fine is far above the 6 lei a two-ride ticket costs.
- Union Square, Avram Iancu Square, the 1744 plague column and Simion Bărnuțiu Central Park cost nothing. Only the museums charge, among them the National Museum of Transylvanian History and the Hintz House, and the fee stays small against a night measured at €48.
FAQ
FAQ - Cluj-Napoca
- How much does a week in Cluj-Napoca cost?
- For seven nights, plan roughly €490 per person on a budget, with a night around €29, canteen meals and the 6 lei transit ticket. At mid-range comfort, with a room around €48, the same week comes to €1,078, excluding flights. Over thirty nights, the budget tier gives €2,100.
- What is the best month to visit Cluj-Napoca?
- September, at a 20.1°C high for 10.2 rainy days: no other month holds 20 degrees with so little rainfall. August is warmer, 25.1°C, and stays acceptable at 81.7 mm. Avoid June, the wettest month of the year at 106.3 mm across 15.7 days. Winter is properly cold, averaging -2°C in January with highs barely above freezing.
- Is Cluj-Napoca an expensive destination?
- No. The city sits at 86 % on the cost index, and only one European city in the comparison has a cheaper mid-range night, Bucharest. The oddity is the shape of the measurements: €29 at entry level, €48 mid-range, €93 upmarket. The hostel is dear relative to the rest, the hotel room is cheap. The line item that stays heavy is the flight, the city being served by a regional airport.
- Lei or card in Cluj-Napoca?
- Romania is in the European Union but pays in lei, not euros. Cards work in restaurants, shops and the airport express bus, but two uses stay cash: taxis, which do not take cards, and some of the transit ticket booths. Keep enough for a 6 lei ride and a fare of ten lei or so. Bring a card with no foreign transaction fee: every payment in lei goes through an exchange rate.
At a glance
Wikidata, Wikipedia and Open-Meteo data
- Population
- 287k
- Area
- 180 km²
- Elevation
- 356 m
- Language
- Romanian
- Currency
- lei
- Founded
- 1213
- Avg. July temp.
- 20°
- Avg. Jan. temp.
- -2°
- Rainy days / year
- 136
inhabitants
Leu
15° - 25°
-5° - 2°
About
Cluj-Napoca in brief
Cluj-Napoca, or simply Cluj, is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest, Budapest and Belgrade. Located in the Someșul Mic river valley, the city is considered the unofficial capital of the historical province of Transylvania. For some decades prior to the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, it was the official capital of the Grand Principality of Transylvania.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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