Bucharest Airport to City Centre: Bus, Train, Taxi Prices 2026

The cheapest way from Bucharest Airport to the city centre is express bus 100, which runs 24 hours a day to Piața Victoriei, Universitate and Piața Unirii for a 3-lei ticket (about €0.60). The train to Gara de Nord is quicker, at about 20–25 minutes for around 6 lei, but the station is north-west of the historic centre. A taxi ordered from the touch screens in Arrivals usually costs around 50–80 lei (roughly €10–16). If you would rather have a driver waiting with your name, compare operators on our Bucharest Airport transfers page.

Bucharest Airport to the city centre: quick comparison

Option	Price	Journey time	Runs	Best for
Express bus 100	3 lei (≈ €0.60), 90-minute ticket	Around 40–60 min, traffic permitting	24/7, every 15 min by day, 30 min at night	Victoriei, Romană, Universitate, Old Town
Train to Gara de Nord	Around 6 lei (≈ €1.20)	About 20–25 min	Roughly every 40 min	Gara de Nord, onward trains, avoiding traffic
Taxi (touch-screen order)	Around 50–80 lei (≈ €10–16)	Around 30–50 min	24/7	Door-to-door, luggage, late arrivals
Uber / Bolt	Price shown in the app	As taxi	24/7, supply varies	App users, card payment
Pre-booked private transfer	Fixed price agreed in advance	As taxi; longer to Brașov or the coast	24/7	Groups, families, child seats, long trips

Bus and train fares are per person; taxi and transfer prices are per vehicle. Romania uses the leu (RON, plural lei), not the euro. Euro figures here use roughly 5 lei to €1 and are only approximate.

Bucharest Airport bus 100 to the city centre (ex-783)

Line 100, run by STB, is the express bus between Henri Coandă Airport (often called Otopeni) and central Bucharest. It replaced the old 783 express on 2 December 2023 and follows the same corridor along the main north–south boulevards. Main stops on the way in include Aeroport Băneasa, Piața Presei, Piața Victoriei, Piața Romană, Universitate and Piața Unirii, which is a short walk from the Old Town (Lipscani). Several of these stops are next to metro stations, so you can change to the metro for other districts.

According to the airport, buses run every 15 minutes during the day and every 30 minutes at night, around the clock. Journey time depends heavily on traffic on the DN1 road; outside rush hour allow around 40 minutes to Piața Victoriei and longer to Unirii.

Where to catch bus 100 at the airport

Because of construction work on the multi-storey car park in front of Arrivals, lines 100 and 442 stopped serving the Arrivals stop on 22 April 2026. Until the works are finished, buses use the stop in front of the Departures terminal, now signed simply “Aeroport Henri Coandă”. From the arrivals hall, follow signs for Departures and the bus stop; it is a short walk along the terminal front. The works are expected to last several months, so check signs on arrival.

Bus 100 ticket price

A metropolitan trip valid for 90 minutes costs 3 lei. The easiest way to pay is to tap a contactless bank card or phone on the validator on board. You can also buy cards and tickets at the STB desk and ticket machine at the airport, use SMS (text “C” to 7458 for a 90-minute ticket on Romanian networks), or a 24-hour or tourist pass. Bucharest’s mayor has proposed raising the single fare to 5 lei, but at the time of writing the 3-lei fare still applies. Current details are on the airport public transport page.

Otopeni Airport train to Gara de Nord

A rail link has connected Henri Coandă Airport with Bucharest Gara de Nord, the main railway station, since December 2020. Trains are operated mainly by CFR Călători, with some services by private operators, and the trip takes about 20–25 minutes non-stop. Trains run roughly every 40 minutes for most of the day. The airport station is a short walk from the terminal: follow the train (tren) signs from the terminal building.

The CFR fare between the airport and Gara de Nord has been around 6 lei since the December 2024 timetable change. Buy at the station ticket machines or office, online or in the CFR Călători app before boarding. If you board without a ticket and cannot buy one beforehand, tell the conductor immediately; otherwise a higher on-board fare applies.

The train is the most reliable option at rush hour, because it avoids the DN1 traffic. The catch is that Gara de Nord is not in the historic centre: from there, take metro line M1 or M4 or a short taxi to your hotel. It is the natural choice if you are continuing by train to Brașov, Constanța or elsewhere in Romania. Check times on the CFR timetable before you travel, particularly for early or late flights.

Is there a metro to Bucharest Airport?

Not yet. Metro line M6, from 1 Mai to the airport via Gara de Nord, is under construction. Metrorex has said the section to the airport will not open before 2028, so for now the bus, train, taxi or car are the only options.

Bucharest Airport taxi price and how to order

Do not accept offers from drivers who approach you in the arrivals hall. Instead, use the official touch-screen taxi terminals on the south side of the arrivals area, to the left as you leave the baggage hall. Choose an authorised company on the screen; each icon shows that company’s rate and whether it accepts cards. The machine prints a ticket with the car’s registration number, the estimated waiting time and the company’s tariff. Keep the ticket, go to the taxi pick-up area in front of Arrivals and match the plate. There is also a regular taxi rank at the terminal exit where licensed cars queue.

The airport lists taxi rates between 2.29 and 3.50 lei per kilometre. The city centre is about 17–20 km away, so most trips to the centre come to around 50–80 lei (roughly €10–16), depending on the company, route and traffic. The rate per kilometre is displayed on the car door; check it before you get in. Card payment is not universal, so carry some lei or choose a company marked as accepting cards on the screen.

Uber and Bolt at Bucharest Airport

Uber and Bolt both operate in Bucharest and are widely used from the airport. During the Arrivals car park works, ride-hailing pick-ups have moved to the Departures terminal, while ordinary taxis still wait in front of Arrivals. Prices are shown in the app before you confirm and vary with demand; at busy times they can be higher than a taxi from the touch screens.

Pre-booked private transfers from Bucharest Airport

For most solo travellers the bus, train or a touch-screen taxi is enough. A pre-booked transfer is worth considering when:

• you land late at night and want someone waiting instead of queuing or walking to the Departures stop;
• you are a group or a family with lots of luggage and need a minivan;
• you need child seats, which ordinary taxis rarely carry;
• you want a fixed price agreed before travel, with meet and greet in Arrivals;
• you are going straight on to Brașov, the mountains or the Black Sea coast.

Our Bucharest Airport transfers page lists local operators that you book directly. Companies listed include Bud’s Cab, Otopeni-Transfer.ro, Transfer Otopeni (Trip2Trip), Prestige Limousine Bucharest and TripAvip Romania. For trips within the city, see also Bucharest transfers. Confirm the price, vehicle size, waiting time and meeting point in writing before you fly.

Getting from Bucharest Airport to Brașov and Constanța

Bucharest Airport to Brașov

Brașov, the usual base for Bran Castle and the ski slopes of Poiana Brașov, is roughly 170 km north of the airport through the Prahova Valley. By public transport, take the airport train to Gara de Nord and change there: trains to Brașov leave almost every hour, with InterRegio services taking about 2 hours 30 minutes to 2 hours 45 minutes and a second-class InterRegio ticket costing about 68.5 lei (≈ €14). By road the drive usually takes around 2.5–3.5 hours, but the DN1 through the mountains is notoriously slow on Friday afternoons, Sunday evenings and winter weekends. Local operators are on our Brașov transfers page.

Bucharest Airport to Constanța and the Black Sea coast

Constanța is about 225 km from Bucharest by rail. InterCity and InterRegio trains from Gara de Nord take about 2 hours 15 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes, with extra trains to the coast in summer that sell out in July and August, so book ahead. By road, the A2 motorway makes it a drive of roughly three hours from the airport, depending on traffic leaving Bucharest. See Constanța transfers for local operators.

Tips for arriving at Bucharest Airport

• Night arrivals: bus 100 runs all night, every 30 minutes, but the walk to the Departures stop and a long ride may not appeal after a late flight. A touch-screen taxi or pre-booked car is simpler.
• Avoid unofficial drivers: ignore anyone offering a taxi inside the terminal. Use the touch screens, the official rank, an app, or a transfer you booked.
• Check the rate on the door: licensed taxis display their per-kilometre rate; the airport range is 2.29–3.50 lei per km.
• Get some lei: contactless works on bus 100 and on many taxis, but not all. A small amount of cash from an ATM avoids problems.
• Tipping: rounding up a taxi fare is common but not required.
• Peak traffic: the DN1 between Otopeni and the city is often jammed on weekday mornings and evenings. At those times the train to Gara de Nord plus the metro is usually faster than a car.