Day 1 — The Palace of Parliament & Revolution Square
Start with the Palace of Parliament, the world's heaviest building and Ceaușescu's most extreme legacy — 700,000 tonnes of concrete, 1,100 rooms, built by 20,000 workers between 1984 and 1997. Book the guided tour online in advance and bring ID.
In the afternoon, walk north up Calea Victoriei to Revolution Square, the site of the 1989 uprising's climax, and the National Museum of Art of Romania in the former Royal Palace. Dinner nearby in the Old Royal Court area.
Day 2 — Lipscani, the Athenaeum & Stavropoleos
Spend the day in the old town. The Romanian Athenaeum, an 1888 domed concert hall with a frescoed circular foyer, is Romania's most important cultural landmark — go inside if a tour or rehearsal is running. Stavropoleos Church, a few streets into Lipscani, is a small 1724 Orthodox church with one of the finest carved stone facades in the city.
Wander Lipscani's pedestrian core through the afternoon — 19th-century merchant-quarter buildings now filled with bars and restaurants. In the evening, the neighbourhood's bar scene is dense and cheap; start at any terrace on Strada Smârdan and keep walking.
Day 3 — Herăstrău Park & the Village Museum
Herăstrău Park is Bucharest's green lung, built around a 1.1km lake. Spend the morning walking or cycling the shoreline, then visit the Village Museum (Muzeul Satului) on the park's edge — over 300 traditional wooden houses, churches, and windmills relocated from across Romania, one of the best open-air ethnographic museums in Europe.
Nearby, the Arcul de Triumf and Kiseleff Boulevard make for a pleasant walk. Spend the evening in the Floreasca/Dorobanți district, Bucharest's upscale restaurant and bar hub.
Day 4 — Văcărești Delta & Cotroceni
The Văcărești Delta, on the city's southern edge, is an accidental urban wetland — the site of a Ceaușescu-era demolition project abandoned after 1989, now colonised by over 1,000 plant species and 170 bird species, including birds of prey. It's a striking, little-known counterpoint to the city's communist-era architecture and worth half a day.
In the afternoon, walk the Cotroceni neighbourhood, one of Bucharest's oldest residential quarters, with the Cotroceni Palace (the presidential residence, partly open as a museum) and quiet tree-lined streets very different from the boulevards downtown.
Day 5 — Peleș Castle Day Trip
Peleș Castle in Sinaia is Romania's most spectacular building — a fairy-tale Neo-Renaissance royal residence built for King Carol I between 1873 and 1914, set in the Carpathian foothills. It's roughly 130km and 90 minutes north of Bucharest by direct train from Gara de Nord.
Book a guided tour of the interior — over 170 rooms with elaborate wood carving, stained glass, and armour collections. Sinaia itself, a former royal mountain resort, has pleasant walking trails and the Sinaia Monastery near the train station, founded in 1695.
Return to Bucharest by early evening train for a final dinner in Lipscani or Floreasca.