Car & Van Hire - Craiova

As the country’s 7th largest city, Craiova has much to offer, including museums, architectural delights and vast open spaces. There are also street food festivals, the urban cinema, sculpture camps, a Christmas Fair, Shakespeare Festival and the local Super Rally Show in the autumn.

Craiova is home to one of Europe’s largest natural parks, Nicolae Romanescu Park, an award-winning project designed by French architect Édouard Redont. Enjoy strolls through 100 hectares of green space with waterfalls, lakes, a hippodrome, a velodrome, a zoo, a suspended bridge and a medieval castle.

The city’s historic centre is one of the country’s finest. This area, brimming with churches, gardens and jewels of the Belle Époque architectural style, is best browsed on foot. Nature lovers can enjoy a stroll through the English Park, the Chrysanthemum Park, or the Botanical Garden.

To immerse yourself in the local history and culture, head over to Craiova’s Art Museum, an impressive palace dating to 1907, which harboured the Polish presidential family and other refugees in WWII. Today, the museum exhibits some of the most important artwork by renowned local sculptor Constantin Brâncuși, a disciple of Rodin.

Nearby lies the Oltenia Museum with its 3 buildings, one for each section: natural sciences, ethnography, and history-archaeology. Here you’ll discover documents, weaponry, garments, coins and other artefacts dating back as far as Roman times and Bronze Age finds like the 30,000-year-old skull of one of the Balkans’ oldest settlers.

Sports lovers are well provided for in Craiova, where the semi-open, all-seater Ion Oblemenco Football Stadium holds up to 30,000 spectators. Deemed one of the world’s finest stadiums, it’s complemented by Craiova’s athletics track and nearby football pitch. Toward the end of Știrbei Vodă Boulevard lies Parcul Tineretului, which houses a theatre, tennis courts and the local Water Park. Spread over 54,000 sqm, Craiova’s water park and lido features an inviting lazy river, a wave pool and a handful of waterslides suitable for adults and children.

What the lido lacks in terms of restaurants, the city makes up for with its wide array of bistros, steak houses and eateries. In Craiova, you can revel in the region’s finest traditional dishes, such as carrot pilau, garlic green beans, onion soup, aubergine casserole, pumpkin pudding and Oltenești sausages. Served with polenta and polished off with țuica, the local plum brandy, a hearty traditional meal will leave you wanting to explore the wider region.

With car hire in Craiova, a trip to Oltenia’s caves, the Danube beaches, the Carpathian Mountains, or the royal vineyards at Domeniul Coroanei Segarcea is just a matter of minutes.

With its bustling international airport, well-connected railroad service and advantageous position on the E79 European route between Hungary and Greece, this city is a hub for travellers wishing to explore the seaside, the mountains, major European cities or Craiova itself. Many of the local road signs are bilingual, making navigation simple.

Drivers should also bear in mind that parts of the historical centre are exclusive to pedestrians, and the rest of the city is serviced by buses, trams and trains. They must keep to the right side of the road and only engage in overtaking other vehicles on the left side. The only exception to this rule applies to trams, which should be overtaken on the right, except when there isn’t enough room for this manoeuvre on a one-way street.

Drivers may not overtake a tram that is alighting at a stop which doesn’t have a pedestrian island. Instead, they must stop at least 5 metres from the last carriage and wait until the tram departs. Overtaking is also forbidden at crossroads, crossings, bridges and street humps.

Anyone who opts for car or van hire in Craiova should also remember to give priority to all vehicles approaching from the right or engaged in a roundabout. Vehicles on priority roads or driving uphill on mountain roads also take precedence. Drivers must also give way to pedestrians as soon as they have stepped foot on a zebra crossing when there is no traffic light.

Horns are not allowed in towns between 22:00 and 06:00, so lights should be used to warn other vehicles that you are approaching instead. Booster seats are compulsory for anyone aged 3-11 and under 1.35 m in height. Front passenger seating is forbidden for children under 1.5 m in height, except when they have at least 1.35 m and a compliant booster seat.

Finally, the speed limit in built-up areas is 50 km/h, but sometimes lower in school areas. It goes up to 90 km/h on main roads without built-up traffic, 120 km/h on European routes and 130 km/h on express motorways.