Bucharest Airport to City Centre 2026 — All Transfer Options Compared

Disclaimer: All prices, schedules and service details in this article reflect information available in June 2026. Transport fares and timetables change regularly — always verify the latest information on the official websites of each provider before you travel. The author and Faretus accept no liability for any inaccuracies, changes, or decisions made based on this content.

Henri Coandă International Airport (OTP) — still called Otopeni by pretty much everyone in Bucharest, after the town it sits in — is about 16.5 kilometres north of the city centre. For years this was a genuinely awkward connection involving buses, traffic, and a fair amount of patience. That changed with the direct airport train, which now runs from a station right in front of the terminal and gets you to Gara de Nord in 20–25 minutes for about €1. It's one of the better recent infrastructure upgrades in this part of Europe, and it's worth knowing about before you land.

The quick comparison

Option	Price (one-way)	Time to centre	Hours	Best for
Henri Coandă Express train	~€1.10 (5 RON)	20–25 min	24 hours, every 40 min	Almost everyone
Bus 100 / 783	~€0.60 (3 RON)	40–50 min	~05:30–23:15	Budget, Old Town / Unirii
Official taxi	€15–25	25–40 min	24 hours	Groups, night arrivals
Bolt / Uber	€10–20	25–40 min	24 hours	App users — usually the best value
Private transfer	from €23	25–40 min	Pre-booked	Families, business travel

⚠️ Two taxi lines at the airport — one of them overcharges. As you exit the arrivals terminal, you'll typically see two sets of taxis: one charging close to RON 1.39–2 per kilometre (legitimate, regulated), and another charging close to RON 3.5+ per kilometre or more (technically licensed but priced for tourists who don't know better). Always check the rate sticker on the door before getting in, or skip the ambiguity entirely and use Bolt.

Option 1 — Henri Coandă Express train: fast, cheap, and right at the terminal

The Henri Coandă Express train connects the airport directly to Bucharest North Station (Gara de Nord), Romania's main railway hub. The station is located directly in front of the arrivals terminal — no shuttle bus required for most travellers, a significant upgrade from the airport's older, more convoluted transport setup.

A one-way ticket costs around 5 RON (approximately €1.10), with a reduced fare of roughly 3 RON for children. Trains run 24 hours a day, departing every 40 minutes, and the journey takes 20–25 minutes. Tickets are available at the CFR ticket office in the international arrivals hall, at the station, or online via the CFR Călători website.

From Gara de Nord, you're connected to the Bucharest Metro (Metrorex), trams, buses, and the rest of the national rail network. Gara de Nord itself is a 15–20 minute walk or a short metro/tram ride from the city centre, depending on your exact destination.

The honest take: For almost any traveller heading into central Bucharest, this is now the obvious choice. It's cheap, it runs around the clock, and it avoids Bucharest's notoriously congested arterial roads entirely. The only real downside is that if your final destination isn't near Gara de Nord or a metro line, you'll need one more leg of the journey — but that's true of train stations everywhere.

Option 2 — Bus 100 / 783: the cheapest option, with a longer ride

Bus line 100 runs from the airport to Unirii Square, in the heart of the city, passing several major hotels and metro stations along the route. Bus 783 is the express variant covering a similar corridor. Both depart from the ground floor exit of the arrivals terminal.

A single ticket costs around 3 RON (roughly €0.60), valid for 90 minutes across the STB network — meaning if you need to transfer to another bus or tram within that window, you don't pay again. Tickets can be bought from machines at the bus stop, tapped via contactless card directly on board, or purchased from kiosks.

Buses run every 15–20 minutes on weekdays, 20–30 minutes on weekends, generally between 05:30 and 23:15. The journey to Unirii Square takes 40–50 minutes in normal traffic — longer during rush hour, when Bucharest's traffic can be genuinely heavy.

The honest take: The bus is the cheapest option by a wide margin and covers the historic Old Town area better than the train does. If you're not in a rush and your accommodation is closer to Unirii or the Old Town than to Gara de Nord, it's a reasonable choice. For most other situations, the extra €0.50 for the train buys you back 20+ minutes and a more predictable journey.

Option 3 — Official taxi: regulated, but watch which line you're in

Bucharest taxis are metered, with two distinct fare tiers commonly seen at the airport. Legitimate, properly regulated taxis charge around RON 1.39–2 per kilometre, working out to roughly €15–25 for the 16.5km journey to the centre. A second tier of licensed-but-pricier taxis charges RON 3.5 per kilometre or more, which can push the fare toward €35–40 for the same distance.

Both groups operate legally — the difference is simply which company and rate you end up with. The rate is required by law to be displayed on a sticker on the taxi's door or windscreen. Check it before getting in. If a driver approaches you inside the terminal rather than waiting in the official rank outside, treat that as a signal to look elsewhere.

The taxi rank is at the exit of the arrivals terminal, level 1. Journey time is 25–40 minutes depending on traffic, which in Bucharest can be unpredictable at peak hours.

The honest take: A regulated taxi at the lower rate is a perfectly reasonable option, especially for groups or late arrivals. The trick is making sure you're in that line and not the pricier one. If you'd rather not deal with the ambiguity, Bolt below removes the guesswork entirely.

Option 4 — Bolt and Uber: usually the best value option on this list

Both Bolt and Uber operate extensively in Bucharest, and Bolt in particular has a strong local presence with competitive pricing. Fares to the city centre typically run €10–20, often cheaper than even the lower-tier official taxis, with the price shown upfront before you confirm.

Pickup is from the designated rideshare area outside the terminal — the app will direct you to the exact point. This is widely considered by both locals and frequent visitors to be the most reliable and transparent way to get a road transfer from OTP, precisely because it removes the two-tier taxi pricing confusion entirely.

The honest take: For most travellers without a strong preference for public transport, Bolt is genuinely the best combination of price, convenience, and predictability available at this airport. Check the price before committing — if there's surge pricing during a busy arrival window, compare against the regulated taxi rate.

Option 5 — Private transfer: for zero ambiguity

Pre-booked private transfers meet you in arrivals with a name sign and take you to a fixed destination at a confirmed price, typically starting around €23 for a sedan to the city centre. Given the two-tier taxi situation described above, a pre-booked transfer is one of the more straightforward ways to entirely sidestep any pricing confusion on arrival.

The honest take: If you're arriving late at night, travelling with family, or simply don't want to think about which taxi line is the right one, this is a sensible option at a price that isn't dramatically higher than a regulated taxi.

Which option is right for you?

Heading to central Bucharest, want speed and reliability → Henri Coandă Express train. ~€1.10, 20–25 minutes, runs all day and night.
Budget-first, heading to the Old Town or Unirii → Bus 100. ~€0.60, but allow 40–50 minutes.
Want door-to-door without taxi-line guesswork → Bolt. Usually the cheapest road option and the price is shown before you commit.
Group of three or four → Regulated taxi or Bolt — check the rate sticker if taking a taxi.
Arriving very late at night with luggage → Pre-booked private transfer or Bolt. The train runs 24 hours but the bus does not.
Connecting onward by national rail → The airport train delivers you straight to Gara de Nord, Romania's main rail hub.

Things people get wrong at Henri Coandă Airport

Getting into the wrong taxi. This is the single most common complaint from visitors to Bucharest. Two taxi tiers operate at the same rank, and the pricier one is not illegal — just expensive. Check the door sticker for the per-kilometre rate, or use Bolt to avoid the issue entirely.

Not knowing about the direct train. Older travel content still describes the airport train as requiring a shuttle bus connection — this was true years ago but the train now departs from a station directly in front of the terminal. If you've read otherwise, it's outdated information.

Underestimating Bucharest traffic. The road from OTP into the centre can be genuinely congested during rush hour (roughly 07:30–09:30 and 16:30–19:00). A 25-minute taxi ride can become 50 minutes. The train is unaffected by road traffic and is the more time-predictable option during these windows.

Assuming card payment works everywhere. Most transport in Bucharest now accepts contactless card payment — buses, the metro, and the airport train all do. But it's worth carrying a small amount of Romanian lei (RON) for kiosks, smaller establishments, or backup, since not every machine accepts foreign cards reliably.

Forgetting the terminal walk. Henri Coandă's departures and arrivals are in separate but connected buildings, joined by a roughly 10-minute walk. If you're connecting to a domestic flight, factor this in.

Final thought

Bucharest's airport transfer has quietly become one of the better stories in this region — the direct train is fast, cheap, and runs all day. The city itself rewards a bit of exploration: the Old Town's nightlife, the enormous Palace of the Parliament, and a restaurant scene that's developed considerably in recent years.

Take the train if your destination is near Gara de Nord or the metro. Take Bolt if you want door-to-door without the taxi-line lottery. Either way, you'll be settled into the city well within the hour.

And if the cheap flight into Bucharest is still missing, check the Faretus deals page. OTP has expanded its low-cost carrier routes significantly in recent years, and fares from across Europe come up regularly.

All information in this article is based on publicly available data from official transport providers as of June 2026. Prices, schedules and service arrangements may change without notice. Always verify directly with the relevant provider — CFR Călători (cfrcalatori.ro), STB (stbsa.ro), Henri Coandă International Airport (bucharestairports.ro) — before travelling. The author and Faretus bear no responsibility for any decisions made based on the content of this article.