Public Transportation
How to get to the city from the airport
Henri Coandă International Airport (OTP) is located approximately 20 km away from Bucharest’s main points of interest, such as Piața Universității or the Old Town area. Unfortunately, Bucharest doesn’t have a direct train or subway line to connect the airport to the city center, so there are only 2 ways to get there:
1. Taxi and ridesharing
I. Taxi
Once you exit the international arrivals gate (after baggage claim), you can find on both sides some yellow machines. You can order there a taxi from a pre-authorized company and you’ll get a printed ticket with the details of your car. Please hold onto it.
PAY ATTENTION!
• Always check if the taxis are authorized and what it is written on their door. The licensed cars are yellow with the name of the company on the hood. The lowest price starts from 1,69 lei/km, 1,99 lei/km is standard and 3,5 lei/km is for premium cars.
• Refuse anyone who approaches you in the airport offering taxi services.
• Refuse anyone who tries to negotiate the fare and make sure that the driver sets the meter before leaving.
II. Ridesharing options
Uber, Bolt, Yango
These are the most popular choices that have the most range and cars available. They offer several services at different price points, but the average price per km is 1,45 lei (0.32 euro) with a minimum fare of 8 lei (1.77 euro). Even though the price might appear more expensive, they are more reliable and safer than taxis in Bucharest. We encourage that you use one of these should the need be.
2. Bus
This option is the cheapest one, but it is less convenient if you are in a hurry. It should take about 45 minutes to arrive at the city center or the train station, depending on traffic.
Please buy your ticket before entering the bus.
Once you exit the terminal building, go right and you’ll find a ticket booth. The bus station is located on the ground floor, outside the terminal building.
Express Bus 780 - Airport Arrivals Terminal – Basarab Train Station. Schedule: Daily 5.30 am – 11 pm. Bus Stops & Timetable: https://info.stbsa.ro/traseu/188
Epress Bus 783 - Airport Arrivals Terminal – Piața Unirii. Schedule: Non-stop. Bus Stops & Timetable: https://info.stbsa.ro/traseu/182
Public transportation in the city
1. Subway (Metrorex)
Official English website: http://www.metrorex.ro/first_page_p1352-2
Map of the subway stations and some tourist sights: http://www.metrorex.ro/Resurse/Harta/harta2017_iun_eng.pdf
The subway trains run between 5:00-23:00 on working days.
Types of tickets:
- 1 trip - 3 lei
- 2 trips - 6 lei
- 10 trips - 25 lei
- 24 hour pass - 8 lei (15 minutes restricted access)
- Monthly pass (unlimited trips - 80 lei (15 minutes restricted access)
These tickets can be bought by everyone from all subway stations, but students can get a 50% discount for the 2 trips for students, 10 trips for students, Weekly pass for students (unlimited trips) at Piata Romana station. Also you can buy a Monthly pass for pupils/students (unlimited trips) with 50% discount in various places.
! The 50% discounted monthly passes can be used for one calendar month from the first validation. During school breaks, most of the pay offices aren’t open, except for the ones mentioned below. None of these offices is open during national holidays and Sundays.
To get a student monthly pass, you need to show the necessary documents (student ID from your host university and ID/passport/resident permit) at the special pay offices from the following stations:
• St. Gara de Nord 1
• St. Grozăvesti
• St. Piata Romana (also open during school breaks) – here you can
also buy the other types of discounted tickets
• St. Piata Unirii 1 (also open during school breaks)
• St. Piata Unirii 2 (also open during school breaks)
• St. Eroilor
• St. Universitatii
• St. Piata Victoriei 2
• St. Politehnica
• St. Nicolae Grigorescu 1
• St. Aparatorii Patriei
2. Overground transportation (STB - Societatea de Transport Bucuresti)
Official English website: http://stbsa.ro/eng/index
For more information about the routes and timetable, you can download the “Info Transport București” app from App Store and Google Play. It is available in English and it also gives you details about ticket offices and payment methods, as well as some information about the subway.
Journey prices:
- 3 lei for a trip
Types of tickets
a. ACTIV CARD
I. NOMINAL
- free of charge the first time it is issued (ID needed)
- if stolen, lost or damaged by owner’s fault, it is possible to recover the remaining credit in the electronic wallet and a new card can be issued for 4,7 lei
- can be issued only at STB centers for issuing and reloading cards, but can be reloaded at any STB point of sale
- without adding a subscription: minimum that can be loaded on the electronic wallet: 15 lei; maximum: 50 lei
- with subscription (except for STB/ METROREX subscription): minimum: 6 lei; maximum: 50 lei
II. NON-NOMINAL
- can be obtained at any STB point of sale
- can be reloaded
- transferable
- if stolen, lost or damaged by owner’s fault, the remaining credit in the electronic wallet can’t be recovered
- minimum value for the electronic wallet: 6 lei; maximum value: 50 lei
MULTIPLU CARD
- can’t be reloaded
- transport tickets that can be loaded on it:
- General urban daily subscription = 8 lei
- Minimum 2 journeys/maximum 10 journeys
STB student card
- students get a 50% discount for the monthly pass, so it costs 40 lei
- you have to top it up on a nominal ACTIV card
- documents needed:
- Student ID for public transportation discount with the specification “day school” or “school with attendance”, certified with hallmark and signature from the respective school
- I.D./passport/ resident card.
- Payment methods:
- card issuing and recharging centers
- types:
- offline offices (CRC) – they issue only non-nominal ACTIV cards and reload all types of cards (except for discounted passes)
- online offices (CERC) – they issue and reload all types of cards
- vending machines - Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1xhvgByAcuzYrENs7M8fRyGesCO...
- online recharge
- mobile ticketing app (Bpay app)
- SMS payment
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