The 10 best parks in Bucharest

Bucharest has no mountains and no river you can swim in, but it does have big parks, some with nearly two centuries of history, others built on former rubbish tips and clay pits. Among them is a delta with more than a hundred bird species, a few metro stops from the centre.

For the list below we went through the reviews on Google Maps and TripAdvisor to see what visitors praise and criticise about each park, and set the official figures alongside them: size, opening hours, prices, ongoing works. The Google rating is the starting point, not the verdict: a park rated 4.7 from tens of thousands of opinions tells you more than one rated 4.8 from a few hundred, and a well-rated park whose lake has been drained is not, this year, the place to go for the lake.

1. Alexandru Ioan Cuza Park (IOR / Titan)

The highest-rated park in Bucharest: 4.7 on Google, from over 35,000 reviews, and in the 2023 national ranking of parks by reviews it came first in the capital. It covers roughly 85 hectares in Sector 3 and was laid out between 1965 and 1970. The name IOR comes from the nearby Întreprinderea Optică Română (Romanian Optical Enterprise) factory.

At its heart is Lake Titan, split in two by the bridge on Strada Liviu Rebreanu and dotted with five islands, some linked to the shore by bridges. Around it you will find a wooden church in the Maramureș style, built in the 1990s, a Japanese garden, and paths used for running, cycling and rollerblading.

• The “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” boat runs free trips on the lake, lasting about 25 minutes, from May until the end of summer; animals, bicycles, scooters and pushchairs are not allowed on board
• in spring, picnics under the blossoming Japanese cherry trees are the park’s most eagerly awaited moment
• in summer, open-air cinema; in winter, an ice rink

Visitors praise how clean it is, the lake with its bridges, the ducks and swans, and regulars say it is a park where you can spend a whole day. The one recurring complaint: it is so big that, without a bike, you have a lot of walking to do. The nearest metro station is Nicolae Grigorescu (M1).

Alexandru Ioan Cuza Park (IOR) on Google Maps

2. King Michael I Park (Herăstrău)

Bucharest’s largest park and the most reviewed in the country: 4.6 on Google, from almost 66,000 reviews, more than any other park in Romania. It covers 187 hectares, 74 of them lake, and opened in 1936 on marshland drained in the preceding years. Since 2017 it has borne the name of King Michael I, but to everyone it is still Herăstrău.

One thing to know before you go: the lake was drained in June 2026. The banks were collapsing, and Bucharest City Hall is shoring them up in a project lasting about 13 months, so the lake should not be full again until summer 2027. Until then there are no boats, boat trips or water sports, and the ducks have been moved to Lake Floreasca. Over the summer a plan to redevelop the whole park over the next four to five years was also signed.

Still, the park remains good for everything that made it loved, apart from the water:

• the long paths for cycling, rollerblading and running
• the Japanese Garden, at its most beautiful in spring, when the cherry trees blossom
• the “Dimitrie Gusti” National Village Museum, right in the park, with a separate ticket
• Aleea Cariatidelor (the Caryatids’ Alley) and the rose beds

In reviews, people love the size of the park and the day-long stroll, but complain about the weekend crowds, broken benches and dirty toilets. The paths have been resurfaced only near the main entrance; at the far end, the tarmac is cracked in places. The nearest metro is Aviatorilor (M2).

King Michael I Park (Herăstrău) on Google Maps

3. Cișmigiu Gardens

The city’s oldest public garden, laid out from 1847 to plans by the gardener Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer, and the only large park right in the centre, between Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta and Știrbei Vodă. It has 4.4 on Google, from over 41,000 reviews, and covers about 15 hectares.

The lake of almost three hectares is what brings most people here: in summer you can hire rowing boats and pedalos, usually between 10:00 and 22:00, and in winter part of it becomes an ice rink. It is also worth seeking out the Rotonda Scriitorilor (Writers’ Rotunda), with the busts of twelve Romanian writers, the rose garden, the chess tables where local pensioners play, and the Monte Carlo restaurant on the lakeside.

Reviews describe it as a romantic, shady park steeped in history. The complaints come with the city-centre location: a few neglected corners, and people who ask tourists for money for a photo with a pigeon or a parrot. The garden is always open, entry is free, and Universitate or Izvor metro is a five- to seven-minute walk away.

Cișmigiu Gardens on Google Maps

4. Carol I Park

Carol Park was laid out for the 1906 Jubilee Exhibition, which celebrated King Carol I’s 40 years on the throne, to plans by the French landscape architect Édouard Redont. It is a category A historic monument, covers more than 30 hectares in Sector 4 and has 4.6 on Google, from almost 19,000 reviews.

It is the park with the most to see per square metre: the Mausoleum on the hill, with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the two-hectare lake, the Technical Museum (founded in 1909, separate ticket), the Arenele Romane (Roman Arenas), where open-air concerts are held, the fountains, and the medieval-style castle on the hill towards Filaret.

Reviews praise the history, the monuments and the wide paths, good for cycling and rollerblading. It is a park to see in autumn, when the main avenue turns yellow, and in the evening, when the light falls on the Mausoleum. Entry is free, and the nearest metro station is Eroii Revoluției (M2).

Carol I Park on Google Maps

5. Tineretului Park

Tineretului Park was built between 1965 and 1974 to plans by Valentin Donose, on the site of a former rubbish tip in an area Bucharest residents called Valea Plângerii (the Valley of Weeping). Today it has 4.5 on Google, from over 39,000 reviews, a 13-hectare lake and, on its edge, the Sala Polivalentă arena.

For runners, it is the best park in the south of the city: a lap of the lake is between three and four kilometres, with no traffic and no traffic lights. In summer you can hire boats, and next to the park is Orășelul Copiilor (the children’s amusement park), which the sector’s town hall is redeveloping.

The only serious complaint in the reviews is the crowds on sunny weekends. Come early in the morning and you will have the paths almost to yourself. Tineretului (M2) metro drops you at the entrance.

Tineretului Park on Google Maps

6. Drumul Taberei Park

The former Moghioroș Park in Sector 6 was completely rebuilt between 2013 and 2015 and is today one of the best-kept parks in the city: 4.6 on Google, from almost 27,000 reviews. It covers 30 hectares, with a lake crossed by a cable-stayed bridge with a red pylon, and an open-air amphitheatre where films are screened under the stars in summer.

The park’s surprise is its exotic greenhouses, opened in 2019: about 4,000 plants from 300 species, with free entry. Visits are in groups of up to 20 people, let in every 20 minutes. The greenhouses are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays; in the warm season, opening hours were Wednesday to Friday between 10:00 and 19:00, and at weekends between 9:00 and 15:00.

The park also has an aquapark, and since 2020 the Parc Drumul Taberei (M5) metro station has stopped right beside it. Reviews praise how well it is maintained; this is the park to bring the children to.

Drumul Taberei Park on Google Maps

7. Văcărești Nature Park

This is not a park with paths and benches but a patch of wilderness in the middle of the city. On the site of a reservoir begun in the 1980s and then abandoned, nature made itself a delta: reeds, pools, willows and more than 150 bird species, plus otters and foxes. In 2016 it became Romania’s first urban nature park, a protected area of 183 hectares. On Google it has 4.5 from over 4,000 reviews.

Because it is a protected area, it has rules that other parks do not:

• Opening hours: daily, between 7:00 and 21:00; no entry at night, so the birds are left in peace
• keep to the marked trails; cycling is allowed only on them too
• dogs must be kept on a lead
• fires, fishing, swimming, boats, e-scooters and sky lanterns are not allowed; fines go up to 6,000 lei
• Cost: free

Those who love it talk about “the delta in the city” and about birds they would never have thought possible next to blocks of flats. Those who leave disappointed came expecting a park: here there is mud after rain, and there are no toilets or cafés. The main entrance is on Strada Lunca Bârzești, next to Sun Plaza. It is best in spring and autumn, during the migration, early in the morning. The park administration occasionally runs free guided tours; keep an eye on the park’s website.

Văcărești Nature Park on Google Maps

8. “Dimitrie Brândză” Botanic Garden

The University of Bucharest Botanic Garden was founded in 1860 by Carol Davila and has been on its present site, in Cotroceni, since 1884. Across about 18 hectares it brings together more than 10,000 species, greenhouses built between 1889 and 1891, a Botanical Museum, a lake with an island, a Japanese garden and a rose garden that blooms in early summer.

Its Google rating is lower than those of the other parks on the list, 4.3 from almost 16,000 reviews, and it is worth saying why. Visitors love the variety of plants and the quiet, but complain about neglected areas, broken paths and old toilets, and above all about the greenhouses’ short opening hours, as they are sometimes closed without notice. It remains a place that no other park in the city can replace.

• Garden, until 15 October: 15 lei, reduced 10 lei; open 8:00–20:00
• Garden, from 16 October: 8 lei, reduced 5 lei; open 9:00–15:30
• Greenhouses: 15 lei, reduced 8 lei; Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10:00–15:00, Saturday and Sunday 9:00–13:00
• Botanical Museum: 15 lei, reduced 8 lei; Tuesday–Friday 10:00–15:00, weekends 9:00–13:00

If you want to see the greenhouses, do not come on a Monday or Wednesday, or in the afternoon: on the days they are open, they close early. The entrance is at Șoseaua Cotroceni 32, near Grozăvești (M1) metro.

Botanic Garden on Google Maps

9. Circului Park

A neighbourhood park with an unusual story. It was laid out in 1961, also by Valentin Donose, on the site of a clay pit that supplied a brickworks, and covers 26 hectares next to the State Circus, in Sector 2. On Google it has 4.5 from almost 10,000 reviews.

Its treasure is the small spring-fed lake, where Egyptian lotuses grow and European pond turtles live. In good years, the lotuses cover the lake from July to September. Construction around the park, however, has silted up some of the springs, and the water level has dropped so far that the lotuses have been at risk. Before making a special trip for the flowers, look at other visitors’ recent photos.

Otherwise, it is a good park for running, with well-kept playgrounds. The nearest metro is Ștefan cel Mare (M1).

Circului Park on Google Maps

10. Kiseleff Park

The smallest park on the list, just three hectares, but one of the oldest: it was laid out after 1832 along the avenue named after General Pavel Kiseleff, and is a historic monument. On Google it has 4.5 from almost 14,000 reviews.

You do not come here for a day, but for half an hour of shade on the way between Piața Victoriei and Herăstrău: shady paths, a small lake with a fountain, statues (among them one of the Persian poet Omar Khayyam) and quiet benches, a few steps from one of the busiest boulevards in the city. Piața Victoriei (M1, M2) metro is close by.

Kiseleff Park on Google Maps

Also worth an hour

• Izvor Park: a broad lawn in front of the Palace of the Parliament, 4.3 on Google; more an events space than a park for strolling
• Grădina Icoanei: a small, old garden near Piața Romană, good for a coffee in the shade
• Plumbuita Park: in Colentina, with a lake and, on its shore, the 16th-century Plumbuita Monastery

Which park for what

• For running: Tineretului Park (the lake loop), IOR and the Herăstrău paths
• For children: Drumul Taberei Park, with its free greenhouses, and IOR, with its free boat
• For nature and birds: Văcărești Nature Park and the Botanic Garden
• For a stroll in the centre: Cișmigiu and Kiseleff
• For history and photography: Carol Park, especially in autumn

A plan for an autumn weekend

Saturday morning: a walk through Văcărești Nature Park while the birds are active. Saturday afternoon: Carol Park and the Mausoleum, in the low autumn light. Sunday morning: the Botanic Garden and its greenhouses, before 13:00. Sunday afternoon: a boat on the lake in Cișmigiu and a stroll through the centre.

Opening hours, prices and works change from year to year, and Google ratings shift as new reviews come in. Check the official websites before you set off, especially for the Botanic Garden, the Drumul Taberei greenhouses and Herăstrău lake.