Craiova is one of the cheapest cities in the EU to visit. Museum entry runs 5–15 lei, a tram ticket is 3 lei, and the city's showpiece — Nicolae Romanescu Park, 96 hectares designed in Paris — is permanently free. Three days here cost less than one in Bucharest.
96 hectares laid out by French architect Édouard Redont, gold-medal winner at the 1900 Paris World Expo. Free and open 24/7: suspension bridge over the ravine, boating lake, ruined-castle folly and hippodrome. Enter at Calea Unirii gate.
Free-entry church rebuilt 1927–1930 after the 1913 earthquake, with vast interior frescoes by Costin Petrescu, the painter of the Romanian Athenaeum fresco in Bucharest. Open daily roughly 08:00–19:00; donation box only, no ticket.
University of Craiova's 17-hectare botanical garden founded in 1952, with over 3,000 species, a Japanese section and greenhouses. Entry is a token 5 lei (2 lei students), among the cheapest botanical gardens in Romania. Open 09:00–19:00 in summer.
The free outdoor half of the Craiova Water Park complex on Bulevardul Ştirbei Vodă: landscaped lakes, fountains, wooden boardwalks and shaded benches. The pools charge, but the whole promenade and fountain zone costs nothing to walk.
Craiova's main covered market off Strada Câmpia Islaz, open from 06:00. Oltenian produce at farm prices: telemea sheep cheese around 25 lei/kg, tomatoes 6–8 lei/kg, a kilo of plums 5 lei. Cash only at most stalls, small notes essential.
University of Craiova student canteen near the campus dorms, open to the public at term time. A full three-course meal — ciorbă, main and bread — runs 20–28 lei, roughly a third of a city-centre restaurant. Weekday lunch service only.
Craiova's single tram line runs 18km from Semicentral to the Ford plant at Işalniţa. A 3-lei ticket bought from the RAT Craiova kiosk buys an hour-long cross-section of the city: communist blocks, factory gates and riverside stretches.
The student-belt strip east of the centre where a covrig (pretzel) is 3–4 lei, a plate of mici with mustard and bread 18–22 lei, and a half-litre of Bergenbier under 10 lei. Stalls run late, well past 22:00 in term time.
The oldest surviving building in Craiova, built 1699, housing the Oltenian folk-costume, ceramic and textile collections. Entry is 10 lei, 5 lei for students, and the first Wednesday of the month is free. Closed Mondays; open 09:00–17:00.
A free 6km flat walking and cycling path along the Jiu embankment west of the centre, used by locals for evening runs. Open ground, willow banks and views back to the Craiova skyline. No facilities, so carry water from the market.
Municipal zoo inside the free park, rebuilt to EU enclosure standards in the 2010s with bears, lynx and wolves in wooded pens. Entry is 10 lei for adults and 5 lei for children, among the cheapest zoos in the country. Open 09:00–20:00.
The wooded ridge southwest of Craiova above the Jiu valley, reached free by local bus 2 to Bucovăţ then a 20-minute climb. The one genuine elevated view over the city, the river bend and the Oltenian plain running toward the Danube.