The 'most underrated' country in Europe where pints cost just £1.66

Romania has recently been praised for being one of the most underrated European countries with its incredible range of landscapes, from stunning beaches and majestic castles to mountains and bustling cities. While the number of tourists keeps rising in the country year on year, this number is still relatively low compared with other more popular tourist destinations in Europe, like the Czech Republic, for example, which welcomed 22.8 million tourists in 2024, according to the Czech Statistical Office (CSO).

According to the Romanian National Institute of Statistics, in 2024, Romania welcomed around 14.26 million visitors in apartments and short-term rentals. This means that Romania is a much less crowd-heavy destination while still offering a variety of things to see and do. Another plus is direct, cheap flights from London to Romania starting at just £13 in June 2025.

According to Wise, pints cost just £1.66, and a meal in an inexpensive restaurant is only about £7.5.

Romania's capital, Bucharest, has a stunning Old Town as well as a massive Palace of the Parliament, which is the heaviest and second-largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon, with a staggering 1,100 rooms.

Known for its association with the famous horror novel of Dracula, Transylvania is home to about 250 castles and fortresses, including the Bran Castle, which is also called the Dracula Castle, and is one of the country's most iconic and mystical landmarks.

Transylvania also boasts magical medieval villages, gothic churches, and the Southern Carpathians, part of the Carpathian Mountains, the second-longest mountain range in Europe, stretching across seven countries, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, and Serbia.

The country has seven UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the eight churches of Moldavia, the Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountain, which are six ancient hillforts built in the 1st centuries BC and AD, the Danube Delta, which goes into the Black Sea, and the historic centre of Sighisoara, which is over 850 years old.

Romania not only has beautiful villages, cities, a river, and the second-largest mountain range in Europe, but it is also home to incredible beaches with golden sand notable beaches like Constanta Beach with its crystal-clear waters or Plaja de Carte with the only beach library in Europe featuring over 3,000 books to choose from for your beach reading session.

One Reddit user wrote: "Romania for me [is the most underrated European country to visit] , beautiful nature (carpathian mountains, gorges, skiing, huge forests etc) and interesting sights (castles, salt mines, monastaries, cool cities like Bucharest and Timisoara). Oh, and very cheap."

Another person said: "Romania in general is highly underrated, also for medival architecture and nature around the carpatians: Sighisoara, Castle Bran, Sibiu and brasov."

Someone else said: "Romania has some really beautiful cities that deserve more love."

A TripAdvisor user also wrote: "I found Romania to be a very interesting, fascinating country wonderful places and sites to visit."