Halloween in Transylvania 2026: Bran Castle and Brașov

If it’s the party you’re after, we have a separate guide to the Royal Park Halloween party.

We checked prices and times on Bran Castle’s Halloween page and ticket shop on 10 October 2026. Bran Castle is 30 km from the city, and the last bus back to Brașov leaves at 19:38, so work out how you’ll get home before you buy an evening ticket. In Brașov itself, there’s a Halloween fair in Piața Sfatului and the free Dracula Fantasy Con, both from 30 October to 1 November. For other autumn events, see What’s on in Brașov.

Dates for 2026

What	Where	Date	Status
Halloween tours (“New Moon”)	Bran Castle	Sat 24 – Fri 30 October	Confirmed
Halloween Day and night: tours, dinner, parties	Bran Castle	Sat 31 October	Confirmed
Family day (“Blue Moon”)	Bran Castle	Sun 1 November	Confirmed
Halloween fair	Piața Sfatului, Brașov	Fri 30 October – Sun 1 November	Confirmed
Dracula Fantasy Con	Coresi Shopping Resort, Brașov	Fri 30 October – Sun 1 November	Confirmed
Halloween at Dino Parc	Râșnov	23 October – 1 November	Announced

Sources: Bran Castle, the Brașov City Hall events calendar, and Zile și Nopți for Fantasy Con. You’ll find more on Dino Parc in our guide to activities for families in Brașov.

Brașov’s horror and fantasy film festival, the Dracula Film Festival, doesn’t fall on Halloween this year. The 2026 edition ran from 15 to 18 October at Cinema Astra. Fantasy Con, below, is its spin-off.

Halloween at Bran Castle

The 2026 programme is called “The Legend of Dracul”. The castle says it has expanded this year’s tours and given them a darker atmosphere, aimed mainly at adults, with actors, special effects and dimly lit corridors. Most Halloween tickets include the Torture Exhibition too. There are no guided tours during the Halloween period.

Ticket	Date	Time	Price from
New Moon: Halloween tour	24–30 October	09:00–19:00 last entry; Monday 26 October from 12:00	100 lei
New Moon: Halloween Day tour, recommended for adults	31 October	09:00–17:00 last entry	300 lei
Blood Moon: evening tour 18:00–20:00 and the party in the park, 21:00–04:00	31 October	Evening	800 lei (sold out 26 Oct)
Full Moon: tour, dinner at the Tea House restaurant and the party	31 October	Dinner 18:00 then tour 21:00, or tour 20:00 then dinner 21:30	1,500 lei (sold out 26 Oct)
Eclipse: night tour at 21:00 and a private party inside the castle, 23:00–04:00, with buffet and open bar	31 October	Night	3,000 lei (sold out 26 Oct)
Blue Moon: family Halloween tour	1 November	09:00–18:00 last entry	100 lei

These are the “from” prices in the castle’s ticket shop, checked on 10 October 2026, and they include VAT. As a rough guide, 100 lei is about €20. One thing doesn’t match: the shop says the 31 October daytime tour runs until 19:00, but the event page gives 17:00 as last admission. To be safe, plan on 17:00.

Photo: Diana

Here’s how the castle describes each option:

• 24–30 October is the cheapest way to see the castle decorated. The Halloween tour is 100 lei for an adult, the same as a standard adult ticket the rest of the year (see our Bran Castle guide).
• 31 October, daytime has stronger effects and more interaction with the actors, and it’s recommended for adults.
• The party (Blood Moon) is in a 600 m² gala tent in the Royal Park, with two DJs, horror film projections, photo spots and a bar that takes cash or card. The tent holds up to 1,500 guests.
• Full Moon adds dinner by the chef Vasi Bejenaru, who won Bocuse d’Or Romania 2025. It’s limited to 160 guests, in two seatings of 80.
• Eclipse is limited to 100 guests, who can move between the private party inside the castle and the tent outside.
• 1 November (Blue Moon) is a brighter, gentler tour for families, with decorations and friendly characters.

A few rules and warnings from the castle to know before you go:

• Get there 15 minutes before your time slot. Your ticket can be scanned at any point during its one-hour slot.
• Party guests can leave and come back as long as they keep their wristband on. But the gates close at midnight, and after that there’s no entry or re-entry.
• On 31 October there’s a costume contest in three categories from 23:30 to 00:15. The tent bar stops taking payments from 23:45 to midnight, so buy your drinks before then.
• On 31 October the castle closes from 22:00 to 23:00 while the private party is set up.
• The castle has warnings for anyone who’s claustrophobic, sensitive to flashing lights or loud noise, or carrying children. It’ll also be cold, and paths and stairs can be slippery.

Getting to Bran on 31 October

• By bus, for a daytime visit: Transbus buses leave Autogara 2, on Strada Avram Iancu 114, every hour on the hour from 07:00 to 21:00, and Autogara 1, by the railway station, at a quarter to each hour. The fare is 15 lei, and it takes about 55 minutes to get to Bran Centru. Buses back leave Bran at 38 minutes past each hour, and the last one leaves at 19:38 (Transbus timetable). That’s fine for any daytime ticket, including the 31 October tour. Our guide to getting from Brașov to Bran Castle has the full timetable and explains how to find Autogara 2.
• For the evening packages, there’s no bus back. The party ends at 04:00, more than eight hours after the last bus has gone. Your options:
  • A taxi booked both ways. The castle’s estimate is about 150 lei each way from Brașov. Bolt and Uber work in Brașov, but finding a car in Bran at night is hard, so agree the return time and price with a driver before you go.
  • A room in Bran or Moieciu for the night of 31 October. Book early.
  • An organised trip that includes the transfer and the party ticket. Several tour companies sell these from Brașov and Bucharest, so check exactly what’s included before you pay.
• By car: Bran is 30 km from Brașov on the DN73 (E574), through Cristian and Râșnov, and it takes about 35 minutes in normal traffic. The castle has no car park of its own, but there are several paid ones around Strada General Traian Moșoiu. They’re run by others and set their own prices. With a party tent for up to 1,500 people, expect busy roads in Bran that evening and full car parks. And if you’ll be drinking at the party, don’t plan on driving back.

Halloween in Brașov

The Halloween fair in Piața Sfatului

City Hall’s events calendar lists a Halloween fair in Piața Sfatului from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November 2026. It also has a separate entry for Thursday 29 October.

On Zile și Nopți it goes by Halloween Fest, put on by the Caravana Dovlecilor Fermecați (“Enchanted Pumpkin Caravan”). It opens at 11:00 each day, with more than 60 exhibitors and craftspeople. The programme promises:

• parades of costumes, of giant puppets, and of skeletons and glowing robots
• acrobats, live concerts and dance shows
• an alley of lanterns and video-mapping projections
• a pumpkin pyramid, pumpkin carving and painting, and themed workshops

The listing doesn’t mention an entry fee, and the fair is in the public square. The caravan’s previous edition in Piața Sfatului ran from 31 October to 2 November 2025 (Capital).

Dracula Fantasy Con

Fantasy Con is the Dracula Film Festival’s fan fair. It runs from 30 October to 1 November, from 17:00 each day, in the Piața cu Copaci area of Coresi Shopping Resort, about 4 km north-east of the Old Town. Entry is free. The 2026 programme has gaming tournaments, a board-game marathon, an artists’ alley, Japanese-culture workshops and a cosplay parade.

Parties and family events

In 2025, several bars and clubs in and around Brașov held Halloween parties over the weekend. For the 2026 listings, check Zile și Nopți in late October. If you’ve got children with you, Dino Parc in Râșnov, on the way to Bran, runs a Halloween programme from 23 October to 1 November 2026.

Why Transylvania? Vlad, Stoker and Bran

Halloween isn’t a traditional Romanian holiday. In 2013, Radio Romania International described it as something Romania had celebrated only “for a few years”, with travel agencies, clubs and hotels building offers around it.

Romanian folklore has its own night of the undead. It’s Noaptea strigoilor, on the eve of St Andrew’s Day, the night of 29 to 30 November. That night, people put garlic on windows and doors to keep out the strigoi, the restless dead.

Bran’s Halloween really comes from a novel. Bram Stoker’s Dracula came out in 1897, and Stoker never visited Romania. His Count lives near the Borgo Pass in northern Transylvania, nearly 200 km from Bran. The castle explains the link this way: it’s the only castle in Transylvania that looks like the one in the book.

The real Dracula was Vlad III Țepeș, prince of Wallachia in 1448, 1456–1462 and 1476. He had a long and violent relationship with Brașov: he traded with its Saxon merchants, wrote to its council and raided its suburbs between 1456 and 1460.

But there’s no record that he owned, lived in or captured Bran Castle, and even the castle says it isn’t known. Our guides tell both stories: Vlad Țepeș and Brașov and Bran Castle: tickets, hours and the real history.

Tips

• Book Bran early. On 26 October, all three evening packages were sold out in the official shop: Blood Moon (800 lei), Full Moon (1,500 lei) and Eclipse (3,000 lei). The daytime tours and the Blue Moon family tour on 1 November were still on sale, but tickets are limited.
• For the decorations without the price, go between 24 and 30 October. It’s 100 lei, the same as a normal visit, and the weekdays are likely to be quieter than the weekend. On Monday 26 October it opens at 12:00.
• With children, go on 1 November. The castle recommends the 31 October tours for adults, and it designed the Blue Moon tour for families.
• Wrap up warm. October nights average 4°C (see our guide to Brașov weather by season), and the party in the park runs until 04:00. Wear thermal layers under your costume.
• Bring cash and a card. The party bar takes both.
• Watch the clock in Bran. If you came by bus, the last one back leaves at 19:38.

FAQ

Is Halloween celebrated in Romania?

Not traditionally. It’s a recent arrival, promoted mainly by travel agencies, clubs and hotels. Romania’s own night of spirits is St Andrew’s Eve, on 29–30 November. Around Brașov, Halloween mostly means Bran Castle’s programme and a fair in Piața Sfatului.

How much is the Halloween party at Bran Castle?

Blood Moon costs 800 lei (18+, with the castle tour and the Royal Park party), Full Moon 1,500 lei and Eclipse 3,000 lei. All three were sold out in the official shop on 26 October. The daytime tours and the Blue Moon family tour on 1 November were still on sale, and Bran Castle’s Halloween page lists them.

Can I visit Bran Castle on Halloween without going to the party?

Yes. On 31 October the daytime New Moon tour starts at 300 lei, with last entry at 17:00. And from 24 to 30 October, the Halloween tour costs 100 lei.

How do I get back to Brașov after the party?

Not by public transport. The last bus leaves Bran at 19:38, and the party ends at 04:00. Your choices are a taxi booked both ways, a night in Bran or Moieciu, or an organised trip that includes the transfer.

Is Bran Castle really Dracula’s castle?

Only in the tourist sense. Bram Stoker never went to Romania, and there’s no record that Vlad Țepeș, the historical Dracula, owned or lived in Bran. The castle’s Dracula link comes from its resemblance to the castle in the novel.

Is Halloween at Bran suitable for children?

The castle recommends its 31 October tours for adults and warns about loud noises and flashing lights. The Blue Moon tour on 1 November is designed for families, so that’s the day to go with children.

What’s on in Brașov on Halloween?

There’s a Halloween fair in Piața Sfatului from 30 October to 1 November, the free Dracula Fantasy Con at Coresi Shopping Resort on the same dates, and costume parties in bars and clubs.

Sources

• Bran Castle: Halloween 2026 (programme, times, rules), tickets (prices), plan your visit (taxi estimate, parking)
• Transbus timetable via Autogari.ro: Brașov–Bran and Bran–Brașov
• Brașov City Hall: events calendar (Halloween fair dates)
• Zile și Nopți: Halloween Fest 2026, Dracula Fantasy Con 2026
• Dracula Film Festival: official site
• Capital: Halloween 2025 events
• Radio Romania International: Halloween in Romania (24 October 2013); EVZ: St Andrew’s night (29 November 2023)