As someone who studied history and political science in college, the world’s largest parliament building, ‘The People’s Palace,’ in Bucharest, Romania had been on my bucket list for years. The Palace of the Parliament (Palatul Parlamentului) measures a staggering 3.7 million square feet (340,000 square meters) and is the second largest administrative building in the world, with only the Pentagon in the United States being larger. There was a lot we enjoyed about our week long stay in Romania, and the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest lived up to its hype as a building that’s both seriously impressive, absurdly lavish and creepy at the same time.


When visiting the Palace of Parliament it’s important to call ahead and make an appointment and you have to bring your passport. Your passport will be held during the tour and returned to you upon completion (nice throwback to communism there). It’s also pretty staggering that the world’s largest administrative building that allows civilians has one of the smallest waiting areas. Expect to be a little crammed before going through security. But while you’re waiting you can buy coffee and snacks from a small stall. Tickets can be purchased with cash only by taking your reservation ticket into the gift shop. There’s a fee for taking photos and visitors are told that those who wander from the tour will be treated as threats and are subject to arrest.



Due to expensive, some Romanian officials in the past suggested moving parliament to a smaller building and converting the Palace of Parliament into the world’s largest casino. “There was speculation Donald Trump was interested in buying it” our guide said. Yes, there’s speculation that the man who finished 3rd in the bidding to buy the Buffalo Bills NFL football team (behind the Jon Bon Jovi group) can buy anything and I couldn’t believe that even in the Romanian Parliament we couldn’t escape Donald Trump’s name.

The 1980’s gradually saw a substantial decrease in the quality of life of Romanians due to the poor leadership and priorities of the Ceausescu regime. Aside from ordering the extravagant Palace of Parliament, during the 1970’s, the Ceausescu led government had borrowed heavily from the International Monetary Fund and other western organizations and during the 80’s he decided to repay the debt entirely. Romania gradually re-paid $13 billion in foreign loans through large scale shipments of agricultural and industrial exports, while too many were starving with food shortages and struggling to survive within Romania.

Ceausescu did not live to see the Palace of Parliament finished, as construction wasn’t fully completed until 1997. Along with being the world’s largest parliament, it stands as a testament to the greed and poor leadership that mired the end of Ceausescu’s regime, after the former peasant had been admired by so many Western regimes in the 1960’s and 70’s for balancing socialism, liberalism and fostering good relationships with western nations. For fellow political and history buffs, a visit to ‘The People’s Palace’ should be on your bucket list, as well as reading more into the compelling life and regime of Nicolae Ceausescu.
Getting there
Metro: Izvor
Entry fee: Standard tour 23 lei ($5.50USD)
Camera fee: 30 lei ($7.50 USD)
Best Websites for Booking Accommodation in Bucharest?
You’ll often find the best hotel prices on booking.com. Consider booking hotels in advance with free cancellation. We stayed at the Europa Royale Bucharest during our stay.
Families and budget travelers can find awesome value on apartments on Airbnb. If you’ve never used Airbnb, sign up here for a $40 credit off your first stay! Just be sure to book apartments with consistently good reviews.
Have questions or comments on traveling to Romania? Leave a comment or you can email me at [email protected] and I can assist you!
This article contains some affiliate links. We receive a small commission when you book or sign up through certain links and it costs you nothing extra. When it suits you, please use them, as it helps us help you!
Truly an impressive place and another testament to the policies of Ceausescu. Misguided methinks!
Just a wee misguided indeed 😉 Though the palace is quite impressive and worth a visit if you’re in Bucharest, which has a fascinating history.
Ahhh there is so much to know, that it is impossible to know everything 🙂 It is quite impressive, and a wee depressing that it must have cost a fortune and all the while poverty is fairly high in Romania. Life certainly isn’t fair.
Looks beautiful! But so crazy that they hold your passport during the tour!! I would have probably freaked out if I wasn’t warned in advance.
Hi Karilyn, it is beautiful, the artistry in the work is amazing. Just a shame the circumstances it was built under. Yeah the holding of passports is always a wee uncomfortable, though just before we handed ours over, we watched a big group come out and have their passports returned with no fuss, so that helped.
You only mentioned the fee for taking photos what is the general ticket price?
I don’t really like all those bans on taking photos when you visit the places when there’re no real reasons for that. And I hate extra fees – sometimes I pay, sometimes I don’t – but I’m sometimes really annoyed when I pay only to find out that it wasn’t really worth it.
Hi Monika, we’ll amend, thank you 🙂 it’s 23 lei, around $5.50USD for the standard tour. I guess it is a difficult balance… this is part of what make this place quite fascinating. Bucharest has a great deal of poverty, yet here is this huge palace, built by Ceaușescu whose reign is infamous for being brutal, and now this landmark, brings revenue to one of the most impoverished EU countries, but a country that also has issues with corruption. So these things are usually fairly complicated to say the least!
Here’s an embarrassing admission, I had no idea the worlds largest Parliament was in Bucharest. The building certainly looks impressive though.
My wife and I sort of regretted not going inside when we were there. Glad someone else can share what’s in there!
Aww thanks, and if you ever get back there it is worth a look inside! I know we’re missed a few cool things in our travels too.
It’s crazy that they brought up Trump’s name during the tour. You can’t escape him!
Nope, it would appear that he is everywhere… eek! Very scary indeed 🙂
Hey, great to see you enjoyed your time in my country and my city! One small correction: the boulevard that you photographed is actually named “Bulevardul Unirii” (Unity Boulevard), and not “Calea Victoriei”. Calea Victoriei is somewhat close to that, but it is a different boulevard.
We did enjoy Bucharest and Romania in general, Costin! Thanks for letting us know about the street name mistake. We’ll correct it!