About Săvârșin Royal Castle
Săvârșin Royal Castle is the country house of Romania's Royal Family, still lived in by its members today. The white Neoclassical building, with its columned portico and pediment, was built between 1805 and 1816 by Baron András de Forray junior and his wife, Júlia Brunswick, on the site of an older manor burned during the peasant uprising of 1784. At the same time, the garden architect Heinrich Nebbien designed the park. In 1905 the owners of the day, Károly Hunyady and his wife Maria Irma, added an upper floor to both ends of the house.
King Michael I bought the estate on 26 March 1943, and Queen Mother Helen oversaw the renovation of the house and the laying out of the park in 1943–1945. Seized by the communists after the King's abdication in December 1947, the castle served as a hospital, a school and an official guest house. The Royal Family recovered it on 1 June 2001, and Her Majesty Margareta, Custodian of the Crown, led the restoration of the house, the park and the surrounding buildings; work on the castle was completed in 2015.
The castle itself cannot be visited: it is the home of the Custodian of the Crown and Prince Radu, and it hosts the receptions that open each season and the Christmas carol singing. In season, the public can visit the Royal Village at the front of the estate and, with a guide, the Royal Park, from which the castle can be seen up close.
What you can see
The Royal Village brings together eight old estate buildings, restored with local craftsmen between 2011 and 2017. The former royal garage, a 43-metre hall with exposed beams, houses the Royal Car Museum, with King Michael's 1976 Volvo, a 1982 Mercedes, the Bran carriage and a photo exhibition of all the King's cars. Next door, King Michael's Car Workshop has been recreated in its 1943 building, with the tools and Jeeps brought back in 2017 from his Swiss exile. The Tea House, the largest building in the village, is a café and exhibition space.
The guided tour of the Royal Park takes in the Hidden Garden, with its double brick arch and a wooden gate inspired by the garden at Highgrove, the Little Pavilion with its oval arches, one of the oldest buildings on the estate, the Old Oaks Avenue from 1816, the lake with its island and birch bridge, the 1945 tennis court, the wisteria arbour and Her Majesty Margareta's rose garden.
Good to know
The estate opens only at weekends, from late April to the end of October, and the park can be visited only in guided groups booked in advance. The schedule changes often: the park was closed in summer 2025 and again in July 2026 to repair storm damage.
- The 1976 Volvo, the only one of King Michael's cars left from his exile, in the former royal garage now the Royal Car Museum.
- King Michael's Car Workshop, with the tools laid out exactly as the King left them in his workshops in Switzerland.
- The Hidden Garden in the north-west corner of the park, with its double brick arch and late 19th-century amphorae.
- The lake with its island, linked to the shore by a birch bridge, laid out in 1943.
- The Old Oaks Avenue from 1816, with a few oaks nearly two centuries old, King Michael's favourite walk.
Good to know before you go
- Getting there
By car: Săvârșin lies on the DN7 (E68) in the Mureș valley, between Arad and Deva; the estate entrance is on the village's main street, Strada Regina-Mamă Elena. From Arad it is ~85 km on the DN7 via Lipova (~1 hour 15 minutes), from Deva ~80 km (~1 hour 15 minutes), and from Timișoara ~140 km, on the A1 to Arad and then the DN7 (~2 hours).
Public transport: Săvârșin station is on the Arad – Deva main line, ~1 km south of the estate, with regional trains from Arad and Deva; from the station it is a walk through the village centre.
- Fees & discounts
Entry to the estate requires a ticket, but prices are not published on the official website; ask by phone or email when you book the park tour.
- Rules
The castle is the Royal Family's private residence and cannot be visited. The Royal Park can be visited only in groups with a guide, once an hour, with limited numbers and only with an advance booking on +40 770 562 822 or contact@savarsinregal.ro; confirm the day and time so you are not turned away at the gate. The Royal Village and museums need no booking during opening hours.
- Facilities
Tea House (coffee, tea, snacks and cakes) · souvenir shop · guide required in the park
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