About Neptun–Olimp
Neptun and Olimp are two resorts built from nothing in the Comorova forest, some six kilometres north of Mangalia, and they have worked as a single whole from the start: Olimp is the northern part, Neptun the southern one, and the only boundary between them is a bend in the road. Both are component localities of the municipality of Mangalia.
The land was won by clearance. At the end of the 1960s more than 250 hectares were felled from the only forest on the Romanian coast, planted between 1890 and 1910 under the patronage of King Carol I. Neptun came into use from 1967, Olimp in 1972. Under communism this was the most exclusive stretch of the coast: a compound of protocol villas was built at the northern end of Neptun, among them Nufărul, the summer house of the Ceaușescus, today a presidential residence and a closed area.
The beach has changed completely in recent years. The Olimp section was widened by the national water authority under contract CL7, finished in 2025, and at Neptun the first new stretch of the Neptun–Jupiter lot opened in July 2024, in the “La Steaguri” area. The dry sand is now a hundred metres wide on average, and the slope into the sea is far gentler than before.
What you can see
Olimp is recognisable from a distance by the Amfiteatru–Belvedere–Panoramic ensemble, opened in 1972 to designs by the architect Aron Solari-Grimberg: blocks whose floors step back one above the other, set on the high ground over the beach. Further north stand the tower hotels named after the Romanian provinces — Maramureș, Oltenia, Banat. At Neptun the hotels sit behind two lakes, Neptun I and Neptun II, left from the former Comorova marsh; between them and the sea there is only the strip of sand. You can go out on the lakes by boat or pedalo, and the Insula restaurant stands on the shore of the first one. Behind, a few hundred metres inland, the Comorova forest begins, with walking paths and a small arboretum.
Good to know
The compound of protocol villas at the northern end of Neptun has its own guarded beach and cannot be visited. The special resort tax of 5 lei per adult per day is paid where you stay, not at the entrance to the beach.
- The Amfiteatru–Belvedere–Panoramic ensemble at Olimp, its floors stepping back above the beach, opened in 1972.
- The widened section at Neptun, in the “La Steaguri” area, where it is almost a hundred metres from the back lane to the water.
- A trip by boat or pedalo on lakes Neptun I and Neptun II, immediately behind the beach.
- The paths through the Comorova forest, the only forest on the Romanian coast, a few hundred metres from the sand.
- The low bluff below the tower hotels of northern Olimp, from which you see the beach running away to the south.
Good to know before you go
- Getting there
By car: Neptun and Olimp lie ~6 km north of Mangalia and ~38 km from Constanța, on the DN39 (E87). From Bucharest it is ~270 km and close to three hours, on the A2 to Constanța and then along the coast road through Eforie, Tuzla and 23 August. The entrances to both resorts are signposted from the DN39, and the internal lanes run down towards the lakes and the beach.
Public transport: the resorts have their own railway halt, Neptun (Comorova), on the Constanța–Mangalia line, 7 km from Mangalia and 36 km from Constanța; in summer there are also direct trains from Bucharest. Electric buses run by the town hall link Mangalia and its station with all the southern resorts, Neptun and Olimp included, and are free for visitors and residents alike.
- Where to park
The public car parks in the resorts are run by Mangalia town hall, paid by SMS or card through the Tpark system; the largest one at Neptun is in the “La Steaguri” area. In June 2025 the local council suspended the parking charge in the town and in all its resorts, so public parking was free that summer; the rates approved before the suspension were 5 lei an hour in the resorts and 15 lei a day. The position for the following season has not been confirmed publicly, and the private car parks of hotels and guesthouses are charged separately in any case, so it is worth asking where you stay.
- Fees & discounts
Access to the beach is free along its whole length, including the equipped sections, where you pay only for a sunbed and an umbrella, at the rates displayed by each section's operator. Stretches of free beach without furniture remain as well. Separately, a special resort tax of 5 lei per adult per day is payable where you stay, applying in 2026 in Mangalia and its resorts, Neptun and Olimp among them; war veterans and war widows are exempt.
- Rules
The beach is public property, and under Emergency Ordinance 19/2006 sector operators must leave access and movement free. No cars or quad bikes on the sand, no camping and no street trading. Pets are admitted only with the beach operator's agreement and must be kept on a lead. Watch the flags at the lifeguard posts: red over yellow means the beach is supervised, red means bathing is forbidden, yellow that swimming is not advised. The compound of protocol villas at the northern end of Neptun has its own guarded beach, which may not be entered.
- Facilities
Lifeguard posts and first aid points in season, contracted by Mangalia town hall · sections with sunbeds and umbrellas, alongside stretches of free beach · bars, terraces and restaurants on the sand and along the lanes behind · the open-air theatre, the bazaar and the funfair at Neptun · a jetty and boat hire on the Neptun lakes · free electric buses between the resorts and Mangalia · the sand is hard going with a pushchair or a wheelchair
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