Old Lighthouse of Sulina

About Old Lighthouse of Sulina

In the middle of Sulina, two streets back from the Danube, a white tapering tower more than 17 metres tall rises above the low houses. This is the town's old lighthouse, also known as the Lighthouse of the European Commission of the Danube: the national list of historic monuments dates it to 1870 and places it in category A, of national importance. When it was built it stood close to the point where the Sulina branch flowed into the sea; Danube silt and the jetties pushed out into open water have since moved the shoreline about one and a half kilometres to the east.

The lighthouse guided ships entering the Sulina branch in the decades when the European Commission of the Danube, set up after the 1856 Treaty of Paris, ran the mouth of the river and had turned Sulina into an international port. Sources disagree about its beginnings (some mention an older Ottoman or Russian light on the same spot), but the plaque at the entrance links it to the Commission and to the year 1870. Once out of service it was restored in the 1990s and turned into a museum, run since 2003 by the Eco-Museum Research Institute in Tulcea. Between 2019 and 2022 it underwent a new, EU-funded rehabilitation that won an award at the National Restoration Triennial.

Sulina lies inside the Danube Delta, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991, and the lighthouse is the best-known monument left in the town from the Commission's era.

Information verified on 21 October 2026.

Good to know before you go

Getting there

By car: you cannot drive to the lighthouse. Sulina has no road link to the rest of the country, so the car stays in Tulcea: from Bucharest it is about 300 km and roughly four hours, on the A2 to Cernavodă, then the DJ223 to Hârșova and the DN22A and DN22 to Tulcea; from Constanța about 130 km and two hours, on the A4 and DN22.

Public transport: Navrom Delta boats leave the port of Tulcea and run down the Sulina branch; the classic boat takes about three and a half hours, the semi-rapid two and a half. In summer there are daily sailings, out of season only on certain days of the week. In Sulina the lighthouse is on Strada a II-a, parallel to the waterfront, a few minutes' walk from the landing stage.

Where to park

No car park is needed at the lighthouse: Sulina has no road to the mainland, and the car stays in Tulcea, where the boat leaves from. The town is explored on foot.

Fees & discounts

A museum ticket costs 20 lei for adults, 10 lei for pensioners and 5 lei for pre-school children, pupils and full-time students. Professional photography costs 100 lei per hour and professional filming 500 lei per hour. On top of that comes the Tulcea–Sulina boat (~66 lei each way on the classic boat and ~76 lei on the semi-rapid, at Navrom Delta's 2026 fares) and the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve access permit (5 lei per day).

Rules

The photography and filming fees apply only to professional photography and filming. The staircase in the tower is narrow and spiral, unsuitable for pushchairs and for anyone who suffers from vertigo. Sulina lies inside the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, so you need the reserve access permit. Pets are not usually allowed in the museum rooms.

Facilities

Exhibition in two rooms on the ground floor of the tower · inner courtyard · the tower can be reached only by the stairs · restaurants, accommodation and shops in town, a few minutes' walk away