# Deltas near Bucharest: Văcărești, Comana (the Neajlov Delta) and Balta Mică a Brăilei

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Published on 30 October 2026 · Facts checked on 30 October 2026

Near Bucharest there are three wetlands that people call “deltas”: the **Văcărești Delta**, right in the city, about 4 km from Piața Unirii; the **Neajlov Delta**, in Comana Natural Park, about 40 km away towards Giurgiu; and **Balta Mică a Brăilei**, about 210 km away, on the Danube. None of them is the Danube Delta: they are lowland marshes and floodplain, with reeds, channels and waterbirds, a few minutes, an hour or three hours' drive away.

Below you will find what each one is, how you see it (on foot, by small boat or only on the park administration's boats), what it costs and how they differ from the Danube Delta. The current opening hours and prices are on the page of each attraction.

## In short

- The Văcărești Delta is Văcărești Nature Park, in the south of Bucharest: 183 ha of ponds and reeds in a former reservoir, a protected area since 2016, with more than 180 bird species.
- Entry to Văcărești Nature Park is free, and access is allowed every day between 7:00 and 21:00 (apnv.ro, October 2026).
- The “little delta near Bucharest” is the Neajlov Delta, Balta Comana, about 1,200 ha, in Comana Natural Park in Giurgiu County, about 40 km from Bucharest.
- The visitor fee for Comana Natural Park is 5 lei per person per day, and children under 14 do not pay (park website, October 2026).
- Balta Mică a Brăilei is a natural park stretching 62 km along the Danube, between the Giurgeni–Vadu Oii bridge and Brăila, which you can visit only on the administration's boats, by booking, from 80 lei per person.
- Insula Mare a Brăilei (the Great Island of Brăila) is not a delta: it is a 60,160 ha embanked enclosure, taken out of the Danube floods and used for farming.
- The Danube Delta is something else: the biosphere reserve of about 580,000 ha where the river flows into the Black Sea, visited from Tulcea, with an access permit.

## Deltas near Bucharest: Văcărești, Comana or Balta Mică

You choose between the three mainly by how much time you have. Văcărești is a two- or three-hour walk in the city, Comana is a full day an hour's drive away, and Balta Mică a Brăilei needs a booked boat trip and a full day or a weekend. Only the last one can be seen solely from the water.

| Area | What it is | From Bucharest | How you see it | Cost | When it is open |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Văcărești Delta | urban nature park, 183 ha, former reservoir | in the city, ~4 km from Piața Unirii; Timpuri Noi metro | on foot or by bike on the dyke, on foot inside | free | daily, 7:00–21:00 |
| Neajlov Delta (Comana) | ~1,200 ha marsh in Comana Natural Park | ~40 km, 50–60 min, on the DN5 | small boat, rowing boat, kayak; forest on foot or by bike | park fee 5 lei/day; boats extra | park non-stop; on the water weekends only |
| Balta Mică a Brăilei | 62 km natural park on the Danube, 7 islands | ~210 km, 2 h 30–3 h | only on the administration's boats, with a guide | from 80 lei (2 h) | by booking, groups of at least 4 |

*Opening hours and prices from apnv.ro, the Comana Natural Park website and bmb.ro, checked on 30 October 2026; distances are those on the attraction pages. At Comana, the small boat and the boats at the lakeside complex have their own prices.*

## The Văcărești Delta, “the delta in Bucharest”

When someone searches for “the Bucharest delta”, they are looking for [Văcărești Nature Park (the Văcărești Delta)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/delta-vacaresti). It is a former reservoir begun in 1988 in the south of the city, between Splaiul Unirii, Calea Văcărești and Șoseaua Olteniței, abandoned after 1989 and filled by springs and rain. Behind the concrete dyke, reeds, willows and ponds have grown over 183 ha. Since 2016 it has been a protected area, the first urban nature park in Romania, run by an institution of Bucharest City Hall.

You visit it on foot. The loop on the dyke, the Belvedere Trail, is about 5.3 km long, with the park on one side and the blocks of flats on the other; from it you go down onto the Trail among the Ponds, about 2.5 km long, with two observation towers. The main entrance is on Splaiul Unirii, about a 20-minute walk from Timpuri Noi metro station; the two other entrances, from Strada Săvinești and Șoseaua Vitan-Bârzești, and the bus lines are on the park's page. Other attractions in the city are on [the Bucharest page](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/city/bucuresti).

- [Văcărești Nature Park (the Văcărești Delta)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/vacaresti-nature-park) — National parks and reserves · București · Free · 1½ – 2 hours · Top 100
  Romania's first urban nature park: 183 ha of ponds, reed beds and willows inside an abandoned reservoir in southern Bucharest, home to over 180 bird species, otters and foxes, a few hundred metres from the tower blocks.

## The Văcărești Delta by bike and for birdwatching

**Bikes** are allowed only on the dyke and on the main route between the entrances; inside, on the dirt paths, you walk. Electric scooters and any motor vehicle are banned, and dogs are allowed only on a lead.

**Birds** are the reason most people come: the administration counts more than 180 species. Most are seen in spring and autumn, in April–May and September–October, when ducks, herons and egrets pass through on migration; in the evening, in autumn and winter, pygmy cormorants arrive in flocks to roost. The birds of the Danube Delta, pelicans included, are the subject of the [guide to the birds of the Delta](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/pasari-delta-dunarii).

## Comana, the Neajlov Delta: the “little delta” near Bucharest

The “delta near Bucharest” in the headlines about Comana is the [Neajlov Delta](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/delta-neajlovului), which locals call Balta Comana. Here the Neajlov river loses its bed before it flows into the Argeș and spreads into a marshy plain of about 1,200 ha, with narrow channels, open pools and reed beds, on the edge of the Comana forests. Comana is in [Giurgiu County](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/giurgiu), about 40 km south of Bucharest, roughly 50–60 minutes on the DN5; Giurgiu is about 40 km further.

You see the marsh from the water. The small boat makes a short tour of the large pools in front of the lakeside complex, and on the narrow channels you go by rowing boat or kayak. Trips on the water run only on Saturdays and Sundays, and in summer, when the water is low, the tours get shorter. Among the reeds you see herons, egrets, cormorants and wild ducks.

- [Neajlov Delta](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/neajlov-delta) — National parks and reserves · Comana, GR · 5 lei · 2½ – 3 hours
  The roughly 1,200 ha Neajlov marsh in Comana Natural Park, with channels, reed beds and waterbirds, less than an hour from Bucharest; seen by small boat, rowing boat or kayak.

## Comana Natural Park: the fee, what else to see and Comana Monastery

The marsh is only part of **Comana Natural Park** (Parcul Natural Comana), a protected area since 2004 of about 25,000 ha between Bucharest and the Danube, with about 8,000 ha of forest. The park is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) and a Natura 2000 site; the administration has recorded 212 bird species. Balta Comana is in the strictly protected zone.

The park can be visited non-stop, public holidays included, with a compulsory visitor fee of 5 lei per person per day; children under 14 do not pay. Bikes use the marked tourist trails and public roads. At the beginning of May, in the Padina Tătarului reserve, the Romanian forest peony blooms. In the village is [Comana Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-comana), founded by Vlad Țepeș in 1461 and rebuilt by Radu Șerban in 1588. Fishing in the marsh is banned; the rules are explained in the [guide to fishing in the Danube Delta](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/pescuit-in-delta-dunarii#pescuit-comana-delta-neajlovului).

- [Comana Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/comana-monastery) — Monasteries · Comana, GR · 45 min
  A fortified lowland monastery founded by Vlad the Impaler in 1461 and rebuilt by Radu Șerban in 1588, with thick walls, a Brâncoveanu-style loggia and the church of St Nicholas, on the edge of the Comana marsh.

## Balta Mică a Brăilei: the delta by boat, from Brăila

[Balta Mică a Brăilei](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/balta-mica-a-brailei) is the last part of the old Brăila Marsh that was never embanked: a 62 km strip of the Danube between the Giurgeni–Vadu Oii bridge and the city of Brăila, with 7 large islands separated by arms of the river and 52 inner lakes. It has been a wetland of international importance since 2001, and the administration has recorded 206 bird species. There are no villages on the islands.

You cannot go in on foot. Trips run only on the administration's boats, with its guides, by booking, for groups of at least 4 people, from the visitor centre on the Brăila riverfront, next to the Mureș ship, or from the bridge area at Giurgeni. There are 17 routes; the shortest, two hours long, costs 80 lei per person (bmb.ro, October 2026). Brăila is about 210 km from Bucharest, and the Giurgeni bridge about 170 km.

- [Balta Mică a Brăilei](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/balta-mica-a-brailei) — Deltas · Brăila, BR · 80 lei · 1½ – 2 hours
  The last stretch of free-flooding Danube floodplain between Giurgeni and Brăila: seven river islands, 52 lakes and over 200 bird species, reached only by boat.

## How they differ from the Danube Delta

The [Danube Delta](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/delta-dunarii) is the delta proper: the place where the river splits into three arms, Chilia, Sulina and Sfântu Gheorghe, before the Black Sea. The biosphere reserve covers about 580,000 ha, has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1991, is visited from [Tulcea](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/tulcea) and requires an access permit from the reserve administration.

The other three are lowland wetlands, much smaller. Văcărești is an unfinished reservoir, the Neajlov Delta is the marsh of a river that disappears before the Argeș, and Balta Mică a Brăilei is the Danube floodplain left between the dykes. They resemble the delta in their reeds, channels and waterbirds, not in size. None of them belongs to the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, so its permit is not required here. What you see in the Danube Delta is described in the [Delta guide](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/delta-dunarii), and how to get there in the [guide to Danube Delta trips](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/excursie-in-delta-dunarii).

- [Danube Delta](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/danube-delta) — Deltas · Tulcea County · 5 lei/day · 7½ – 8 hours · UNESCO World Heritage · Top 20
  Europe's largest wetland, a biosphere reserve and UNESCO site: channels, lakes, reed beds and 365 bird species, from pelicans to egrets; visited by boat from Tulcea.

## Văcărești Delta, Comana park, Kloster Comana, Danube Delta Brăila: what is not the same thing

A few searches lead somewhere other than you think:

- **“Delta Văcărești” flats.** The park's name is also used for the new blocks of flats around it. The nature park is the area behind the dyke, with no housing.
- **“Comana park”.** Next to the marsh there is an adventure park, which is not the same thing as the nature park; the administration writes that Comana Natural Park “is not an adventure park” but a protected area.
- **“Kloster Comana”** (the German search) is [Comana Monastery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastirea-comana), not the marsh.
- **“Danube Delta Brăila”.** At Brăila, the wetland is Balta Mică a Brăilei, with its own administration; the Danube Delta is visited from Tulcea.
- **Insula Mare a Brăilei** (the Great Island of Brăila) is neither a delta nor part of Balta Mică: it is a 60,160 ha embanked enclosure, taken out of the Danube floods and farmed (Brăila County Council). The largest island in the park is Insula Mică a Brăilei, 9,727 ha.
- **Lacu Sărat**, 5 km from Brăila, is a salt lake with a spa resort, [Lacu Sărat Resort](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lacu-sarat), not a delta marsh.

- [Lacu Sărat Resort](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lacu-sarat-resort) — Resorts and thermal baths · Lacu Sărat, BR · 2½ – 3 hours
  A spa resort more than a century old, 5 km from Brăila, on the shore of a lake with hypertonic water and sapropelic mud. It has treatment centres, a historic park and a lakeside beach.

## Before you go: what to take, when to go, what to combine

Specific to each area:

- **Văcărești:** there are no toilets, water, kiosks or lighting, and after rain the inner paths are muddy and hard going with a pushchair. Take water and, in summer, tick repellent. The gates are locked at the time posted, in winter possibly earlier.
- **Comana:** if you want to go on the water, go at the weekend. The park fee is paid online, from the park's page; the small boat and the boats are paid separately, at the shore. The season on the water is April–October, and May is the month of the peonies and the birds.
- **Balta Mică:** call the visitor centre beforehand to join a group; the routes depend on the Danube's water level. Besides the trip, the park access fee is bought online. In spring, at high water, you can reach more lakes.

A day in Brăila can be combined with the old centre, with [Traian Square (Piața Traian)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/piata-traian-braila), and one at Comana with the [Giurgiu Clock Tower](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/turnul-cu-ceas-giurgiu), about 40 km away.

- [Traian Square (Piața Traian)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/traian-square-braila) — Monuments and historic sites · Brăila, BR · Free · 45 min
  The central square of old Brăila, from which the streets of the historic centre fan out, with the blue Public Clock of 1909, the Holy Archangels church, a former mosque, and the statue of Trajan.
- [Giurgiu Clock Tower](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/giurgiu-clock-tower) — Monuments and historic sites · Giurgiu, GR · Free · 15 min
  An 18th-century Ottoman watchtower, 22 m high and slightly leaning, in the middle of Piața Unirii: the symbol of Giurgiu and of the county's coat of arms.

## Frequently asked questions

**Where is the delta near Bucharest?**

There are two: the Văcărești Delta, in the south of Bucharest, about 4 km from Piața Unirii, and the Neajlov Delta, in Comana Natural Park, about 40 km towards Giurgiu. Further away, about 210 km, is Balta Mică a Brăilei.

**How much is entry to the Văcărești Delta and what are the opening hours?**

Entry to Văcărești Nature Park is free, and access is allowed every day between 7:00 and 21:00 (apnv.ro, October 2026). In winter the gates may close earlier, according to the hours posted at the entrances.

**Can you cycle in the Văcărești Delta?**

Yes, but only on the dyke and on the main route between the entrances. The inner paths are for walking, and electric scooters are banned.

**How much is entry to Comana Natural Park?**

The visitor fee is 5 lei per person per day, and children under 14 do not pay (park website, October 2026). The small boat, the boats and the kayaks on the marsh are paid separately.

**Comana, Neajlov Delta: when can you take a boat?**

Trips on the water at Balta Comana run only on Saturdays and Sundays. The park can be visited at any time, on foot or by bike.

**How do you visit Balta Mică a Brăilei?**

Only on the park administration's boats, with a guide and by booking, for groups of at least 4 people, from the Brăila riverfront or the Giurgeni bridge. The two-hour tour costs 80 lei per person (bmb.ro, October 2026).

**Can you visit the Great Island of Brăila like a delta?**

No. Insula Mare a Brăilei is a 60,160 ha embanked enclosure, taken out of the Danube floods and used for farming. The area of marshes and birds next to it is Balta Mică a Brăilei.

**Are the Văcărești Delta or Comana like the Danube Delta?**

They resemble it in their reeds, channels and waterbirds, but they are lowland wetlands of 183 ha and about 1,200 ha. The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve covers about 580,000 ha and requires an access permit.

## Sources

- [Văcărești Nature Park Administration](https://apnv.ro/)
- [Văcărești Nature Park Administration: access to the park](https://apnv.ro/accesul-in-parc/)
- [Comana Natural Park, administration website](https://comanaparc.wixsite.com/parc-comana)
- [Comana Natural Park: frequently asked questions](https://comanaparc.wixsite.com/parc-comana/întrebări-frecvente)
- [Balta Mică a Brăilei Natural Park, administration website](https://bmb.ro/)
- [Balta Mică a Brăilei Natural Park: history of the park](https://bmb.ro/index.php/istoricul-parcului-natural-balta-mica-a-brailei/)
- [Brăila County Council: geography of the county](https://cjbraila.ro/dm_cj/portal.nsf/AllByUNID/Geografia-jude%C5%A3ului-00001272?OpenDocument=)

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Last updated: 30 October 2026
Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania