What time is it in Romania?
EET / EEST · Europe/Bucharest
Back to RomaniaNow in Bucharest
EET UTC+02:00
UTC+02:00
UTC+03:00 in summerEastern European Standard Time
Romania is an hour ahead of Hungary and on the same clock as Bulgaria: it keeps Eastern European Time, UTC+2, and switches to Eastern European Summer Time, UTC+3, from the last Sunday in March until the last Sunday in October. A single zone, Europe/Bucharest in the time zone database, covers the whole country, so no Romanian town reads a different hour from the capital.
Today
Daylight in Bucharest today
DayLive
12:00
- Sunrise
- 07:09First light 06:40
- Sunset
- 19:03Last light 19:32
- Day length
- 11 h 54 min−4 min on yesterday
- Solar noon
- 13:06Sun at 44°, its highest
Plan a call
Find an hour that works in Romania and elsewhere
The two rows are the same day, hour for hour. Pick a city, then an hour, and the line between the rows marks the office hours both sides share.
Time difference
How far Romania is from other places
Neighbours
- BulgariaSofiaSame time
- HungaryBudapest−1 h
- MoldovaChișinăuSame time
- SerbiaBelgrade−1 h
- UkraineKyivSame time
Around the world
- London−2 h
- New York−7 h
- Los Angeles−10 h
- São Paulo−6 h
- MoscowSame time
- Dubai+1 h
- Delhi+2:30 h
- Beijing+5 h
- Tokyo+6 h
- Sydney+7 h
Clock changes
When the clocks change in Romania
Next change
Sunday, 25 October 2026
Clocks go back one hour: at 04:00 it becomes 03:00 EET, UTC+02:00. The night is an hour longer.
| Year | Clocks go forward | Clocks go back |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 29 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 25 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
| 2027 | 28 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 31 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
| 2028 | 26 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 29 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
| 2029 | 25 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 28 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
| 2030 | 31 March 03:00 → 04:00 | 27 October 04:00 → 03:00 |
Until 1931 Romanian clocks ran 1 hour 44 minutes ahead of UTC; that year they moved to UTC+2. Summer time, ora de vară, arrived in 1932 and lasted from 22 May to 2 October. From 1933 it began on the first Sunday in April and ended on the first Sunday in October. Wikipedia applies that rule to 1940 as well, while the time zone database stops it after 1939, and both agree it was dropped by 1941. It came back in 1979. A government ordinance of 18 August 1997 pushed the autumn change from late September to late October, bringing Romania onto the European dates; one Wikipedia page dates the alignment to 1996, another to 1997.
Romania has kept the European Union's summer-time directive since joining the Union on 1 January 2007. The European Parliament voted on 26 March 2019 to end seasonal changes, but repealing Directive 2000/84/EC needs the Council of the European Union too, and as of March 2026 the Council had not approved it. The Council has asked the Commission for a detailed impact assessment, while the Commission holds that the member states must first find a common position among themselves.
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset through the year in Bucharest
- Sunrise
- 07:09
- Sunset
- 19:03
- Daylight
- 11 h 54 min
- Change
- −4 min
Longest day of 2026: 21 June, 15 h 33 min.
Computed for 44.41, 26.10 at sea level with the NOAA solar equations, to the nearest minute, taking no account of hills.
Writing the time
- Clock
- 24-hour
- Short date
- 05.03.2026
- Long date
- 5 martie 2026
- Week starts
- Monday
- Zone names
- EET / EEST
- Time zone database
- Bucharest
History
How the clocks in Romania got here
- 1890
- To 1930.Local mean time, UTC+01:44, before the standard zone.
- 1931
- The move from local mean time, UTC+01:44, to UTC+02:00.
- 1932
- To 1939.UTC+02:00 in winter, UTC+03:00 in summer time.
- 1940
- To 1978.UTC+02:00 all year, no summer time.
- 1979
- To today.UTC+02:00 in winter, UTC+03:00 in summer time.
From the IANA time zone database, Europe/Bucharest, as the build machine carries it.
Common questions
Questions about the time in Romania
What time zone is Romania in?
Eastern European Time, EET, two hours ahead of UTC, through the winter, and Eastern European Summer Time, EEST or UTC+3, from late March to late October. In Romanian the standard time is Ora Europei de Est. The country has one zone only, listed in the time zone database as Europe/Bucharest, so every Romanian town keeps the capital's clock.
When do the clocks change in Romania in 2026?
Romanian clocks went forward on Sunday 29 March 2026, jumping from 03:00 straight to 04:00, and go back on Sunday 25 October, when 04:00 turns into 03:00 again. Both changes happen at 01:00 UTC, the moment the whole European Union switches, and in Romania that moment falls at those local hours. In 2027 the dates are 28 March and 31 October.
Is Romania on the same time as Hungary?
No. Hungary keeps Central European Time, one hour behind Romania all year: at noon in Bucharest it is 11:00 in Hungary. Both countries switch on the same night, so the gap never widens. Bulgaria, the southern neighbour, is on Eastern European Time and shows the same hour as Romania.
When did Romania start using summer time?
In 1932, when clocks went forward on 22 May and back on 2 October. Later seasons began on the first Sunday in April and ended on the first Sunday in October, until summer time was dropped at the start of the 1940s. Romania revived it in 1979. An ordinance of August 1997 moved the autumn change from late September to late October, matching the dates used across the European Union.
Will Romania stop changing the clocks?
Not while the current European rule stands. The European Parliament voted on 26 March 2019 to scrap the twice-yearly switch, but the Council of the European Union has never approved the directive, and as of March 2026 the proposal had gone nowhere. Until the Council acts, Romania moves between EET and EEST every spring and autumn, on the same nights as the other member states.
How far ahead of London and New York is Romania?
Two hours ahead of London throughout the year, since the United Kingdom changes its clocks on the same Sundays. The gap to New York is usually seven hours, but the United States moves its clocks on other dates, so it narrows to six for a few weeks: in 2026 from 8 to 28 March and from 25 to 31 October, and in 2027 from 14 to 27 March and from 31 October to 6 November.
Do Romanians use the 12-hour clock?
In conversation, commonly. Official use is the 24-hour clock, transport timetables included, so a train leaves at 14:30. Speech is looser, and hours counted from one to twelve are the everyday habit. Dates are written day first with full stops, as in 05.03.2026, and the week starts on Monday.