Freight forwarding Constanța – Black Sea port to the Czech Republic

Ancient Tomis, modern Black Sea hub

Constanța sits on the Dobruja coast of Romania and had roughly 264,000 residents at the 2021 census. The Greek colony of Tomis stood here in antiquity, and the Roman poet Ovid spent his exile in it. The modern port opened in 1909 and, covering close to 40 km², is now the largest on the Black Sea. It has more than 150 berths, two grain terminals, ro-ro terminals with parking for thousands of new cars and the Constanța South container terminal, the main box hub of the Black Sea region. The port has its own rail network and connects to the A4 motorway, which bypasses the city.

About 25 km north lies the satellite port of Midia, with a gas terminal and a refinery at nearby Năvodari; loads from there go with specialised ADR carriers.

The canal that links the port to the Danube

Since 1984, the Danube–Black Sea Canal has connected the river at Cernavodă directly with Constanța, saving ships the detour through the delta. Hundreds of river vessels call at the port every day, and bulk commodities can continue upstream into Central Europe by water. For palletised goods, containers or car parts, though, the truck wins easily: a barge sailing against the Danube current needs weeks, a truck needs days.

Cargo that leaves Constanța for the Czech Republic

• Container goods from Asia, the Middle East and Turkey: textiles, footwear, consumer electronics, ceramics and industrial parts.
• Grain and oilseeds from Dobruja: wheat, barley, sunflower and rapeseed, in big bags or in bulk.
• Agricultural transit: since 2022 Ukrainian grain has also moved through the port, which tightens truck capacity at harvest time.
• New and used vehicles and machinery from the ro-ro terminals, needing car transporters or low-loaders.
• Steel structures and ship sections from the yards in Constanța and Mangalia.
• Wine from the Dobruja vineyards around the city.

Czech exporters send machinery, automotive parts, glass and goods destined for sea shipment to Turkey, the Caucasus or the Middle East. An empty container can be collected at the port, loaded in the Czech Republic and returned.

Route, distance and timing

The A2, nicknamed the Motorway of the Sun, links the port with Bucharest. Halfway along, it crosses two arms of the Danube on bridges at Fetești and Cernavodă, where a separate bridge toll is charged at Fetești. Beyond Bucharest the truck follows the route described on our Bucharest page: Pitești, Sibiu and Arad to the Nădlac border, then Szeged, Budapest, Slovakia and Brno. Brno is roughly 1,600 km away and Prague roughly 1,800 km. With one driver a full load reaches Brno on the third working day and Bohemia often on the morning of the fourth; a two-driver crew cuts this to about two days. Groupage pallets typically need 5 to 8 working days. Since 2025 there are no routine checks at the Romanian–Hungarian border, so queues no longer decide the schedule.

Summer on the coast

Constanța is also the gateway to Romania's seaside resorts, and from June to August traffic on the A2 is heavier. When the highest heat warning is issued, Romania can bar vehicles over 7.5 tonnes from driving during the day in affected counties, so trucks wait for the afternoon or evening. For food, chocolate, cosmetics or pharmaceuticals we recommend a temperature-controlled trailer with a recorded log in summer.

Customs and paperwork

Goods arriving from outside the EU must be cleared either in Romania, after which they travel as an ordinary intra-EU consignment, or under transit with clearance in the Czech Republic. This also applies to Turkish goods: the EU–Turkey customs union covers industrial products only, and a customs declaration is always required. Besides the CMR and invoice, send us the container number, bill of lading or release and the gross weight, and check an indicative figure in our calculator.