I spent five days in the city. Two of them were busy with business, three days were devoted to sightseeing and eating fried pork knuckles. I will tell you more about my impressions of the capital and the country as a whole.
Money
Romanian lei are in use in the country. The banknotes look unusual, resembling plastic ones. I brought euros with me and exchanged some of them on arrival – there is an exchange office at the airport. There are also enough of them in the center of Bucharest. They accept dollars and euros, and you need to show your passport to exchange them.
Housing
Bucharest met me with frost -12 °C and heavy snowfall. While taking a cab to the hotel, I gathered my first impressions in my head. The city is beautiful in some places, somewhere disfigured by the communist heritage, but on the whole I got an impression of a decent city by the standards of Eastern Europe.
I chose the small Peakture Hotel in the center. The hotel lived up to expectations. The room is clean, with a balcony. The staff were friendly. The location is very good: it’s a five minute walk to the Old Town. Nearby are many restaurants and cafes, there are grocery stores. Metro station and streetcar stop within walking distance.
Transportation
The city has a decent metro, buses and streetcars, but given the cab prices, I didn’t bother with public transportation. Besides, if you live in the center, you can walk to the main sights.
I also tried out the intercity trains. They are different: some trains looked old, but there were also modern expresses – I chose them. I went to Sinaia and Brasov. Tickets cost 40 RON and 60 RON one way respectively. You can buy them online in advance or on the spot from the conductor. The expresses are fast, the interior is clean and the seats are comfortable.
Attractions
Bucharest is easy to see in a couple or three days. I built my routes with the help of Google Maps. Sometimes I asked the locals for directions – many of them spoke English.
The main attraction of the Romanian capital is the Old Town. The remnants of former history were mercilessly demolished by the communist system, but some of the old buildings have been preserved. Walking there, I noticed some similarities with Prague and Budapest.
The architecture is beautiful, with many interesting details: bas-reliefs, weathervanes, copper roofs that have turned green from time, stained glass windows, old street lamps and worn paving stones.
Most of the city’s cafes, restaurants, nightclubs and bars are located here. The atmosphere is more pleasant in the morning and before noon. Later in the day, there are more tourists on the streets, more solicitors, and it’s not so cozy anymore.
Another interesting detail of the center of Bucharest is the monasteries and churches. Romania is an Orthodox country, but their churches are different from ours. The bell towers are separate, candles are placed outside, icons and frescoes are mostly in dark colors.
There is a beautiful convent not far from the Caru’cu Bere beer restaurant. In the evenings, the nuns go around the grounds and tap a special stick on a board. Locals say the tradition goes back to the days of very high taxes on bells. Then this ritual replaced the bell ringing.
Walking around the city center is pleasant. The buildings are variegated: gray panel buildings are replaced by old mansions. I did not go to see Ceausescu’s palace, the main architectural heritage of Bucharest during the socialist era. The pointlessness of the building, for the sake of which many historical objects were demolished, was visible even from afar.
Next to my hotel was the Ministry of Agriculture, which occupies a landmark building. On weekends they hold fairs from local farmers in the courtyard. I went there a couple of times. You can buy very tasty products: local cheeses, sausages, fruits and wines. It was interesting to chat with the farmers about life too, almost all of them spoke decent English.
Food
Romanian cuisine is simple and good: pork in different variations, sausages, lamb, duck, corn porridge and cheese. For my taste, the food is a bit sour, with too much tomato added. Here is the list of dishes I managed to try:
- sarmale is like our stuffed cabbage;
- tokitura is meat stewed with tomatoes;
- pork knuckle – baked until crispy, in my opinion, it tastes inferior to the Czech Bohemian boar’s knee;
- Corn porridge with bryndza, aka mamaliga, turned out to be a very good side dish;
- vegetable caviar – there are many kinds of caviar in Romania: baked, smoked, fried, from raw vegetables. It’s a great thing.
There is not bad local beer, and there are plenty of draught varieties of well-known brands. Portions are generous almost everywhere. On average, dinner in a good place cost no more than 200-250 RON. For a burger and a couple of alcoholic cocktails I paid 100 RON. A slice of pizza cost 7 RON.
What I liked
Bucharest left the impression of not a bad city. The spirit of unhurried, serene Europe is fully present there. After just a couple of days, I completely shed all the accumulated tension, didn’t rush anywhere and enjoyed life.
The townspeople are friendly, there were no conflicts, the center of Bucharest feels completely safe. I am sure that lovers of simple, unhurried cities will like the capital of Romania.
What I didn’t like
In winter the city is grayish, communist panel buildings spoil the overall picture even more. I think the situation is better in summer. The center of Bucharest is clean, but in some places you can see the faults of the municipal services. For example, after a snowfall, the paths remained uncleared for a couple of days.
There was a lot of ice on the sidewalks, although they tried to remove it. I occasionally saw garbage on the streets: wrappers, fast food wrappers. Old posters are not removed, but simply pasted on top of new ones.
The underpasses were also disconcerting. There are cameras and gendarme patrols everywhere, but these places looked a bit grim. Plus, they were covered in graffiti.
What’s the bottom line
For everyone who has not yet been to Romania, I am truly jealous: I would love to relive the emotions of my first trip there myself. It is still inexpensive there, but it is heartwarming.
The only thing is, I wouldn’t recommend staying longer than two or three days in Bucharest. It is not the best part of the country. Local guides say that if a tourist has only been to the capital, he is lost to Romania.
In my opinion, the most beautiful part of the country is Transylvania. There are picturesque forests, rivers and the Carpathian Mountains, the views of which take your breath away. The cities are radically different from the capital. They are better maintained, with perfect roads, and there are noticeably more expensive houses and cars. Locals say this is the influence of fiscal federalism.
I visited Sinaia and Brasov. In the first town there is Peles Castle, the former residence of kings. There is also a popular ski resort there. Very beautiful places. Brasov is consistently in the top 10 cities in Europe in terms of living standards. They say that the local budget is bigger than the budget of the whole Moldova. Not far away is Bran Castle, famous for the legend of Count Dracula.
I definitely recommend a trip to these lands. Just there is Romania, which will leave you with the most vivid impressions.
Expenses
What I certainly did not expect from Bucharest as a city in an EU country was such democratic prices. For five days I took with me 1500 € for all expenses with a small reserve. I spent half of it on gifts for my loved ones.
