Highlights

• Book a tour of the Parliament palace in advance. It is huge and very interesting. Almost like a museum
• Walk around the city and notice the many different architectural styles
• Bucharest Old Town
• Macca – Vilacrosse Passage
• Arc de Triomphe, and the street with fountains leading to the Parliament palace
• Biserica Cretulescu Orthodox Church frescoes
• Historic Revolution Plaza
• Stavropoleos monastery church
• Keep an eye out for Roman ruins as you walk around Bucharest
• Bran Castle (aka Dracula’s)
• Braşov, a beautiful and quaint city near Bran

Before you go

• US and UK citizens can stay without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period
• Immigration at the airport was quick and easy
• Carry your passport with you if you want to visit the Parliament palace. It was necessary to leave that while on the tour for security.
• People tend to smoke a lot
• Life can be hard in the countryside and people are not as well off, so think about buying some local jams, cheeses or other goods from the locals
• In the city markets, you can try to bargain but they will know you are a tourist so may not go down in price too much
• Beware of pickpockets like in any big city
• Check out Romanian artists such as Sabin Balasa

Transport

• I travelled on Tarom airlines from Sofia, Bulgaria to Bucharest, Romania. Luckily, they are a SkyPriority partner so I was able to use my Air France membership to enter the lounge. The plane was small with propellers.
• In Bucharest, we travelled by car from the airport to her apartment in the city centre. It took 30 minutes with light traffic. On the way back I took the bus 783 which took an hour from Piata Victoriei.
• To get around the city, we took the clean and convenient metro.
• We travelled by car to Bran Castle (3.5 hours including a stop) and around the countryside

Accommodation

• I stayed with my friend in her childhood apartment so I didn’t try any hotels in the city. However, as usual I would recommend looking at location and accommodation review using a site like Booking.com

Currency

The currency in Romania is the leu (singular) or lei (plural). As of January 2022, one British pound is equivalent to 5.91 lei.

I recommend to check the currency conversion just before you leave as this fluctuates

Food

There are many lovely cafes and bars in the Old Town of Bucharest. We stopped at a bar called Bel Mundo and enjoyed drinks at the outdoor tables. Unfortunately, the bar is no longer there but the whole area around Pasajul Vilacrosse is lively and there are plenty of options. The local beers were refreshing and there were many I had never heard of before. I also enjoyed trying the local Romanian wines.

Nearby, we had dinner at a traditional restaurant called Hanu’lui Manuc. The ambience is friendly and fun, and luckily that night we were entertained by live traditional music. We had beef salad and grilled aubergine spread with fresh bread for starter. Then I had the mici (meatballs) and my friend had sheep sausage with potatoes. Very delicious and filling. And the local rose wine was crisp and fresh.

After visiting Bran Castle, we drove to Club Vila Bran on a hill. It is a resort with a traditional restaurant. The area was very peaceful and beautiful to walk around. We even found some deer! We had an amazing view of the surrounding countryside and the castle. At the restaurant, I had the set lunch menu of potato sour soup, chicken with sauce, cheese, rice and pickles and a poppy seed dessert. Iuliana had a polenta ball baked with cheese and sausage, bacon, and fried donuts with fresh cheese and berry sauce. We shared so I could try everything and I loved all of the dishes! There were some unusual flavours for my palate.