Travel

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River. According to January 1, 2009 official estimates, Bucharest proper has a population of 1,944,367.

Bucharest has a number of landmark buildings and monuments. Perhaps the most prominent of these is the Palace of the Parliament, built in the 1980s during the reign of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu. Currently the largest building in Europe and the second-largest in the world, the Palace houses the Romanian Parliament (the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate), as well as the National Museum of Contemporary Art.

Another well-known landmark in Bucharest is Arcul de Triumf (The Triumphal Arch), it was built in its current form in 1935 and modelled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

The Romanian Athenaeum building is considered to be a symbol of Romanian culture and since 2007 is on the list of the Label of European Heritage sights.

Other cultural venues include the National Museum of Art, Museum of Natural History "Grigore Antipa", Museum of the Romanian Peasant (Muzeul Ţăranului Român), National History Museum, and the Military Museum.

Public Transport in Bucharest

Buses / trams / trolleys

The company operating surface public transportation in Bucharest is called RATB. To use the buses / trams / trolleys you need to buy a ticket or a pass. Tickets are only valid for 1 single trip (no connections) or 2 trips. The price of one ticket for one trip is 1.3 Lei. You can buy the tickets in the bus stations from little round stores called 'Casa de bilete RATB'.

IMPORTANT: you cannot buy tickets in the bus. You have to buy them before and validate them immediately after entering the bus.

Passes are for one day cost 8 Lei and passes for 7 days cost 17 Lei.

The fee for getting caught without a valid ticket or pass is 50 Lei. If you do get caught first try to play the 'stupid foreign tourist' who doesn't understand what's going on, but if they don't buy that you will have to pay the fee so it's always recommended to have a ticket. If you refuse to pay the fee, they will escort you to the nearest police station.

You can find the map of all surface public transportation in Bucharest here

Subway

The subway is a very efficient way to move around Bucharest especially at peek times (7-10 AM, 5-8 PM) when surface transportation can be very very slow, due to intense traffic. To use the subway you need to buy cards of 2 trips (2.5 Lei), 10 trips (8 Lei) or passes for 1 day (4 Lei). You can buy the cards from the entrance of any metro station and you need to validate it in order to pass the gates inside the station.

There are 4 subway lines and several stations where you can transfer between the lines. Here is the map of the subway lines in Bucharest.

IMPORTANT: remember that all transportation operates between around 5AM and 11PM. There are no night-buses and your only alternative is to use taxis if you miss the last bus/metro.

Romania

WELCOME TO OUR AWESOME COUNTRY!

This diverse country welcomes tourists who can enjoy a wonderfully varied heritage of traditional culture, scenic splendors and opportunities for leisure. A resurgence of endeavor and enthusiasm is invigorating the tourist facilities of the country to create a unique holiday destination.

Marvelous weather from spring to autumn and miles of golden sand make Romania's Black Sea resorts the ideal destination for beach holidays.

One can find everything here: modern hotels and facilities, a busy night-life, a wide range of sports facilities and numerous inland attractions from castles to vineyards. Now, while the country is heading towards a promising future, the Black Sea is coming back onto the European touristic agenda.

Altogether, the Romanian Black Sea coast stretches out for 245 km (153 miles) from the fascinating unspoiled nature reserves of the Danube Delta to the leisure activities of numerous holiday centers.

The Black Sea tides are practically not-existent, so swimming is safer than in most parts of the world.

Bucovina - the north-eastern province of Romania - is renowned for the beautiful exterior frescoes on the walls of its monasteries. These triumphs of Byzantine-influenced art reflect a development of Moldavian civilisation in the 15th and 16th centuries, under the patronage of Stephen the Great (1457-1504).

Moldavia has an extensive countryside of forests and hills, with a lot of lesser known delights to discover, especially in the region of Targu Neamt. You might even catch a glimpse of a buffalo, a species which is being reintroduced into natural reserves. There are hiking routes and camping facilities, as well as good hotels in the main towns. There are numerous vineyards that can be visited, where you can also take a sip of the world famous Moldavian wine.

Access to Romania's mountains is guaranteed both by custom and by law. So you can walk or climb just about anywhere you like, both in winter and summer. The Carpathians provide a relaxing experience you will never forget.

The fierce individuality of the Maramures mountain valleys in the north-west of Transylvania is legendary. Their inhabitants are of Dacian descent and their independence as a State reached its peak under Decebalus in the first century AD, before the Roman conquest. Wave after wave of invasions followed. Here lies the “Merry cemetery” in Sapanta, where carved tombstones and humorous epitaphs are a remembrance of the dead.

Transylvania is by far the most romantic and inspiring of Romania's provinces. Its very name brings to mind visions of mountain peaks rising up to the sky above wooded valleys and sparkling streams, visions of high-roofed wooden churches, legendary castles and a troubled history.

But there is much more to it: ski resorts and health spas, hiking trails and the Retezat National Park, fascinating medieval towns, art museums and good hotels.

In Transylvania new vistas and leisure activities appear wherever you go.

• The Bran Castle and the Royal Resort of Sinaia
• Sibiu
• Medieval Sighisoara
• Festivals and Folklore

This amazing wetland shelters over 300 species of birds, countless species of fish from royal sturgeon to carp and perch, while its 1,150 kinds of plants range from sinuous lianas in oak forests to water lilies.

It is no wonder that UNESCO designated the Delta a "Reservation of the Biosphere".

For many people a holiday in a spa is an agreeable relaxing luxury. To others, mineral water and mud baths are the compounds of a thorough treatment for aches and pains.

To both kinds of visitors Romania can be quite a miracle. Prices are very reasonable and no less than 3,000 mineral and thermal water springs are located here.

The country has 70 health resorts, some founded by the ancient Romans. Today patients come from all over Europe to receive therapeutic care from specialists in well-equipped clinics of the leading spas, while enjoying their magnificent holiday locations.

• http://www.turism.ro/english/index.php
• http://pixdaus.com/?sort=tag&tag=romania
• http://curiousexpeditions.org/?p=181

Sinaia

Sinaia, also known as “The Pearl of the Carpathians”, is a vacation & tourism resort, being spectacular through its nature & historical sites. The town has witnessed major developments toward the end of the 19th century, as the place had been chosen as a summer residence for the court of King Charles I. The Royal Peles Castle here was built in 1873 and can be considered the most important historic building of Romania. The Peles was the first electrified castle of Europe; it consists of approximately 160 rooms. The most important visit that was made here was that of Franz Joseph, the emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1896.

George Enescu, the famous composer that made contemporary Romanian music world famous with his two “Romanian Rhapsodies”, has a special connection to Sinaia. His talent appealed to Queen Elisabeth, a major art lover, and she put a room in the castle at his disposal, for his undisturbed creation. Thus, long tours followed abroad, and Enescu, with the money earned on his first tour to America, built a villa here – between 1923 and 1926, which in 1955 became the Enescu memorial house.

Transport by train

Bucharest is the hub of Romania's national railway network. The main railway station is Gara de Nord, or North Station, which provides connections to all major cities in Romania as well as international destinations such as Belgrade, Budapest, Sofia, Vienna, Prague, Moscow, Istanbul, Chişinău, and many other European cities. The city also has five other railway stations run by CFR, most important are Basarab (in proximity of North Station), Obor, Baneasa, Progresu, which are in the process of being integrated in a commuter railway serving Bucharest and the surrounding Ilfov county. From the Bucharest 7 main lines depart.

Romanian trains have the following comfort/speed classes:

• P - Personal
• A - Accelerated
• R - Rapid
• IC - Intercity

We recommend using either R or IC trains.

More information can be obtained from the National train service website.

Transport by car

Create a route to Sinaia, Romania on viamichelin.com or browse the map of Sinaia over at Open Street Map.

The distance between Bucharest and Sinaia is 122 km.

Transport by air

Bucharest is served by two airports: Henri Coandă International Airport (formerly Otopeni) and Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (formerly Băneasa). Henri Coandă is the largest airport in Romania with 5 million passengers in 2007 and the main hub for the national operator TAROM. It is also connected to several international airports by a wide range of international airlines. The smaller Aurel Vlaicu International Airport is used for charter flights and low-cost carriers.

You should know that Bucharest's airports are outside of the city and you will need special transportation to the city.

List of companies that fly to the Henri Coanda (former Otopeni) International Airport