No photo!

It is strange, we know, but there are many places in which you are not allowed to take pictures. Why? We do not think anybody has the right answer. Probably, it is a reminiscence of the past, of "the golden era" (communist regime, we mean) when lots of things were forbidden. For instance, even nowadays, you are not allowed to take pictures in the subway, in the train station, inside and outside (???) the airport. 

In museums usually you have to pay a separate fee for taking pictures or filming. An entrance ticket to a museum is very cheap: 1-3 euro. The fee for images is usually ten times more. 

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Late night party

Going to some other cities of Europe, I was surprised to find out that there is nothing to do after 8-9-10 p.m. In Bucharest you will not get this kind of problem. Most bars and clubs are open till late. And they are full 7 days a week.  Clubs are opened until 5 in the morning. That's good if you don't want to pay for a taxi. Remember: if you go by bus this early be sure you have a valid ticket. I know that after a night out you could be so brave that you would want to travel without paying the ticket. But this is the favorite time of the day for the inspectors that check tickets.

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Cash or card?

There is a bank (even 2-3-5) almost on every street. And all have ATM machines. So you do not need to carry around too much cash. You can  pay with the card in big shops and supermarkets. But be sure you always have cash. There are only a few restaurants and bars where you can pay with the plastic rectangle. 

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Exchange rate

1 EURO ~ 4,3 LEI  or RON (= Romanian New Lei) 

 1 U.S. DOLLAR ~ 3,5 LEI  

1 POUND ~ 4,8 LEI

You can see here what the coins and bills look like

This is the official National Bank's exchange rate (the  rate in banks and exchange houses is around this ammount) :  

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Toilets

There are almost no public toilets in Bucharest. And if you are not a costumer, people from public places are not really happy if you ask them to use their toilet. (For instance, at Mc Donald's you can enter "the room" only with a code written on your receipt.)
So, when you go into a bar or restaurant and other places that have this kind of facility, don't leave the place without going to the toilet.

If you are near University Square (Piaţa Universităţii), remember there is a public toilet in the recently renovated underground passage.  It's free and clean enough, for the moment.

Recently, they opened toilets in some metro stations. Piaţa Victoriei is one of them.

In case of emergency, you can use what they call "ecological toilets". There are a few of these in the city and lots of them in parks. So if you are near a park and duty calls, you know what to do... The problem is that the number of parks is also very limited.

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Money exchange

There are a lot of exchage offices in the city center. And not only in the center. These are the best places for exchanging money. There are also the banks but usually the rates there are worse. Also the banks close at 5-6 p.m. Most exchange offices are open until 8 p.m.  And there are a few who are open really late, but these ones are good only in case of emergency: lower rate and commission. 

Most of these tiny tiny places where you can change money do not charge commision. When you want to go in one, the first thing you should do is look carefully, not at the exchange rate which would be more or less like the one at the next door exchange office, but if they charge commission or not. Sometimes, if they do not have commission, they write it in big letters on the outside panel where they display the rates. But since most of these offices do not charge commision they do not write it anymore. So, the thing you should do is look down on the display panel and see if there is something written in tiny tiny letters. If there is nothing written most likely they don't. 

Step number two is very important. Inside look  for the paper on which rates and other announcements are typed. Look again for tiny letters. Look for the commision information and see if there are other rates than outside. Usually the bad stuff is annouced in  tiny letters. And it is legal. They are obliged to show the information but nobody specificies in what way. So, if you do not see it it's your fault, they say. So look for tiny letters and be carreful...

There is a trick that outside on the big panel they display the best rate, but this rate is valid only for traveler checks or something else. Once you get inside you realize, if you pay atention, that for cash there is another rate. A lot of people were fooled by this trick. It doesn't happen very often anymore... But if you see the "best rate ever", be sure that there is something "fishy" about it. To be sure ask the clerk about the rate and the commision and don't forget ask for the receipt. 

Change money in the airport only if it is an absolute must. The rates are very  poor. If you have to do it, change only a small ammount. And don't forget, there are ATM's everywhere.

You can also change money at almost every bank. But, usually the rate is worse than in exchange houses.

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Around The House of People

Yes, we know that anyone who comes to Bucharest wants to see Ceauşescu's Palace or The House of People. But when you come to what is now called The Palace of the Parliment, don’t forget there are other things you can see near it. 

If you walk along the left side of the building (as you look from the Constitution Sqare) and you get at the third gate you can go in the yard of the Palace to see the National Museum of Contemporary Arts. It’s about 10 minutes walk to the gate and from there another 5-10 minutes to the entrance in the museum. Well, you can take a taxi to the entrace in the yard or the bus 136 (I would not rely on this one), but from the gate you can only walk.  Say "hello" to the policemen at the gate and go straight, pet the dogs, look at the building and when you see some glass elevators you are there. Buy your ticket, take off your coat and put it in the x-ray machine along with your handbag. And if the policemen at the entrance don’t object, you are ready to see some art! If you are not much of an art fun, remember that on the 4th floor there is a bar and a nice terrace. 

On the right side of The Palace (as you look from the Constitution Sqare) there is the entrance in the Palace museum and also another museum with traditional costumes (Muzeul costumului popular). 

But when you come to the “beautiful” Palace you can also see two important examples of what happened in the 80’s when The House of People was built. Maybe you heard about churches who were hiden or moved behind the blocks. 

When you walk on the left side from Unirii Square to Constitution Square there are more passages that go behind the bloks. If you go through the last one you will discover Antim Monastery. (Antim on the map)

You can also go behind the bloks, on the other side, near the river. Here you can find what was left from another old monastery, Mihai Voda, one of the oldest constructions in Bucharest. In 1985, the church was put on tracks and moved about 300 metres away in order to make space for the

 Palace. The church was hidden behind the blocks, but the rest of the complex was demolished. (Mihai Vodă on the map)

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Trains to Bucharest

There are direct connections from Vienna, Sofia, Zagreb, Prague, Budapest, Venice, Krakow, Kishinew, Belgrad, Moscow, Kiew, Lubljana, Bratislava, Istanbul, Athenes. All of them arrive in Gara de Nord, the main station in the city.

 A list of the trains arriving  in  Bucharest 

A list of the trains departing from Bucharest

Here you can check out the  timetable of internal routes (!!! In the search box, on the left type first “Bucuresti” and, on the second page, the site will ask you to choose from the list of railway stations in the city. Choose “Bucuresti Nord”. Almost all trains depart or arrive there.)

And the timetable of all european routes

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Low cost flights to Bucharest

To Băneasa Airport:

Blue Air


From: Bruxelles (Zaventem), Bologna, Malaga, Verona, Lisbon, Rome , London (Stansed), Stuttgart, Treviso-Venice, Larnaca, Barcelona, Berlin, Lyon, Milano (Bergamo), Madrid (Barajas), Paris (Beauvais), Torino Coneo, Valencia (Manises), Cologne


Wizzair


From: Rome, London (Luton), Dortmund, Barcelona, Treviso-Venice, Valencia (Manises), Milan (Bergamo), Bruxelles (Charleroi)


Sky Europe


From: Vienna


Myair


From: Bari, Bologna, Catania, Milano Orio al seria, Naples, Paris, Rome (Fiumicino), Rimini, Venice


Germanwings


From: Cologne-Bonn, Stuttgart

On Air

From: Pescara


To Otopeni Airport:


Easy Jet

From: Madrid, Milan

Aer Lingus

From: Dublin

Wind Jet

From: Forli

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Flights to Bucharest

Most major european airlines  fly to Bucharest. So you you will not have a problem in finding a plane ticket with the regular airlines. 

The romanian national airline, TAROM, operates from: Sofia, Istanbul, Athenes, Tesaloniki, Damasc, Dubai, Amman, Aleppo, Tel Aviv, Moscow, Kishinew, Budapesta, Viena, Roma, Bologna, Torino, Milano, Londra, Frankfurt, Munich, Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Paris, Bruxelles, Zurich, Geneva, Budapest, Cairo and Warsaw.

But there are also a lot of low cost airline companies you might consider if you want to come to Romania. If you plan your trip in advance you could get a 60 -100 euro return ticket with this companies. But very close to the departure date a "low cost flight" could cost more than a "non low cost flight". 

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