Bucharest can best be summed up by the words of a traveller who had spent two weeks being dazzled by the architectural delights of St. Petersburg, Prague, Krakow, Vilnius and Budapest, and had finally ended up in Romania. Sitting in an outdoor bar and gazing around him at the crumbling buildings, dirty streets and children making half-hearted, good-humoured pleas to passing strangers for money, he observed, “Now this is what I thought Eastern Europe would be like.”
And he makes a good point – Bucharest utterly defines the stereotype of Eastern Europe. It’s gritty, dirty, edgy and run down, with ghost-buildings of once-stunning and incredibly intricate architecture. It’s not magical, it’s not beautiful and it’s certainly not romantic. But it is unarguably real, which is more than can be said for some of the commercialised cities that are swamped with millions of starry-eyed tourists each year. So if you want to really find out about a city and be fascinated by its culture, come along to Bucharest.
Transport
Getting around Bucharest for foreigners should probably be limited to two options: the metro and walking. And you can’t walk the whole thing (we mean it. Over 2 hours walk from one end of the city to the other, and we walk fast), so you do have to get the metro at some point. Fortunately, it’s easy to figure out and inexpensive, and even uses little tokens rather than tickets, so it shouldn’t present you with any problems.
Getting from Bucharest to other parts of Romania can be done by train, but they are dirty and unpleasant, and there’re usually a few opportunistic gypsy kids hanging around waiting to catch you off guard. Sometimes it’s better to get the bus, but remember that the roads aren’t great and Romanians treat driving like an extreme sport. The other option is to hire a car and take to the roads yourself. There are several good, well-respected car hire options:
- Avis - Str. Mihail Moxa 9, tel. 210 43 44, 210 43 45, fax 210 69 12, and they also have an office in the Hilton Hotel, which everyone will walk past at some point. It’s closed at weekends, though, so sort it out before then.
- Europcar - Calea Calarasilor 44, tel. 320 85 54, 0744 13 15 90, fax 320 01 97
- AAA Autorent Hertz - Bd. Natiunile Unite 3, bl. 109, Ground Floor, tel. 335 75 33, fax 335 75 32, and there’s also one in both the Hilton and the Marriott. The one in the Hilton is closed at weekends.
Just a word about train stations – buying tickets in Gara du Nord is no mean feat. Be prepared to wait and take cash with you – occasionally they just (for no reason whatsoever) stop taking credit cards for, say, the afternoon. Most random. You can buy drinks and snacks at the station if you have a long journey coming up from kiosks and the small supermarket in there. There’s also a couple of fast food places (including MacDonald’s) if you don’t mind that kind of thing. You should also be aware that the taxi drivers outside the front of the station are menaces to society. They kick up their metres to 8 lei per km. Ridiculous. Instead, head out the front and around to the left hand side of the building, where you will find equally valid taxis who charge normal rates. It shouldn’t be any more than 1.9l/km.
Taxis – as mentioned above – are often evil. Book them from hotels when you can, or try calling the ones below rather than flagging them down. Basically, they try and rip you off for everything you have, and they have been known to get violent – to women as well as men – if you get arsey about paying their extortionate rates. Such a shame, because genuinely decent taxis are not expensive and often quite friendly. So try the following taxi firms:
- Cobalcescu 9451
- Confort 9455
- Cristaxi 9461
- Domino 9414
- Fly Taxi 9441
- Leone 9425
- Meridian 9444
AVOID the ones with the number 9403 on them, or the ones that have Persoana Fizica Autorizata plastered across the side. Evil.
From the airport – you can take taxis, but avoid the ones that wait in the arrivals hall of Otopeni airport (no matter how much they get in your face) and the ones waiting outside Baneasa airport. Call one instead, or take one of the Fly taxi rank outside Otopeni.
From Otopeni, a taxi should cost around 70 lei. But number 783 also departs from underneath the arrivals hall every 30 minutes and stops at Piata Victoriei, Piata Romana and Piata Universitatii. This will cost you 6 lei, and you must buy these from the ticket booth rather than on the bus.
From Baneasa, buses 131 335 go all the way to Piata Romana and cost 1.10 lei. The budget airlines tend to fly into here. If you take a taxi, call a trusted one, and it should be about 25 lei.
Sightseeing
There’s actually a fair amount to see – it’s just that it’s so spread out you wouldn’t know it. So here are a few of the things you shouldn’t miss.
Palatul Parlamentului – aka The Palace Parliament, The House of the People
This one is not a favourite with the local people, but it’s for that very reason that this vast monstrosity of a building must be mentioned. This is the building commissioned by Romania’s own ex-dictator, Nicholae Ceausescu, who decided (among other somewhat questionable decisions) that the best way to demonstrate the immense wealth, power and status of his country would be to build a huuuuuge penis extension – sorry, parliamentary building with a loooong Champs Elysees affair leading up to it. He even blew out several districts and 30,000 homes to do it. Only problem was that he bled his country dry with that and several other projects. The building is still used by Romania’s parliament, but frankly it’s so massive that loads of it is still unused. The interior is something special, all marble pillars and chandeliers, but ultimately it still has a ghostly feel to it. You have to go around in a tour, where they say things like, “These drapes are made from real Romanian silk, from real Romanian silkworms”, and this costs about 15 lei, but it’s worth it. Oh, and when they ask, “Does anyone know anything about this building?” at the beginning, it’s best not to answer, “I know over 60,000 people were made homeless to build it.” It doesn’t go down well.
Muzeul Taranului Roman – aka Peasant Museum - Sos. Kiseleff 3, tel. 317 96 60, fax 317 96 60
Up in the north part of Bucharest, this is definitely at least one of the best museums in Bucharest. It depicts the country life of Romania over the last four centuries. Very well laid out, full admission is 6 lei and it’s closed on Mondays.
Muzeul National al Salutui Dimitrie Gusti – aka Village Museum - Sos. Kiseleff 28-30, tel. 317 91 10
Another excellent museum, except this one’s open air. Spread over 15 hectares, it comprises well over 60 buildings – be it houses, churches or windmills – from all over Romania. Admission 6 lei.
Piata Revolutionii and Piata Universitatii
It’s all about the bullet holes. Both Piatas were the scene for brutal riots and massacres, the former by bullet fire as the crowds jeered the dictator Ceausescu and the latter by miners brought in by Ceausescu’s successor to quell the riots in any way possible. Very grim, and the bullet holes in the buildings have been deliberately preserved. There are also several crosses up in memory of those who died during this time.
Food
You really have to know where you’re going if you want something decent to eat in Bucharest. There are plenty of good restaurants, but it’s not like there’s a street where they’re all clustered. So here are a few good ones. We’ve gone for the Romanian genre because we assume that you’ll probably want to be all cultural and try the local food while you’re here.
Moara Mariei - Str. Blanari 14, tel. 315 64 94, fax 313 18 80.
This is a good option for those up for some affordable yet decent Romanian grub in a reasonable atmosphere with wait staff who might just be a bit nice to you. They often have loud live music inside, which can be irritating if you want to chat. There is outdoor seating, however, and if they indicate that you cannot sit there, it’s worth smiling a lot and staying put just to see if they’ll let you get away with it. It’s nice to eat outside. The food usually comes at a commendable speed and often tastes very nice. There’ve been the odd bad experience, but on the whole very good. Remember that a “tomato salad” is literally just a dish of tomatoes, and the same goes for any other “salad” that they care to label.
Count Dracula Club - Spl. Independentei 8A, tel. 312 13 53, 0788 31 28 78, fax 312 30 56
Hmmm. Needs to be mentioned because it’s so famous, but we have to say, don’t go there if you’re in a big group. The service is slow and the food will take hours to come. For just a few of you, however, it’s quite a funny themed restaurant, complete with Igor coming to meet you at the door and take you to your table. The food is on the good side of average, the prices are reasonable and you are likely to have a good time. Definitely a good idea to book, though.
Rossetya - Str. Dimitrie Bolintineanu 9, tel. 031 805 91 99, 0748 22 02 20
Here’s a decent attempt at not only Romanian food, but Romanian cuisine. It’s a nice place to go for dinner if you wanted to spoil your backpacker self a bit. That said, while it’s not budget food, it’s not bank-breakingly expensive, either. It’s got a very nice atmosphere, it’s in a nice building and it’s very central – what more could you ask?
Drinking and Dancing
Lucky 13 - Str. Selari 9-11, tel. / fax: (021) 314 40 66, (031) 060 37 52
Head into the alley then up the beautifully lit marble staircase on your left to get to the surprisingly lovely Lucky 13. It’s jazz and lounge music, you can hear yourself think and the cocktails are very nice. All in all, a really good chill out place to be, particularly if Revenge downstairs has been thumping through your head.
Revenge - Str. Selari 9-11, tel. 0722 33 12 26
And just a bit further down that same alley down some stairs leading to an underground cavern (just follow the music) you’ll find the fabulous revenge bar. Let’s get the few faults out of the way first: It can get hot, smoky and packed. On the other hand, if there aren’t too many millions of people down there, it’s perfectly cool and not too smoky. The music is mostly excellent (we say mostly because the last time we were there the DJ was obviously feeling a little fragile – it was Tori Amos all the way) as a good varied rocky mix. The drinks are cheap, and their finest offer is a line of 10 tequila slammers for 30 lei. Bargain. Mmmm.
English Bar - Str. Epicopiei 1-3 (Athenee Palace Hilton), tel. 303 3777 ext. 6759
If you’re a little bit Romania’d out and feel the need for decent service and a thoroughly... English bar, this is the place to be. Be prepared for expensive drinks – Clicquot is 550 lei a bottle (and I think we can all agree that Clicquot is, as champagne goes, the best of the worst) – but then what do you expect in the Hilton?
Club A - Str. Blanari 14, tel. 313 55 92, fax 315 47 86
Come early in the evening to make it into Club A – because it’s one of Bucharest’s most popular clubs, it fills up pretty quickly. It’s mostly the music that makes it so good – there’s a decent rock vibe mixed in with lots of old favourites, and it generally foregoes the whole Euro-techno thing. The drinks and cover charge are also low-priced and the atmosphere is good.
Kristal Glam Club - Str. J. S. Bach 2, tel. 231 21 36, 0722 64 73 37
Probably Bucharest’s most well-known club, and for serious clubbers only. They book internationally famous DJs and stay open until around 5am. It’s closed Monday to Wednesday, probably because it takes that long to clean it up ready for everyone to trash it again during the rest of the week. Not cheap, but then you get what you pay for.