Buna ziua from Bucharest, Romania!

Over the past three days, I have been exploring both Transylvania and Bucharest, and I am here now to share all the fun facts and gems I have discovered!

I stayed three nights at the Piata Uniri Cozy Inn for only $9/night, not far from the city center and Old Town, also near metro and bus stations. It was not bad for the price, but could have been a bit cleaner and I did honestly feel a bit uncomfortable at times with the amount of older men that were also staying here, and the other guests in my room were loud late into the night. There were also options for double or private rooms, so if you are another female traveler interested in this area I would recommend those or simply a hotel instead. The transportation system here is very large and intricate, and when I arrived I purchased the 10-trip transport card for $5.50, although I did not use all 10 trips since I ended up walking a lot as well. All purchases were able to be made with a card (Apple Pay) and charged in the Romanian New Leu currency. Staying during mid-July, the temperatures were also extremely hot again, averaging 100 degrees or above every day with very few clouds.

Day 1: After arriving on an overnight bus late afternoon, I checked into the hostel and had a bit of time to check out the Unirea shopping center (food and commercial shops 5-minute walk from the hostel) to eat and walk around the surrounding area. I also visited King Micheal I Park (aka Herăstrău Park), formed around Lake Herăstrău with a handful of stands, statues, a small history museum, theater, and palace (respectively), cultural center, and plenty of benches and bike paths in the shade. There is also a public art memorial for Micheal Jackson, as he is one of the five celebrities having visited the up-and-coming city.

Day 2: Since I do not do much research before visiting each new place, I enjoy taking free walking tours to find recommendations and familiarize myself with the city and a bit of its history. I found one on GetYourGuide that was about 2.5 hours and explored several different areas including Little Paris and Old Town. I enjoyed both areas more than the more commercial area I stayed in, with their eclectic mix of architecture from communist influence. The 600-year-old country has a lot of history and has been heavily impacted by Germany and France. Our guide pointed out many buildings, including the Parliament building (the heaviest building in the world and second biggest to the Pentagon), old churches (some creatively moved using railroad tracks during the demolition for the parliament construction), Valley of the Kings/Macca-Villacrosse passage, CEC palace (old bank), Odeon Theatre, Revolution Square with the Memorial of Rebirth, and the Royal Palace. He did a wonderful job combining stories with the tour and giving a detailed history of each location. I continued to walk for a bit after the tour and lunch and stumbled upon Multicolore, a second-hand shop. I also passed a bookstore and bought a new mystery novel for 2 ROM ($0.44) and returned to King Micheal I Park to read my the lake for the rest of the day before dinner.

Day 3: For my final full day, I booked a 13-hour day trip/tour to the Prahova and Transylvania regions. The guide and transportation activity fee was $30 on GetYourGuide with additional fees (about $10 each) for the two castle entry fees. We passed through a few ski towns and learned that Romania is home to around 8,000 brown bears, and the mountains are no longer a popular place to hike. Our first stop was Peleș Castle, a Neo-Renaissance palace built for King Carol I of Romania. In the Carpathian Mountains, both the journey and the castle were breathtaking. The exterior was under construction but had a beautiful garden overlooking the mountains, and the inside was insanely detailed with a different theme from every room. If we were not limited in time I could have easily spent hours longer observing the interior, with rooms including the Grand Hall, bedrooms, offices, smoking rooms, weapons hall, and mirrored ‘infinity’ ballroom. On the way to Brașov, the town we stopped at for lunch, we passed by the art museum where the popular Netflix show, Wednesday, was shot, and more ski resort areas (Bușteni). The town center had more historical churches and tours, restaurants everywhere, and an amazing view of the mountains with a Hollywood-like sign at the top of the mountain by the ski-lift. Finally, we headed to Dracula’s Castle in Transylvania (trans silva means ‘through-forest’ in Latin, as Romanian has Latin roots with Italian and Slavic words/influence). The myth was greatly exaggerated by Hollywood but was based on Vlad Dracula and his son Vlad the Impaler and the story written by Bram Stoker in 1897. Bran Castle is actually a fortress, and very different from our first stop, and now mainly geared towards tourists. It was much simpler, with less decoration but a very unique shape and style, and again a view of the surrounding mountains. More historical facts and myth information were also posted in each room. The trip back took another three hours, but I really enjoyed the day and would 100% recommend this day trip, or at least a visit to Peleș Castle/a stay in Brașov!

There are a large number of parks and more museums around Bucharest and plenty more places to walk, but due to the weather, it is not the most comfortable. I enjoyed my stay, but am ready for the next country, so see you all again in Bulgaria!

xoxo,

Ang around the World 🙂