One week in Bucharest. What to do?

Some think a week is too much for somebody to take in Bucharest. But if you come here as a tourist and you are, of course, eager to experience something interesting then you ought to take your time and stop listening to rumors.

The most important of all before starting your journey in the Romanian Capital is to delete all sorts of expectations you might have. Don’t think of anything, just let the town take you by surprise or disappoint you in its own rhythm.

Coming to Bucharest could be matter of hazard, staying in Bucharest is only a matter of choice. And this choice is strictly with the type of tourist that you are. Supposedly, you are not exactly a history-maniac or a researcher that comes to taste, touch and breathe the Balkans culture, traditions, habits and history. No, you may only want to have a glimpse on what Romanians are all about, how they live, what represents them truly and what they are proud of.

That is how you will find out that everybody hates the Palace of the Parliament (House of the People, which we consider to be an epitome of bad-taste, psychotic and abusive megalomania. In one week’s time you will definitely find a few hours from Wednesday to Sunday to visit the National Museum of Contemporary Art which is located in one of the House’s sectors and thus have a close look on the inside of the building.

And since you are there you might want to take walk around the huge Piata Constitutiei and along the boulevard the goes straight from the house to Piata Unirii. The landscape suddenly changes and you could be interested in taking some pictures of the colorful and crowded scenery.

You will have a completely different view upon the architecture when going along Calea Victoriei or around the Historical Center. And also and astonishing vaguely claustrophobian feeling if you visit the blocks districts where we live.

At least one day is fully dedicated to parks. Starting form the north part of the town, Herastrau Park and its surroundings will take sometime to visit. There is another interesting episode of history that you may like to immortalize with your camera.

You’ll see the huge communist building the former Casa Scanteii (The House of the Free Press) and as you are heading for Piata Victoriei you will encounter baffling sights of French classic architecture – including a small scale Arch of Triumph, contrasting with modern business buildings or exquisite hotels and communist compact and austere constructions, parks, wide paved streets, cars parked on the sidewalk and endless traffic jams.

Cismigiu and Carol Park are also highly attractive and so is Tineretului Park in the South of Bucharest.

Enough about walking, let’s go visit some museums. We’ve already mentioned the National Museum of Contemporary Art, one of the most famous in Europe. It is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 10.00 to 18.00, 4 lei admission fee. Before going there it is advisable that you visit the website in order to see the exhibitions that are due during your stay in Bucharest.

Cotroceni Museum along with the whole resindetial area and the Botanical Garden is a superbe place. You can only visit the museum by making a reservation and by presenting you identification papers, every day in-between 10.00 – 17.00.

The Botanical Garden is a wonderful place to visit during spring when flowers are in blossom or during autumn when it’s all explosively colored.

The National Museum of Art, former Royal Palace lies in Piata Revolutiei. It takes more than a day to visit but it is really wonderful. The area surrounding the Museum is worth visiting by foot and so is the Historical Center where you can visit the ruins of the Old Medieval Palace or the small but wonderful Stavropoleos Church.

It is just the place where you can find small souvenir and antiquities shops especially inside Linden Inn Galleries. Since you’re here, don’t forget to drop by at Manuc Inn for a beer and some Romanian traditional dishes. Here again, take as many pictures as you can, but keep an eye on your belongings especially if you cross the area by night.   

Have a coffee in Villacrosse Passage at Valley of the Kings pub. They say it is purely traditional coffee, brought all the way from Egypt and it tastes wonderful.

By no means should you miss the Romanian Peasant's Museum and the Village Museum. They are both fabulous samples of Romanian popular tradition and customs. You will see all kind of objects, tools, houses, tapistry, icons and many other wonderful things that prove the marvellous craft of Romanian country people. The museums are opened from 9-17.

As far as eating is concerned, you can check the article that is fully dedicated to restaurants and pubs and find out what is best to eat or drink and where.

One day goes for shopping and check one night for clubbing. We think you’ll love it.

Bucharest has a beautiful or would-be beautiful river that crosses it, Dambovita. It is true that nothing is being done to make it a huge attraction point, but what is nice about it is that the sidewalks on its very right and left are great for jogging and even biking.

If you don’t know how exactly to move inside the town, it is better if you buy a map that also contains the public transport routes. You could rent a car, but it is not very advisable, especially if it is your first time in Bucharest, since the driving routes, rules and regulations are even for Romanians unapproachable. Really, it is very difficult for a newby to cope with Romanian traffic.

Taxi cabs are not a very good idea either. Unfortunately, as you may have already heard, being a foreigner in a Romanian taxi is something like Nemo in the Shark's teeth. Not all of the time, but anyway, it depends too much on good luck.

Use public transport, ask young people for guiding, because they all speak English and again, mind your belongings, especially in horribly crowded buses or subway trains. A bus/tram ticket is 1.1 lei (app. 40 eurocent) – one way and a subway double ticket is 2 lei (70 eurocent)