hello everyone, a curious foreigner here with a feq questions about Bucharest

12 comments

1. I was once on a train with a bunch of tourists who ran out of water. They wanted to refill their water bottles from the train’s sink in the bathroom. I phisically ran over to the guy going to the bathroom to do it and begged him not to. So yeah don’t drink the water from the train bathrooms and honestly I’d avoid going into the train bathroom entirely if you can avoid it.

2. Only two points: Peles Castle is a lot better, much less tourists, beautiful forest area. And Rahova / Ferentari are and have been safe for a decade now. There’s only a few small ghetto areas (ouside the main streets). Of course you can go through those neighborhoods without problems.

3. Avoid old town area. They will cheat you on your checks.

4. https://www.reddit.com/r/Romania/wiki/travel

5. My advice, blend in with the locals for safety reasons (stealing and scams), meaning dress similarly (shorts or jeans and tshirt for men, same for women or regular dress or tshirt and skirt for women, nothing asymetrical or a particular style, just plain and boring clothes).

   Avoid showing anything expensive, like jewelery, watches, cameras.

   Have your money safe in non obvious places (maybe a fanny bag around your waist under the tshirt).

   Bring your old phones, leave the expensive iphones at home. At hotel rooms, hide your valuables too. The maid probably won’t steal, but don’t make it too tempting.

   If you are seen constantly with your expensive phones in hand on the street, you can and will be targeted because you will give off tourist vibes.

   Also avoid talking too loud in your language, it can be very annoying to other passerbys, we generally like low to medium noise for public conversation.
   Also talking at lowe volume will prevent you being targeted.

   When approached by people on the street just avoid them, no answering, move past them as you have not seen them. They will leave you alone.

   There are many beggers and oportunists that would either swear (or make sexual comments) at you in romanian and laugh because you don’t get it or will pester you for money because you paid attention to them.

   If you need help, ask young people or business employees (like waiters) for help. They will know english and will help you.

   Romanians are good and helpful people they like foreigners, but some of them will try to steal and scam you just because you are tourist.

   If you watch out for this, you will have an amazing time in Bucharest.

   Regarding what to visit in Bucharest: go to Sera Eden for a nice quiet outdoor pub where lots of foreigners/expats go to.

   If you like museums: check out Teodor Aman’s house and collection; also National Art Museum.

   Stay safe and have a wonderful stay!

6. For the food:

   * Grădina Eden that is shown on that map is now permanently closed. You should try Sera Eden or Grădina Dorobanți.
   * I can’t imagine how you can eat food wrong. You should he fine eating normally, but maybe leave a link and I can check those comments you were talking about.
   * This is a nice list of vegan romanian food: https://www.thenomadicvegan.com/vegan-romania-dishes/
   * Other restaurant/bar recommendations, not necessarily must-sees: Shift, Smith, Berăria H, Mercato Kultur, Everafter, Linea, Expirat, Energiea, Gambrinus, Nenea Iancu, Oktoberfest
   * For clubs: Control, Apollo, Expirat (platforma Wolf), the whole old town at night during the weekend
   * You must check Calea Victoriei (the whole street) during the weekends, when they make it car-free
   * tourist traps are usually in the old town. Avoid the places that have girls posted outside asking potential clients if they need a table.

   Other topics:

   * there are no covid restrictions anymore
   * Rahova/Ferentari are ok, but I’ve never been there simply because there’s nothing interesting there

7. Old town is very overrated in terms of restaurants and coffee shops. It had its peak a long time ago.
   Nevertheless you should walk around it, do it during daylight so you see all the nice buildings around there and Calea Victoriei. I am in bucharest for 10 years now and i still can’t believe the contrasts you can spot in these areas.

   Other than that in terms of food: try Modelier, affordable and pretty much a hidden gem. Try Guava, hope you get good weather. These two are really local things as they are hard to get to (not in the town center). Nor Sky Bar, Kaufland Pop Up Restaurant ( in upground business center). If you visit this, the Romanian Aviation Museum is pretty close and you should try it. These are actually locally frequented restaurants.

   Ah yes, visit Museums and art expos.

8. Tourist traps are in the old town in Bucharest but you should not avoid the area, just be careful on prices in the menu and check the bill.

   Getting from the airport in the city is hard. Ubers are expensive and taxis are scams. I would take the train and get the metro or uber from Gara de Nord.

   I recommend not to do drugs, it is illegal here and you can get arrested.

   There can be muggings late at night in the old town, make sure you are not to drunk. Pick pockets exist but they are more rare then in Paris for example.
   Romania is a very safe country compared to others if you use common sense.

   I am unsure why you want to visit Rahova and Ferentari. I have never been there (nothing to see) and i have lived in Bucharest for over 10 years. Just ignore that area.

9. Lots of good answers so I’m only going to comment on this.

   >one of is vegan, however from what i can tell romanian cuisine involves a lot of meats (which I am very much looking forward to), are there any vegan romanian dishes in particular you guys can recommend ?

   Just ask for “de post” food, meaning “for lent” (the religious thing) food. There’s a lot of overlap between that and vegan.

10. There’s literally one street in Ferentari which should be avoided because there’s a bunch of heroin addicts around. Just search for Aleea Livezilor on Google Maps. Otherwise both Rahova and Ferentari are just normal working class neighbourhoods.

    However I cannot think of one good reason why you should have to go in any of those neighbourhoods. There’s nothing to see or do, they’re not close or very well connected to the city center, they’re just one of the many “bedroom” neighborhoods as we call them, basically you go there to sleep and that’s it.

11. I live in Rahova and it is safe. There are only a few areas in Bucharest that are dangerous (e.g Aleea Livezilor) but I don’t think that as a tourist you will get anywhere close to them.

    When it comes to food I have a few recommendations:

    – Zexe Zahana – Romanian food( traditional food very well done and quality ingredients)
    – Soro lume – Reinterpreted Romanian cuisine
    – Noua – they have an indoor menu and a terrace menu. The garden is very cute and service good
    – Anika – more in the fine dine area
    – Suento – super chill and nice garden
    – Arome – vegetarian restaurant. I think they also have vegan dishes
    – Trofic – for brunch and good coffee
    – Grain Trip – sourdough goodies and good coffee. They have weekend specials
    – Luz Cafe – the owner is from Peru. They have a few peruvian dishes
    – Lacrimi si sfinti – Reinterpreted Romanian Cuisine
    – Simbio – cozy garden
    – Hygge Social Kitchen – we usually order from here and we like their burgers. I am not sure about the place itself
    – Mario’s Osteria Van – very good burgers
    – Circus Pub& Circus Doner
    – Robescu 14 and Flair Angel – for cocktails. Usually you are asked what you like and prepare custom drinks for you.

12. Carul cu bere, hanul berarilor are nice. You can add to that hanul lui Manuc, too. During the weekend Calea Victoriei is car free and there is a bunch of stuff to see there, too: the CEC palace, the athenaeum, the national history museum, a few churches and palaces, the ministry of internal affairs (where Ceaușescu held his last speech), cercul militar national and others.

    There are a few cute parks, too, Herăstrău comes to mind where there you can find the Romanian peasant museum which I believe is a must watch. Tineretului and IOR parks are also nice and easily available via subway. Carol park is not that big, but offers a nice view from the top. The botanical gardens are nice, also. There is a natural park inside the city, called the Văcărești Delta, but i be never been inside, there may be dogs or something, i don’t know

    Depending on your period of stay there are a few events, too:
    On the September 3rd there is an airshow(called BIAS) which is free entry, google it. The location is available by bus.

    There will be a red bull show on September 10th in front of the parliament palace, F1 car and stuff, also free entry.

    As others commented, Peleș Castle is way more beautiful than Bran, and Sinaia is a nice mountain town. I think you can visit the casino there which has a cute park in front of it. You can also go up the mountain using the mountain gondola or walk the royal trail. Near Sinaia there is the city of Bușteni where you can find the Cantacuzino palace, it is nice, but the interior was kinda fucked up by the communist regime. It offers a great view, though. Both Sinaia and Bușteni are available by train from Bucharest, but as some others have specified, avoid using the train bathroom/toilet

    Every weekend evening, at around 21:00 (9pm) there s a water fountain show at union’s square, it s not that big of a deal, but if you are around the city’s old town around that time, it’s worth a shot