We recently moved from China to RO. Currently situated in Bucharest, but we want to live in a rural area of Romania. Not completely off-the-grid though.

I am checking [storia.ro](https://storia.ro) and [imobilare.ro](https://immobilare.ro) and some lesser known sites. There are some leads, mostly near larger towns, which is usually flat(ish) land. We want rather hillside locations. Are there any websites that might have such listings? Or do have to pick the village and rather ask around if people are interested in renting their places?

Any leads are appreciated.

11 comments

  1. First of all welcome here. I hope you like our country. If you want to move to a smaller town in the country sides i suggest you go for the ones <1k population, as anything bellow that tends to be pretty shitty(like my village). Also it shouldn’t be further than 20-40km from the closest city. Romanian traffic and roads are a mess, trust me.

  2. So you want to **rent** something in a village, not buy ? For locations in tourist areas or around major cities you can in fact find places on [imobiliare.ro](https://imobiliare.ro) etc., including in hilly areas (look at a map of Romania before searching).

    For dying villages outside tourist areas or far from major cities you can usually find (via Facebook groups for instance) city-dwellers willing to rent (or even let you stay for free at) their old family homes, as long as you can put up with local conditions: no utilities apart from electricity, poorly built and currently rundown homes, terrible neighbors etc.

  3. Usually these places are found through facebook groups; for example, for the Dolj county, this is like the biggest group https://www.facebook.com/groups/bazar.craiova/?ref=share . You can find anything here, including “old” houses in the villages. People selling their countryside properties are usually those whose parents died, while they live in the city. Beware that in small villages (<2k), very few to no people speak english. Also, I know pork is big in China, but be careful if you buy it around christmas, it is very expensive; in the villages you can buy them alive in the and grow them yourselves, it s way cheaper and healthier.

    Good luck, be prepared to drink a lot of homemade alcohool and, if the village you decide to move to has festivals/fairs, don’t be shy to go and share the famous Chinese Hot Pot recipe with everyone. Kiss♥️!

    edit: that group is just an example, as that is my home region; you could search by county or county capitals on facebook for groups and you should find them. For hilly stuff look for Pitesti/Arges, Târgoviște/Dambovita, Ploiesti/Prahova, if you want relative close access to the big airport of Bucharest

  4. I can name you several hilly villages, in no particular order of importance:

    1. Săliște
    2. Orlat
    3. Gura Râului
    4. Poplaca
    5. Rășinari ([picture](https://ibb.co/sQgV7sv))

    Last but not least:

    Cisnadioara (it has lots of new houses and villas as it is only 15 km from Sibiu and 1 km from Cisnadie, a smaller city, and is the definition of hilly ([picture](https://ibb.co/NTzdp1R)), the fortified church sits atop of a mound like hill overlooking the village, also hiking trails start literally from the streets of Cisnadioara). It’s a wonderful place all year round. And no blocks of apartments, just regular houses.

    These are all at the edge of Sibiu and relatively close to a highway. You can check them out on the websites you listed and see what you find and what fits you.

    Generally, look for anything in Transylvania if you want hilly. And especially Bukovina area.

  5. Try your luck on Facebook groups. Sites as storia or imobiliare are usually posting only the more expensive listings.

    Or, as you mentioned. Pick a village and go door to door, at the local grocery store or mayors office. There will definitely be something for sale and at a fraction of the price.

  6. i recommend living somewhere close to cities like cluj, brasov or sibiu because the real countryside is pretty much depopulated and you’ll have a hard time finding interesting people to connect with

  7. Good! In ro we do not have social credit score. A great choice for a great future. i hope we will find the perfect house for yourself and your familiy, But, be careful we do not eat dogs and dragons. Romania could be a nice country to live. Here, depends very much about your personality. Are you rude or a happy person with a smile always on your face. pls answear

  8. Very important to move close to a big city. The Romanian countryside doesn’t speak English and they tend to be weary of foreigners. No such issues in the cities. However, if you’re good natured and respectful, regardless of your lack of Romanian knowledge, they will eventually accept you and happy to consider you an ‘exotic’ neighbour which they will get used to. It will indeed be hard to connect to your fellow neighbours and villagers, but not impossible. Also, the youth generally tends to escape to the cities after high school, especially the more ambitious ones.

  10. You can get some very hilly terrain in Moldova. But you have close to 0 chance to find someone who speaks english. Just choose a village close to a city.

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