Visiting Romania: Reviews of Bucharest and other Romanian cities.

This summer, I toured Eastern European countries including Bulgaria and Romania, which I will talk about in this article.

Why visit Romania?

Places visited: Bucharest the museum capital, Brasov north of Bucharest in Transylvania, Sibiu and its church, Cluj Napoca with 15th-century remains. Number of days traveling in Romania: 12 days / 11 nights. I stayed 4 nights in Bucharest, 3 nights in Brasov, 1 night in Sibiu, and 3 nights in Cluj Napoca.

What to visit in Romania: my opinion

Opinion on Bucharest or Bucharest in English or București in Romanian: the Romanian capital

Bucharest is the capital of Romania. It is a modern city with wide streets and long avenues for cars.

I took a Free walking tour in Bucharest lasting 3 hours where we passed by the communist parliament palace and went into the old town; you do the tour with a guide. You can give her money at the end or leave after the free tour.

They explained the meaning of some old buildings and the history of the Romanian capital and communism.

There are also other excursions such as visiting the parliament palace which lasts between one and two hours depending on the areas you want to see, like the president’s hall, etc.

Bucharest also has some interesting tourist sites and points of interest (monasteries) with lots of information and pretty parks to stroll in; Herastrau Park and Cismigiu Garden for example.

Compared to other European capitals, the city of Bucharest in Romania is less beautiful than Budapest or Istanbul but more beautiful than Sofia.

If you have 3 nights, I recommend going to Brasov for one night which is 2-3 hours north of Bucharest; it is a smaller and very interesting city with many museums (I visited the Bucharest Art Museum).

I stayed in Bucharest in a youth hostel in a dormitory room without breakfast, and also rented a boutique hotel room through Airbnb: It is better to choose accommodation near the old town.

If you like to party, it is very lively in the streets of the 18th-century old town. On weekends, you will find several places to go dancing in bars.

I tried a nightclub during the week called the Control club which I recommend, there are several rooms and there is also a terrace to chat with people or smoke. The nightclub’s clientele is partly international but don’t expect there to be many foreigners, you can check their website to see the evening’s program.

Photos of the parliament

Review of Brasov in Romania: near the Carpathian Mountains

Brasov is a small and pretty town like a village with a large square near the mountains in the Carpathians north of Bucharest in Transylvania.

It is possible to go hiking and to go to Sinaia or Busteni in the mountains, there are many hikes lasting several hours or a full day, or even multi-day hikes.

You can also tour the town, see the many churches and try the local specialties, take the cable car or go on foot to see the view of the town which I recommend.

An hour from Brasov, you can visit the Bran Castle (which is Dracula’s castle) and the Rasnov fortress.

Stop	To see	Duration
Bucharest	Palace of the Parliament, Old Quarter	2 days
Brașov	Old Saxon town, Bran Castle	2 days
Sighișoara	UNESCO medieval city	1 day
Sibiu	Old Saxon town, large square	1 day
Bucovina (monasteries)	UNESCO painted exterior frescoes	2 days
Transfăgărășan	Legendary mountain road	1 day
Maramureş	Traditional villages, wooden churches	1-2 days

You can also try several specialties from the region or Romania, stuffed cabbage for example.

If you want to see the wild nature, you can even go see wild bears for about fifty euros. The people in my hostel who went there were satisfied. It’s a unique opportunity to see them, I didn’t do it because I had already seen some in Canada.

I enjoyed Brasov much more than Bucharest because it has pretty architecture and seems more authentic.

Review of Sibiu in Romania: small Romanian town

It is a very small town larger than a village with a very pretty city center, it takes a few hours to visit. If you want to stay there, one night is enough.

The town is surrounded by walls that have been restored, nothing impressive but it gives a taste of a small Romanian town on a human scale.

I stopped in Sibiu because I didn’t want to have too long a bus day to go to Cluj.

Review of Cluj Napoca: the student city in Romania

Cluj Napoca is a student city which means a city for partying with many bars or nightclubs, everything is more or less walkable.

A third or half of the inhabitants are between 18 and 25 years old.

It is a very popular destination for Erasmus students or medical students.

It is a city with a mix of Romanian and Hungarian history. A good part of the population only speaks Hungarian.

The city center is easy to access, you can go to the botanical garden or the market around the old town or go to Cetatuia Park to have a high view of the city.

You can relax in the city’s central park.

You can also visit the salt mine one hour from Cluj in Turda.

Getting around and Public transport to visit Romania

I used Taxi, train (from Bucharest to Brasov) and bus (Brasov to Sibiu and Cluj) in Romania. I also used a car without driving during my excursions.

The roads are faster than in Bulgaria but the traffic does not move very fast, 50 km/hour on average, which is a drawback on the road in Romania because you cannot go faster.

It is very easy to travel from one city to another, however you need to check the schedules.

Safety in Romania

I traveled several times in the evening whether in Cluj, Bucharest, or Brasov.

There is sometimes a lack of lighting but I found Romania really safe.

At night or during the day, it is easy to get around these cities. I did not really notice any safety issues and I always felt comfortable.

Budget to have for visiting Romania

Prices in Romania are cheaper than in the Czech Republic or Hungary. However, it is more expensive than Bulgaria or Ukraine. Generally, prices remain about 30-40% cheaper than in France.

The price of a youth hostel is about 10 euros per night in a dormitory.

I paid less than 10 euros each time to travel from one city to another.

You can eat for 3 – 4 euros in fast food places (self-service like Flunch or Casino).

A beer costs between 1 and 2 euros. A cocktail costs 4 euros depending on where you go, and entry to a nightclub generally costs 4 to 5 euros (20 to 25 Lei).

Living in Romania

I could see myself doing 6 months or 1 year on Erasmus in Cluj Napoca because it is a lively city.

Living in Sibiu would not have suited me because it is a very small town.

If I am offered a position with responsibility in Bucharest, I could consider going there because most people speak English and the Romanian language is very similar to Latin languages, so you can notice similarities in both cultures.

Romania is the only country with Latin origins in Eastern countries.

There is a strong influence of France in Romania and also Latin roots.

I really enjoyed Brasov for tourism but I could not see myself living there.

Accommodation to know for visiting Romania

I only stayed in hostels and several days in an Airbnb apartment in Bucharest.

Accommodations can be expensive if you choose places near the main squares or in the old town. It is possible to find your own apartment for 25-30 euros minimum per night that can accommodate up to 3 people. I paid 30 euros/night for my apartment, for example.

If you want to see the: hotels in Bucharest If you want to see the: hotels in Brasov If you want to see the: hotels in Cluj Napoca

My favorite in Romania

I really liked the city of Brasov, which is a calm city with a large lively square.

Upon the arrival of Erasmus students, Cluj is perhaps the place to go to party in Romania with a young crowd. I went to two parties there.

The inhabitants speak much more English than in neighboring countries.

Photo of Bran Castle or Dracula’s Castle, the weather was bad

What I did not like during my trip to Romania

Although I really liked life in Romania, I did not find places and monuments that magnificent, it’s pretty but nothing more. Brasov is worth it though with its churches and the mountain.

What I did not do and wanted to do during my trip to Romania

I did not go to Constanta, which is a Romanian seaside town to enjoy the beach, the Black Sea, and the sun. You can find a hotel near the beach.

There is also Vama Veche, where I did not go, which is a place much loved by backpackers or travelers.

You can also go visit the Danube Delta, it is a national park located near the border with Ukraine. The Danube passes through a large part of the route in Romania.

The Maramures region with Bucovina in the North of the country, with its many monasteries (Barsana Monastery), churches (Maramures Church) which are part of Romania’s national heritage. Bucovina is an unusual place with many Romanian points of interest but I did not have enough time.

I was more of a tourist and did not visit Romania in depth, as there are many places to visit (monasteries, churches, museums, castles, palaces, monuments of the country’s heritage). No visa or passport is needed to go to Romania because it is in Europe unless you go to Moldova or Ukraine.

Romania places of interest: Conclusion on my holidays in Romania

To compare with other cheap European destinations, cheap destinations in Europe lists the best options. Neighboring Bulgaria remains the other unbeatable Balkan country. And how to get around in Europe helps to decide between car vs train.

Bucharest, Brasov, Sibiu, Cluj Napoca to do but..

Romania gave me a good impression and I really enjoyed my time there but I was not impressed by the places I visited nor by the locals I met.

The advantage of Romania is its “Latin” side, it is the only Eastern country, the Romanian has behavior that is close to Latin people and their language too. I would have liked to go to Moldova, I was told there were nice places and that life was different with a strong Romanian influence.

There are far fewer tourists than in Hungary. The city suits solo travelers, families with children, or even groups of friends with good hotels.

If you spend 3 days in Bucharest, I advise you to go to Brasov for a day.

And you? What did you think of Romania? Do you want to visit Romania?