Slow Travel: Three Weeks in Bucharest

20 Sep Slow Travel: Three Weeks in Bucharest

First Impressions of Bucharest

Bucharest, Romania was our first visit to an Eastern European country. We chose to make it our remote home for 3.5 weeks in August 2016 and rented an apartment in the heart of the city on Calea Victoriei. On our drive from the airport, we were excited to be introduced to our temporary home. We passed the Arcul de Triumf (Arch of Triumph) and the dozens of embassies and museums lining Route 1/E60. The outside of our apartment complex was quite run down, but upon entering, it was nicely renovated and very comfortable.

The next day we walked around sector 1. We were awestruck by the magnificence of certain buildings – government, theaters, museums, hotels – and the contrast to more dilapidated apartments and empty store fronts. That said, there were energy and purpose in the air. Tons of young adults passing by on foot, skateboard and bicycle. Young professionals were chatting outside of office buildings on a smoking break, and a buzzing pop-up gallery occupied a small storefront space.

 

A few more days in, we had a routine – we’d work from our apartment, or a coffee shop, take a long walk, pick up some essentials at the Mega grocery store and cautiously cross the streets, as the ‘new rich’ drove their black BMWs at careless speeds.

Activities

We noticed that Bucharest has several days’ worth of activities for tourists of every age.

The Old Town near the river is lined with restaurants, bars, clubs, tourism agencies, massage parlors and strip joints. To us, it was a bit odd to see a strip lounge right next to a Greek restaurant and tourism agency. This area seemed to cater to a lot of young adults and backpackers.

 

Along Calea Victoriei, you can find numerous museums to visit, architecture to admire, historic churches, high-end shopping, some casual dining, fast food, pubs, luxury hotels, and casinos.

 

As for our time in Bucharest, well, we had a lot of work to do and a penchant for enjoying the outdoor restaurants and cafes. Albeit the smoke was really unmanageable.

 

Dining in Bucharest

While we know restaurants change, and taste is subjective, we’ll still share our list of favorite spots as a resource. Hope you find it helpful:

M60 – a great coffee shop and place to work from that has a delicious yogurt/granola bowl.

Pure & Bio – freaking amazing, homemade gelato. There are a handful of flavors and you must try all of them!

 

ARC bakery – a nice breakfast & lunch spot by Parcul Herastrau.

 

Beca’s Kitchen – loved this little restaurant that is a short ways away from Piata Romana square.

 

Rocca by the Jar – a nice outdoor spot for lunch.

Chez Marie Garden – a nice outdoor spot for dinner.

Primus – a relaxed pub that has cool carved wooden booths. We went here a few times to dine and watch the summer Olympics on TV.

Pukka Tukka – a casual spot for slow home-cooked food. Note it can get a bit warm in August with the sunlight.

 

Caru’ cu Bere – Bucharest’s oldest brewery. We weren’t that enamored with their food, but the restaurant interior is definitely worth a visit for a beer or two or more…

 

Our Highlights

In the summer, the Romanian Athenaeum concert hall, which on its own is already a delight to see due to its stunning architecture and interior decor, is home to a Philharmonic concert series every Wednesday night (~19:30 – 20:00). We were able to buy tickets in advance at the office on the side of the building for $25 USD per person. The greetings and instruction for the performances are in Romanian, so you will not have the background information, but the music is outstanding. It is one of our greatest travel memories.

 

Around town, you’ll notice buses for Therme Spa. Upon looking into, we knew we had to go for a day. The 30,000 square meter spa, which is apparently the largest in Europe, opened in January 2016, and it is incredible! For maximum enjoyment, try to go early on a weekday so it’s not as packed. To get there, you can hop on the Therme bus in various locations on Calea Victoriei, as well as the Piata Romana square (check the website for schedule). Alternatively, take a taxi or an Uber. There are three areas within the spa that you can purchase access to. Since we didn’t know when we’d have this experience again, we bought access to all three areas:

The Palm – is the main area with gardens, lounge chairs, a giant heated pool with swim up bar which also extends outdoors, smaller jacuzzis and a food court.

Elysium – is the more exclusive area upstairs. It has a smaller lounge area which you should use as your base if you have access to this section. The main attraction in this section are the several saunas with various themes, such as a movie sauna and a Himalayan salt sauna. There is also a higher-end restaurant and rooftop terrace.

Galaxy – is the kid’s indoor water park. We wanted to have a little fun, so we popped in for about twenty minutes to do some of the water slides. It can get a little chaotic as of course, the kids are VERY excited to be there.

As former New Yorkers, we love a good park, and Bucharest delivers. We would walk the 30+ minutes up to Parcul Herastrau, often passing through Parcul Kiseleff on the way. Upon arriving, you’ll notice a bike rental station. Riding a bicycle is a great way to see the park, but walking suffices as well. There are a ton or restaurants lining the large lake inside of the park, some are even quite trendy. Since we were dressed a bit sporty, we chose to grab some food and drink at the enormous beer hall, Beraria. Here, we had the most lovely waiter, but we couldn’t help but giggle a bit at his expense… he was so kind to translate the entire menu for us and when he got to the cabbage dishes, his accent was so thick it sounded like he was saying “garbage”. We ordered some “garbage” and tipped him well. 😃

 

Another day we stumbled upon Parcul Cismigiu in the heart of the Bucharest. It was about 16:00 hrs, overcast and the whole park felt eery because there were hundreds of crows cawing. It was a quite bizarre and interesting experience.

We would highly encourage you to rent a bike for a full day. It’s a great way to see the parks, get from one end of town to another and ride over to the Palace of Parliament to gaze at the absolutely enormous and ostentatious structure. As mentioned, you can get bikes at the entrance of Parcul Herastrau and it’s very affordable to rent for the day.

 

Some Observations

During our time in Bucharest, it seemed that almost everyone everywhere was smoking cigarette after cigarette. At the time, it was banned inside of restaurants and bars, but the terraces were packed with smokers with little regard that their smoke penetrated everything. We even saw stylish, pretty girls with iPads and messenger bags going around to tables and discretely selling cigarettes at many of the restaurants. It really affected my allergies so I had eye drops and kleenex on me at all times. On the bright side, it sounds like the government is working to further minimize smoking in public spaces, restaurants, and bars.

It is always heartbreaking to see people beg, especially children. We did our best to give extra change, our leftovers from dining out and even buy someone a little snack at the grocery store. Some beggars utilize certain strategies like walking up to your table to ask for money right as you are served your food. When this happened to me, I engaged in conversation with the young girl who was likely sent by her mother. I asked her about school – yes, she was going. What her favorite subject was. Whether she was doing well and liked it. And if she knew how important education is. She seemed very smart. In the end, I gave her the 1 Leu she requested and encouraged her to continue to work hard on her education. I don’t know enough about Romania and the opportunities there, I just know how that encounter made me feel, and I was very sad.

Coming from the US and Brazil, it was peculiar to see how people across the globe interact differently. In the U.S. we’re used to cordial greetings and overly polite hospitality. In Latin American, the culture is very curious and inherently open to interaction with strangers. However, in Romania, the dynamic seemed to be very different to us. We had the impression that people were much more guarded. On an everyday basis, it seemed harder for us to engage in conversation. Although, there were a few instances in which we really connected with a few individuals. When we mentioned our overall experience to another blogger, they were intrigued, as they felt their experience was the opposite. They concluded that travel is beautiful in that way – that two people can have very different experiences in the exact same place. And I agree.

 

So you’re interested in visiting Bucharest… here are some helpful tips

Their currency is LEU (plural “LEI” – pronunciation: lay) – they aren’t on the Euro yet. The exchange symbol is RON.

Wizz Air and Easy Jet are two budget airline carriers that fly from multiple destinations across Europe into Romania.

At the airport, there are stands where you can pre-pay for your transportation into the city. We chose this option so we could use a credit card (we didn’t have any Lei yet) and secure an air-conditioned car service.

It’s advisable to learn some key Romanian phrases. Most importantly, thank you = mulțumesc. Check out this site for key phrases.

The Romanian Tourism website is top notch. Definitely use it as a resource for practical information as well as some itinerary ideas and detailed planning.

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Check out our Transylvania Road Trip Adventure post!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Have you been to Bucharest? What was your experience?

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*This post includes several resource links for which we have no affiliation.