If you visit Bucharest, you’ll quickly find yourself falling in love with the city’s character and style. The people are what really give it such a unique character, though!
I spent about a day and a half in Bucharest after my time at the English Cool Camp in Predeal. Here’s everything I managed to see, and what you should know!
Day 1
After leaving the camp in Predeal, we got some money to help pay for our trip to Bucharest. So after a 2-hour train ride, we made our way to our hotel, the Mercure Bucharest Unirii.
I shared a room with one other trainer (we’ll call her Friend 1) and booked the same hotel as a third person (Billy, whom I also went to Moldova and Dubai with).
We mainly spent the first day getting our bearings. This meant a lot of wandering the streets. But first, we wanted some food.
The Bucharest Megamall
After we got checked into our hotel, we found a good place to eat in the Bucharest Megamall.
Our visit to the Megamall was pretty brief, but fun nonetheless!
We usually took a bus or Uber to get around Bucharest or walked on foot since most places were close enough.
When we took a bus, we had a hard time actually paying for our bus fare, but a lot of people use an app to pay. (Info Transport Bucharest is the name of the app).
At the mall, we spent some time walking around and checking out shops, but our main goal at the mall was finding the sushi buffet that we saw on Google Maps!
It was one of those sushi places with a conveyor to deliver the food, and they also had a counter with a bunch of noodles and other food to enjoy! The prices were great, and the food was delicious!
Museum of Communism
The Museum of Communism specifically focuses on the history of communism within Romania. It paints a very clear picture of what it was like!
We got to see all kinds of clothing, furniture, television sets, and so much more that was used at the time.
Communism in Romania was a bit different from most of Eastern Europe. Romania was never part of the Soviet Union, and thus developed differently!
All in all, it was a great experience! If you’re planning to go there, know that it’s a pretty small museum and will only take up part of your day.
It costs 40 lei to get in, which comes out to about $9 USD. Student discounts can bring that price down to 25 lei. (About $6 USD)
They’re also moving soon, so make sure you have the right location before you head there! Luckily the two spots are pretty close together if you end up at the wrong one.
A Night in Bucharest
For our first night in Bucharest, we met up with a Romanian friend of ours for dinner at a restaurant called Caru’ Cu Bere.
They served a lot of traditional Romanian food like mici and papanasi as well as more common European food. I ordered a bread bowl with some soup, and ended up eating the entire bowl! Everything tasted very fresh!
That said, the place is usually very busy. So if you plan to eat there, come early or plan to do something else while you wait for a seat.
After eating dinner, the two friends I was visiting the city with decided to go to a club. Those aren’t my usual scene, and I wanted some time to rest, so I bowed out and went back to the hotel.
The Club “Incident”
If you’re looking for nightlife, you’ll find it here! Bucharest has a very active nightlife!
I feel like the city seemed more active at night than during the day. Walking to and from the restaurant, we encountered huge crowds headed to clubs, restaurants, shops, and more!
However, my two friends evidently had an interesting night, as Friend 1 never came back to our room. I woke up at 6 AM wondering why she wasn’t back yet and texted her without a response before returning to sleep.
Well, it turns out that the two of them returned to the room to find me sleeping and then left to avoid waking me up. (But not before taking a picture of me sleeping!)
I’m thankful that they left, because I wanted the sleep.
They went to Billy’s hotel room, where Friend 1 ordered a pizza and fell asleep before it arrived. She woke up the next day to a bunch of missed calls from the delivery driver!
That explains why she never came back to the room!
Day 2 in Bucharest
On our 2nd day, we decided to visit another museum after getting some breakfast. We ate at a small café in Bucharest which had good food but small portions. (The Harp Bakery)
Here’s the eggs benedict I ordered!
National Museum of Romanian History
The museum costs about 20 lei for adults, or 5 if you’re a student, elderly, or otherwise have some kind of disability. I used my student ID card to get the discount (even though I graduated a year ago…).
At the time of my visit, the museum’s temporary exhibits explored the development of ejector seats in planes, historical changes in art, and various pottery pieces. These exhibits are all located in the front room of the museum.
What really stood out to me were the permanent exhibits.
They have so many art pieces and artifacts from the Roman Era uncovered across Romania! This includes a replica of the Pillar of Trajan! (The original still stands in Rome.)
Their exhibit makes it easy to see each individual segment of the pillar, and describes what each segment depicts. It paints a very clear picture of the history between the Romans and the Dacians (who inhabited this region in the Roman Era)!
I loved seeing all the Roman art and architecture. Then I discovered a room I had completely passed by, filled with gold and silver artifacts from all over Romania and beyond!
I would highly recommend this museum, even if you’re just here to look around and don’t plan on reading much. There’s so much to see!
The Palace of Parliament
This building, which originally began construction during the Romanian communist era, was completed after the fall of the communist government.
There was some debate at the time about whether the building should even be kept, but in the end they decided to use it for the Parliament!
It’s the heaviest building in the world because of the sheer amount of marble and metal used in its construction. It’s also the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon.
I was not prepared for how absolutely massive this building is. It’s huge. So much so that it was tough to even get it all in a single picture.
Unfortunately, when we tried to go in we found out that we needed a reservation. They’re only booked through certain specific tour groups. If you plan to go inside the building, make sure you book a tour ahead of time.
It’s also important to know that, as it is a government building, they have security much like an airport. You’ll need a passport, and the usual restrictions apply when going through security.
One final thing: make sure you find the right entrance for your tour. The building is, as I said above, massive. If you go to the wrong entrance, you might miss the tour window entirely while trying to find your way around.
Departing Bucharest
Finally, in the evening, Billy and I got a bus to the airport, where we boarded our plane to Chisinau, Moldova. That trip, while only about a day, was very fun and worthy of its own post!
I had a great time in Bucharest, and there’s plenty I didn’t get to see. For example, Therme, a giant spa/ pool in the city. I also want to visit several other museums that I just didn’t have time for.
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