{"id":862817,"date":"2025-01-25T14:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T12:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tourism.com.de\/?p=862817"},"modified":"2025-03-03T18:58:37","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T16:58:37","slug":"bucharest-city-of-contrasts-and-legends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourism.com.de\/en\/bucharest-city-of-contrasts-and-legends\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud83e\udddb Bucharest: city of contrasts and legends"},"content":{"rendered":"

When making a plan for an independent trip, we first of all remember the capital of the state. But this approach to trip planning does not always work. The capital of Romania, Bucharest, is lost against the backdrop of Brasov<\/a>, Peles, Bran, Sibiu, Timisoara and a number of other cities. Let's figure out whether Bucharest deservedly falls into tourist oblivion more and more often<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How to get there<\/strong><\/h2>\n

To visit Romania, tourists need a visa: either a national Romanian or a multi-Schengen visa. Please note that the country is not yet part of the Schengen zone and, accordingly, a Romanian visa does not give you the right to travel without barriers throughout the European Union. With a multi-Schengen visa, these problems will not arise, whereas when entering from neighboring Moldova, you risk being refused by the Romanian side.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alternative: trains and buses<\/a><\/h3>\n

When traveling from neighboring Hungary, use the trains of the national Hungarian railway carrier MAV. We wrote about the experience of the night train Budapest<\/a> – Bucharest here. In case of traveling from other Romanian cities, the website of the Romanian railways CFR Calatori will help (works only via VPN). In both cases, you will arrive at the Bucuresti Nord railway station, which from the first steps will impress you with its size and… looking ahead, the spirit of the communist era is still in the air. We wrote about the experience of the night train Buda Pest – Bucharest<\/a> here<\/a>. In case of traveling from other Romanian cities, the website of the Romanian railways CFR Calatori<\/a> will help (works only via VPN). In both cases, you will arrive at the Bucuresti Nord railway station, which from the first steps will impress you with its size and… looking ahead, the spirit of the communist era is still in the air.<\/p>\n

Finally, you can use the fairly developed bus<\/a> service. A number of international flights to the Romanian capital are operated by Flixbus<\/a>. He will take you from Bulgarian Sofia, Hungarian Budapest, Moldavian Chisinau<\/a> and the most patient (more than a day on the way) from Polish Warsaw. Other options with transfers are also possible. To travel around Romania, use the local ticket aggregator Autogari<\/a>, where you will find the cheapest tickets.<\/p>\n

You can get around Bucharest itself using buses and trams, and occasionally the metro. There are ticket kiosks at the main train stations in the city, where I recommend purchasing a day ticket, 4 euros (as of 2022).<\/p>\n

Bucharest. General information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Bucharest is called the “Romanian Paris<\/a> “. The title, very pathetic<\/a> and obliging to many things, was given to the city for the Boulevard of Unification, similar to the Champs Elysees, and the Arc de Triomphe. Whether this is enough to compare with the capital of France is up to you to judge.<\/p>\n

I prefer to find something unique in every city. And in Bucharest – this is its eclecticism. Such an awkward and sometimes simply inappropriate combination of architectural forms and styles that I naturally began to compare<\/a> the city to Frankenstein. But don't blame the Romanian capital for this. For it is not she who is to blame, but her temporary masters in 1947-1989, who represented one of the most brutal communist regimes of all time. The communists, who despised the royal past, without pity destroyed architectural excesses that they considered inappropriate, replacing them with examples of the Stalinist Empire style.<\/p>\n

However, it was not the communists alone who sculpted the modern, very strange appearance of the city. It\u2019s been 30 years since the country\u2019s system has changed, but the tastes of city planners have remained unique. That's why the city's oldest churches coexist with new buildings in the hi-tech style. As young people would put it, it\u2019s surreal and that\u2019s all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bucharest\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The artistic and architectural side of the Romanian capital is an extremely strange mosaic. In some places, the creators of this Frankenstein tore out better pieces: something from Paris<\/a>, something from Budapest, and somewhere the Soviet scale and solidity of buildings from the USSR era. All these disintegrating parts of “different bodies” are held together by whatever they can find. The shabby residential areas in the city center, the pseudo-classicism of restored buildings, and even the dazzling business centers. Frankly, creating a coherent route<\/a> for a city walk in Bucharest was one of the main challenges of being a tourist for me. I will share it with you.<\/p>\n

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