Ce să văd īn Romānia

Thread: Ce să văd īn Romānia

Tags: travel romania tourism
  1. rudaire said:

    Default Ce să văd īn Romānia

    Hey guys, I don't know if this is a good place to ask a question such as this, but i thought I'd try..

    I'm coming to romania for a visit. I'll spend about 10 days there, and am making a list of things to see and places to visit. I'll probably spend a week 'traveling' romania, and then 3-4 days in Buchurest. So I can't see everything, but need to formulate a plan on what I should see in this timeframe.

    Of course I'll see Bran Castel, and some painted monestaries. I'm considering hiking to Caraiman Cross if it is worthy. I'm trying to consider whether I should visit the Danube Delta or the Black Sea coast.

    What are your suggestions? Also, I've heard good things about Caru cu Bere and Mandragora in Buchurest, but do you have any other favorite restaurants I should try?

    And should I try to see a show at the Opera House? I'm not really a fan of the Opera, but it seems like it may be interesting.

    Any comments will be appreciated,

    thanks
    dave
     
  2. mike123's Avatar

    mike123 said:

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    Ce frumos! O sa te duci la romania!! I envy you! Cānd o sa pleci?

    If you are in bucuresti, try to see the botanical gardens. maybe the Cesescu (sp?) building. the parks are nice too. I didn't see much of bucuresti and I would suggest to see more of the country unless you are obligated.

    I don't know how far you will travel, but if you can make it to Hunedoara, I liked Castelul Corvinelor better than Bran. There wasn't an easy path there though. However, If you can get to Sibiu (great city!) and rent a car with a GPS unit. You wont regret it at all. The drive I mean. Be careful bc there road rules are a little different than ours. And be careful going through Sebeş. There's this tricky intersection. The car rental and GPS was about $40 US for the day plus gas prior to returning.

    Brasov is a MUST see city. (my avatar is of the Black Church in Brasov) It was my favorite part of my trip. I would easily enjoy spending a unlimited amount of time there. This is close enough to Sinaia and Bran, you can easily manage these with a few days time. Or in a single day if you can rent a car here. My host took me by car to Sinaia and Bran in the same day, then the next day we took a train to Brasov. This was a waste of time bc we passed near enough to Brasov the day before.

    I can vouch for all of the places I've seen. Sighisoara is such a touristy town being the birthplace of Vlad Tepes, beautiful nonetheless.

    Constanta is very nice also. I've been told that Mamaia is a better place to visit from a local.

    I was there for 23 days and feel like I've seen so little. You should account for down time also. If you go by train to Bran/Brasov, If i remember correctly it is about 5 hour train ride from the Bucuresti area.

    You will have a great time. I've considered returning recently even just for a few days. It's sooooo tempting but I have other things that come first. :-<

    Hope i've given you suggestions. I'll try to think of more sites to see.
    De multe ori tăcerea e mai bună decāt răspunsul.
     
  3. kamadeva said:

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    Hey, I don't know what exactly you're looking for but i can give you a few hints and maybe you can research abit more based on what you find interesting in my wall of text.
    So, talking about cities:
    Bucharest is a love-hate thing...i hate what our former dictator did to it, but there is stil alot of interesting architecture around, and also alot of commie block apartments, kinda grey coming from the US but a great place imo.Lots of museums,theaters...great nightlife with whatever you like: jazz,rock,house(Bucharest has 3 clubs in top100 clubs in the world: Kristal Glam Club, Studio Martin and one more can't remember the name) etc.Depending on what you like to eat/drink you can go out in different pubs,caffees,restaurants(my personal favorite is the City Grill restaurant mini-franchise).
    Apart from the Parliament Palace(biggest palace in the world),dunno if Cotroceni Palace(president residence) or Victoria Palace(government) are opened for public.Parks are plenty,traffic a mess...with Bucharest being a cramped city suffocated by over 1.3mil cars(it's population: 2mil)
    Brasov is probably the best city to live in Romania atm no matter the season: skiing in the winter on the best resort in the country and hiking,mountain climbing,sightseeing, mountainbiking in the other seasons.The city is in the heart of the country,some 6-7 centuries old with magnificent architecture(and a few commie apartments ofc) surrounded by forrests and a large population of bears/wolves(60% of the bears and 40% of the wolves in Europe reside in the forrests of Romania).Bran Castle and Sinaia(a small town much like Brasov in what it has to offer) with it's Peles Castle are both close to Brasov.There's also Rasnov Citadel near somewhere there .The music festival Golden Stag takes place here,don't know when tho.
    Sibiu: my second personal choice of cities to live in Romania, a saxon(german) city in everything, with an ethnic german mayor...it was European Capital of Culture in 2007,pretty much a completely revamped city(man,that mayor...uff),great architecture, a zillion caffees,touristy city.It has a medieval festival every year i think,dunno the period.
    Sighisoara: the last inhabited medieval town in Europe and probably the smallest town to be ingulfed by tourists each year in Romania;the birth place of Vlad Tepes Dracula and the best town to film a movie set in medieval period without constructing an artificial one or relying on camera tricks.It also has a medieval festival each year,even more sexeh than Sibiu.You might wanna check out the old defensive walls,bastions and the other really old stuff
    Brasov, Sibiu, Sighisoara were all walled at one time.
    Iasi: the capital of the historic province of Moldova.Today the historic province of Moldova is split as it follows:1)Moldova(Romania),2)Republic of Moldova(a.k.a Basarabia) which is an independent country,3)Bukovina:split in half between Romania and Ukraine,4)Bugeac(Ukraine) which is east of Romania and south of Republic of Moldova.These 4 put together=Moldova before the ruskies medled.The city is great with alot of history and all that and with prolly the best looking building in the country: the Palace of Culture(my opinion).Oldest University in the country and other firsts for Romania.
    Cluj-Napoca: really old stuff this city,well it's founding at least...founded by the romans 2000years ago as Napocenses,lost to time until the 13th century when appears as Clus.It was the capital of Transilvania in medieval times.Interesting mixture of romanian/hungarian/german architecture, with a large student population and thus a lively city,i suspect there are alot of bars/clubs/pubs.
    Timisoara: well ofc it's old,what do you expect,it's european,everything is old here.The usual old buildings and so on.Best beer(my opinion):Timisoreana... and the first city in Europe electricly lighted.The ppl with most calm live here(haha,my observation at least).The city is also a student heavy populated one and recently a bonanza for italians(investors and others).Quick mentioning here of Arad,Oradea(also in western part of the country,near Timisoara...both great cities if you wanna check them out).
    Constanta: 2,600yo (founded by the greeks under the name Tomis), is the biggest port at the Black Sea(and 8th port in Europe by TEU,cargo passing through) and among the biggest cities in Romania with a 0.6mil metropolitan area.This city shines in summer months when ppl come here and stay or use it's airport to go to the "romanian riviera" :Mamaia,Neptun,Saturn,Venus,Jupiter,Olimp,Eforie Nord,Eforie Sud,Cap Aurora,Vama Veche,2 Mai resorts(Mamaia being the best and the most expensive).You can expect everything related to the sea to be at your disposal.
    Mangalia: worth mentioning only because it's the oldest city continuously inhabited in Romania 2,700yo founded by the same greeks as kallatis.The music festival Callatis takes place each year here in summer.
    Constanta & Mangalia have some very old ruins laying around:greek-roman.

    Locations and interests: Dracula(ofc),palaces,citadels,monasteries,Danube Delta(for great fishing...looove fishing,and other things like birds if you're into that kinda stuff),old cities,old architecture,customs&dressing attire,festivals(beer festival,folk festival,pop festival,medieval festival etc),concerts,football games(soccer for you ...dunno if you're into it).
    I'm sure you'll "taste" some of what i told you,but others might not take place while you are here.

    Talking about my choice if i were in your shoes(altho i haven't been everywhere in my country unfortunately), that would be:
    a)Bucharest:1day(max2)-Parliament Palace tour,a museum or 2(i suggest the peasant museum and the contemporary art museum),eat good food in whatever restaurant you choose,drink beer at Caru cu Bere as you mentioned(eat? ),see some other stuff like the ugly buildings and also the beautiful ones, marvel at our girls(pick up that jaw!),visit a park(Herastrau is the biggest and nicest i think),in the evening go out to a pub/bar and later to a club(Bamboo,Kristal Glam Club,Studio Martin,Art Jazz CLub,Bellagio,Maxx,Coyote,Club A+100more), hook up with some random girl and see where that goes(if you can ).
    b)take a train to Brasov and visit what i said above and the nature(and whatever you can find of interest).Spend 2 days here.
    c)train to Sibiu and Sighisoara, spend 2 days ...1for each or as you want.
    d)go north either by train or by car/minibus etc to the Maramures region and see the Merry Cemetery,the old ways of the folks there,the wooden churches,the romanian traditional costumes still worn by ppl in their daily rutine...then move to N-E into Moldova and the famous painted churches 500yo works of art ...for the Maramures-Moldova joint endeavour 1-3 days.(you can go to Iasi from there which is near if you want)
    e)for the rest 1-2 days see Cluj-Napoca/Timisoara/Arad/Oradea...whichever you want,all are great looking cities in Transilvania...and don't miss the Hunedoara Castle(a.k.a Corvin Castle, a.k.a Huniady Castle).

    Kind of hard to decide what to see in 10 days for your first time.Most people go in Transilvania for their first taste of Romania(rightfully so).The cities are better there, and the diversity in ethnicity also(funny stuff,we don't kill eachother altho animosities are legendary);the region has a more nature inclined trend than the others with civilisation blending beautifully.

    Bucharest is ugly compared to other capitals(so avoid it if you don't like it at first glance) but i love my city and i wouldn't move for a less populated one no matter the culture/architecture/administration etc.
    Hehe,long post...told ya.

    Edit: dunno if i'm allowed to mention a site here: tripadvisor.com(romanian section).
    Last edited by kamadeva; 03-17-2010 at 01:44 PM.
     
  4. mike123's Avatar

    mike123 said:

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    very interesting read kamadeva. Thank you for the post. My next itinerary will contain much of what you said
    De multe ori tăcerea e mai bună decāt răspunsul.
     
  5. rudaire said:

    Default

    thank you mike and kamadeva..

    That is exactly the type of info i was looking for..

    kamadeva, you should publish that. WOW..

    I was planning on spending thursday through monday morning in București, but I may trim that back to fri-mon..

    Are the clubs busy both on Fri and Sat nights? And what time do the crowds arrive? I went to a club in barcelona last year that did not open until 1am and did not get busy until around 3am.. Didnt know if this was a trend in europe or not..

    thanks again

    dave
     
  6. kamadeva said:

    Default

    clubs open "early", crowds come from 10 to 12PM and stuff going down soon after midnight until morning.
    i haven't been recently to Kristal Glam Club which is said to have changed the sound system to an even better one, but it's the no1 club in Romania for 5-6 years now and the best in central and eastern Europe(DJ Mag).my first experience there was my "prom" so to speak(romanians don't really have proms,we have a thing called Banquet ),when the students in the graduation classes came up with the idea to have a crazy night out and rent the place(with the help of some powerful dads).
    that's one club,but there are others also,depending on taste...personally i'm a house/dance/trance kinda guy(or at least i was,now i don't really have time);there are between 150-250clubs of all sizes and shapes.
    entrance fees range from 5$ to 20$(or free sometimes) in the best clubs depending on who's playing that night(drinks are abit expensive for the common man).
    clubs are always open on Fridays/Saturdays/Sundays and on special days even during the week alot of them.
    if you got more questions...
     
  7. mike123's Avatar

    mike123 said:

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    I'm curious, how expensive in lei is a beer at one of these clubs? I hate going out in NYC, I've paid $7 for a beer and $15 for a mixed drink.
    De multe ori tăcerea e mai bună decāt răspunsul.
     
  8. kamadeva said:

    Default

    i'd say anywhere from 2or3$-5$(7-15lei)for a beer.
    prices are high but i doubt their as high as in the US.
    Last edited by kamadeva; 03-19-2010 at 11:57 AM.
     
  9. mike123's Avatar

    mike123 said:

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by kamadeva View Post
    i'd say anywhere from 2or3$-5$(7-15lei)for a beer.
    prices are high but i doubt their as high as in the US.
    Outside of the city beer at a bar is much cheaper about $3-5 depending on where you go and what you get. I can buy a 6 pack of domestic beer for around $7 or less so that's usually what I'll do if I get the urge. Or a bottle of chilean merlot for around the same price.

    I wish I could get tuica here! I really liked that.
    De multe ori tăcerea e mai bună decāt răspunsul.