Romania and Serbia

You have asked about safety regarding these countries in the past - is there something that would make you suspect they are not safe for a single male traveler? I'm sure you'll be fine (obviously watch your belongings as anywhere else) "Asking for trouble" depends on your behavior (i.e there are certain stupid things you can do anywhere that make you vulnerable).

Check out the Romania website for sightseeing. I'm sure Lonely Planet and other books have better coverage on Serbia. This forum and Rick Steves books are non exactly "countries off the beaten track" focused - but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with traveling there.
http://romaniatourism.com

How much time are you giving yourself to see all these places? They are quite large...you could easily spend a whole two weeks plus in Romania alone.

I spent a month in Serbia (not much time), Romania and Bulgaria in 2015. I traveled solo by train and bus. I am female and was 64 at the time. I felt totally safe.

How much time do you have in Romania?

In Serbia, I thought the historic center of Novi Sad, not too far from Belgrad, was very interesting. Distinctly hippie vibe.

Hi Greg9542,

If you've managed Ukraine and Belarus you'll be absolutely fine in Romania and Serbia.

In Bucharest I recommend the older metro stations, still built under socialism. You can still feel the menacing, megalomanic grandeur of the Ceausescu days. Also the Palatul Popului, the People's Palace. Look for Bucharest In Your Pocket. In Your Pocket guides are free, well written and cover most East European cities.

Brasov I've never been to.

Belgrade is famed for its night life and the food is delicious. I went to the Citadel and looked at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers.

I would recommend looking into doing as much of your itinerary by train as possible. Trains are very cheap in the Balkans and the scenery is breathtaking.

Hope this helps.

My wife and I visited Romania and Serbia in Oct-Nov 2014. Very pleasant. Bucharest was in the midst of a huge improvement - everywhere pavers were going in to make beautiful sidewalks, with holes to put in trees. By now, it will all be done. It's a wonderful country. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit. There are a ton of Irish IT workers there. A lot of IT stuff is going on there, due to the cost of living. We took the train from Bucharest to Brasov, and enjoyed that. We stopped to see Castelul Pellas along the way - well worth the stop.

In Serbia, we also enjoyed ourselves. Beograd is one of the great undiscovered cities in Europe, and has been voted "Best party town" any number of times. We walked around, often late at night (we were 63 and 66 at the time), with never a moment's concern. We bombed Beograd under Clinton in 1999 for a bad reason, and the Serbs weren't happy at the time. We are now friends with them again. It's a nice town to visit, lots of history, buildings, etc. Make sure to have tea in Hotel Moskva. PM me if you wish the name of the guy that we used as a guide in Serbia. If you go to non-city areas in Serbia, you will find less English. If you speak Yugoslavian language, you will have no problem. But if you do not, finding English/ French/ German speakers is less common. We chose to use a guide for that reason, although we do not usually do that.

My husband and I have been to Serbia a couple of times now in the last 12 months and have good friends there. As a woman, I felt very safe there and the people are friendly and helpful. I think Belgrade is a fun place and Novi Sad is very family friendly and low-key. It's a great place to visit that has great food and the European feel but not as costly as some other places. I would feel fine travelling there alone more than I would in some places in the US! Here is a good article on Belgrade:
https://togethertowherever.com/things-to-do-serbia-belgrade/
and Novi Sad:
https://togethertowherever.com/what-to-do-novi-sad-best-of-serbia/

I loved Belgrade and Brasov, both are beautiful and underrated.

I was not a fan of Bucharest outside the tourist center, but I visited in 2012 and we stayed with a local couple outside the center. IDK, bands of wild dogs roaming the city streets and numerous pickpocket attempts kinda put me off. I've had two friends who traveled for business basically be robbed/extorted by taxi cab drivers. Our hosts told us not to take taxis, we took the bus, with them.

This was all years ago so maybe it's improved but Bucharest isn't high on my list of places to return. But Belgrade and Serbia definitely are.

What time of year? I have lived in and visited both Brasov and Bucuresti in all seasons.

Bucuresti has improved greatly. It's old town is lively and they have restored buildings and made excellent pedestrian corridors.

Palatul Parlamentului (formerly Casa Poporului - or 'House of the People') is a great tour. It is truly an opulent and immense structure with an interesting history.
http://cic.cdep.ro/en

Also in Buc, visit the Old Town. You will want to see: Piata Unirii, Hanul lui Manuc , Curtea Veche (the Old Courtyard - with the old Prince's Palace ruins), Caru' cu Bere (where you will want to eat lunch or dinner!), Calea Victoriei - with the National Museum of Romanian History, across from the Palatul CEC, the national bank (impressive architecture), and Revolution Square (Piata Revolutiei).

https://www.hanulluimanuc.ro/en/
http://muzeulbucurestiului.ro/En/the-old-princely-court.html
https://www.carucubere.ro/
http://mnir.ro/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEC_Palace

Outside of Old town, visit King Michael Park (Parcul Regele Mihai) - and the nearby Arcul de Triumf and the open-air Village Museum (Muzeul Satului). Easy Metro trip to the Aviatorilor stop.
http://muzeul-satului.ro/

On the way to Brasov, visit Sinaia and Peles Castle.
http://romaniatourism.com/castles-fortresses-romania-peles-castle-sinaia.html

In Brasov, try to stay in the old town Schei district. My vote is for Hotel Kolping. Great access to the old town, the Black Church, the old city wall and bastions, and Mt. Tampa - direct access to hiking trails and path to the furnicular.
http://romaniatourism.com/brasov.html
http://hotel.kolping.ro/

Brasov itself is a great town, but also a great base to visit several castles, fortresses, and fortified churches. Easy trips to Bran (Dracula's castle), Rasnov Fortress, Sighisoara (medieval clock tower and church-on-the-hill), and the various fortified churches (easiest to visit if you have a car). Rupea Fortress is close to Brasov. Viscri and Saschiz are on the way to Sighisoara.
http://www.bran-castle.com/
http://romaniatourism.com/sighisoara.html
http://romaniatourism.com/castles-fortresses-romania-rasnov-fortress.html
http://romaniatourism.com/castles-fortresses-romania-viscri-fortified-church.html
http://romaniatourism.com/castles-fortresses-romania-saschiz-fortified-church.html
http://www.rupeaturistica.ro/the-rupea-fortresse/?lang=en