Travel from Romania

What exactly do you mean by seeing Europe like a local? The very fact that you're visiting somewhere as a tourist means you won't be visiting like a local. If you wanted to visit Portsmouth for example and act as a local you'll be doing menial things such as going to work, visiting the supermarket for groceries and spending the evening in front of the TV. I've visited all the tourist attractions in Portsmouth along with all the other non-local tourists, I'm sure you'd rather be touring the Historic Dockyard than traipsing around the local Sainsbury's.

The reason tourists see and do touristy things is because they're interesting and that's why tourists are there in the first place, no-one comes to the UK with a 'must see itinerary' of Swindon, Milton Keynes or Hull because there's no reason to. There are plenty of locals there doing what locals do but nothing to attract tourists.

All of the areas you mentioned in your post are worthy of visiting but only you can decide what appeals to you the most based upon your interests, requirements, finances etc.

Thanks JC. Well my intention is really just have open ended questions to see where do beyond Bucharest. There are just too much to choose from be it the Romania itself, Germany, Eastern Europe. Maybe I should rephrase my question to, where would you visit if you have 10days to spare after visiting Bucharest?

Note: if I can share me and my wife do have this unusual habit of supermarket shopping whenever we visit a new place. Cause we curious about what the locals buy to use and to eat :p

Note: if I can share me and my wife do have this unusual habit of supermarket shopping whenever we visit a new place. Cause we curious about what the locals buy to use and to eat :p

Me too! I do all the cooking at home and I'm a bit of a foodie so I love to browse foreign supermarkets. My wife could think of nothing worse so I usually set off early in the morning to get my fix before everyone else is up and ready.

I haven't been to Bucharest yet but we're flying there early December for a long weekend. For me the choice to go elsewhere from there is almost too much. There are so many places I would want to go. I love Germany, particularly Bavaria and I prefer it in the summer. Gdansk is definitely on my list and Warsaw for a foodie is an excellent choice, some of the best food I've eaten was in Warsaw and incredibly cheap too.

I've yet to visit Slovakia and Lviv in Ukraine interests me too but really there isn't a bad choice wherever you go.

I'd spend all the time in Romania. There are many interesting cities (Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca, Brasov, Sibiu, Sighisoara and others) and rural areas (Maramures and Bucovina being the two I've visited). Romania is also being discussed in this thread.

First, Romania is easily worth 5, 6 or 7 days. If you are doing that and ending in Bucharest then you have a lot of options. First you have to decide if you will enjoy long, long leisurely train trips or can afford a private transfer or if your time is precious and you are willing to fly. To the best of my knowledge there is no route out of Bucharest to a major European destination that is shorter than 10 hours. Even the drives to major cities in adjacent countries are pretty long.

Flights open up more possibilities. Budapest and Prague are both under 1.5 hours and under $100 as is Sofia. I’m not a big Prague fan, especially if you want to see something “real”. For Real I would think of getting a guide to pick you up in Bucharest and drive you to Varna Bulgaria and then spend a week seeing Bulgaria. A stunning country with few tourists and lots of amazing things to see. Guide and Car would run you about $200 to $250 a day, the hotel another $50 for some pretty nice places. You can fly home from Sofia.

Or if you want a little more familiar comfort with architecture described by Anthony Bourdain as: "If there was such a thing as building porn, it would be this", then go to Budapest.

Hi all, thank you for the feedback.

Indeed the proximity of Bucharest to other major cities in Europe is a key criteria in terms of where to explore after Bucharest. And it seems like Eastern Europe has a lot more to offer for non-touristic sights/spots.

Last question, my wife is also into castle and flowers. Where in Eastern Europe should i go for that? Our tentative travelling date is in May/Jun 2018.

I suspect that the castles in Slovakia are some of the best kept secrets in Europe. For that matter, Slovakia is a great secret. https://www.google.com/search?q=slovakia+castles&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwipxLPVpJzXAhVM2IMKHdbaCfwQ_AUICigB&biw=1368&bih=750

From Bucharest you could fly to Budapest, spend for or five nights then head up to Slovakia. Since you haven't indicated your travel budget (cheap - moderate - comfortable - first class) its hard to make suggestions on how to do a tour of Slovakia. I know a very personable guide that could give you a tour over 3 or 4 days, starting out of Budapest. Or you could train your way up to Poprad and do day tours from a comfortable hotel or stay at what i think is one of the most amazing experiences the Grand Kempenski High Tatras and run day tours out of there. Slovakia and Hungary being in close proximity and both being EU means rental cars are a reasonable option if you make a circle (and the route does lend its self to that), or you can hire a driver out of Budapest. or.......

May would be good, early June maybe better as its a bit dryer, but early, not late June; you want to beat the tourist rush.

Another option for you, if you want to do something really off the wall and free of tourist hoards would be Ukraine. One of my current favorites. Making trip number two in January and planning trip three for the fall. Unfortunately i didn't see any direct flights out of Bucharest. Our first trip was pretty good, Budapest to Kyiv non-stop on UIA for about $65, then after a few days, non-stop to Odesa for another $35 (great town on the Black Sea). Then back to Kyiv and back to Budapest. January is Budapest to Lviv. Unfortunately not non-stop as it changes in Kyiv (about $65), then Lviv back to Kyiv for a few days, then back to Budapest. Castles? No, but some large manor houses refereed to as castles. Mostly near Lviv unless you head south of Lviv into the carpathian mountains then you have Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle https://www.google.com/search?q=Kamianets-Podilskyi+Castle&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5hd-1qJzXAhUp5YMKHUcKCUsQ_AUICygC&biw=1368&bih=795&dpr=2 Flowers? Plenty. Tourists? very, very few, except in Lviv which is becoming popular so now is the time to see it before it becomes another Krakow, or worse yet: Prague.

Ill send you a PM with a link

Thank you James~

Our budget is somewhere between moderate and comfortable, though i dont mind spending a night or two at the Kampenski hotel that you have highly recommended.

Since our inbound is Bucharest, would Munich be a fitting outbound location? Cause my survey thus far reveals it is cheaper to fly out of Germany as compared to Eastern European cities, if i were not mistaken.

If you are starting in Bucharest, why not spend all (or most) of your time in Romania? It's a large country with plenty to see in 10 days, plus you could easily go to adjacent Hungary to see more. Here is a section just on castles and churches in Romania, there are some really interesting ones there:
http://romaniatourism.com/castles-fortresses.html
Also, here are sample itineraries:
http://romaniatourism.com/sample-itineraries.html

There are not many direct flights out of Eastern Europe back to the states, although there are a few. Mostly we find ourselves changing in Amsterdam or Frankfurt or on occasion Munich. Most often Amsterdam because i like Delta and that's their hub. Out of Budapest for instance its a 6:30am flight from BUD to AMS and then about a 2 hour layover and on to Atlanta. Done that a dozen times. I dont know how much if any you would save if you originated in Munich. If its like my trip out of the US i save nothing if i travel to my first connection city on my own. Cheap, cheap to Eastern Europe is Turkish Air. I just plugged a couple of dates in May open Jaw from my hometown to Bucharest and then Budapest to my home town and it was $1500 on Delta and $960 on Turkish Air. Both 19 to 20 hour flights.

In January my daughter is flying into Budapest and out of Kyiv back to the states and that fare was about $900 on Turkish air and $1200 on Delta. She bought the Delta flight.

Thanks all.

May I ask if international driving licence is required for driving in Romania? Is it advisable to do self driving from Bucharest to other parts of Romania?

Driving seems like a good idea, especially if you're going to more rural areas like Maramures. If you're simply following the train routes, then it will be faster but more expensive. I would make the decision based on exactly where you want to go and after you consulted the train schedule to see how easy/fast it is to get there by train.

http://romaniatourism.com/transportation.html
"U.S. / Canadian/ Australian/ New Zealand driver licenses are valid for driving in Romania
for 90 days from the date of entry into Romania."

wow slovakia castles look amazing. i am trying to figure out our side trip from budapest

Thanks all. Slovakia does seeme like a different place from has been projected to tourists like me, and it is gorgeous!

Tentatively i would do Romania for 6 days, then Slovakia then Prague and fly back home.

Lastly is there any issue if i were to hire a car from Romania then take it across Slovakia and Prague? Or should i hire the car in respective country? Anyone with experience of car hiring there can you please share?

Most reports indicate that it is extremely costly to rent a car in one country and drop it off in another--as in extra fees of hundreds of euros/dollars. However, the only way to know for sure is to check for your specific pick-up and drop-off spots and your specific dates.

jette, your choices are many. Here are 3:

http://www.vasvarirentals.com/img/partners/slovakia.pdf Wonderful young lady.

http://www.silverwings.hu/ We invent trips just to have an excuse to hire him and spend the day or two with him

AND, there are 2 good train routes out of Budapest into Slovakia that will take you to some, but not all of the good places. Budapest to Kosice to Poprad to Bratislava to Budapest (or Vienna).

As for driving from Romania .... any place. If you can find an agency that will rent you the car, the drop off fee will kill you. Like i mentioned you can beat that by renting in Hungary and driving a circle, returning to Hungary to drop off the car. There are plenty of good routes so that every mile is new and interesting, both coming and going..... The roads in Slovakia and Budapest are remarkably good, more than i can say about the roads in Romania. Still I don't want to have to worry when i travel so i have someone else do the driving.