Bucharest tips

Lee, You would be undertaking a wonderful trip to a wonderful corner of the world. I wouldn't suggest day trips out of Bucharest. Bucharest does have points of interest and I am glad we spent a few days there but the real beauty of Romania is in the places you mention. To do that I think you are best off with a guide with a car. Don't worry, guides in this part of town are affordable. The roads in Romania aren't the absolute best and there really aren't any highways so a short trip as the bird flies to a place like Sighi?oara ends up being 50 to 75km further away and the 290km drive takes over 4 hours from Bucharest but only half as long from Brasov. As for places to stay on the road a decent hotel might set you back $50 to $75 a night in the places that you are going. For a great guide try Daniel G. This is his web page: http://covinnus.com/ You can also use the local commuter trains to get around but 4 hour car trips could end up being twice that by train. You didn't mention having been to Hungary or Bulgaria (my other two favorite places). Daniel can also take you all the way to Budapest or Sofia if you wanted. Here are some photos that might help to inspire you: http://budapestflat.shutterfly.com/ look for the two letter country codes in the black bar near the top. BU=Bulgaria, etc.

bucharest is not small, so i'd not make it a "home base". you're better off to head out of the city to see small towns and just pack lightly and float from town to town. you can save bucharest for the beginning or the end for 1 day is enough. the old town center is worth half day talk around and dinner/bar hopping in the evenings. if you end up renting, you may want to check if it's on the subway line. taxi is not expensive, but the subway is cheap and easy to navigate, so if you happen to find a cheaper place maybe a little far from the town center but on subway line it's still pretty easy to get around.

As it's already been said, using Bucharest as home base wouldn't necessarily be a good idea. If you absolutely need a base for the whole 8 nights trip it would probably be best to choose Brasov, but it would be even better to move from city to city. For instance you could spend 1-2 days in Bucharest, then move on to Brasov for the next 4-5 days (doing day trips to the various castles, medieval towns, old villages etc. around the city) and then maybe head to Sibiu for the last few days. Renting an apartment short-term is actually a good idea in Bucharest, it's cheaper and usually as good as hotels. If you do decide to stay in Brasov or Sibiu also look into using guesthouses (pensiune), again they're a cheaper/better option than hotels . You can easily use public transport to get around, unless you need to get to sites located deep into rural areas.
Use trains (except "Regio" type commuter trains) to travel between major cities and buses or minibuses for short-distance travel (for instance from Brasov to the sites around it).

I agree with the others. Bucharest was fine, but I didn't need more than a day there. The countryside, smaller towns and Transylvania were the highlights. I rented a car and found the driving to be very easy. Granted, not a speedy drive as you often had to share the two lane road with the carts and horses, but that is why I went there. The freedom to go when you want and to stop in any village was so worth having my own car. I also have been to the other cities you mentioned, but Romania is quite different and I think you would really enjoy it more fully by having a car to explore at your own pace. Loved the food there and the people were very friendly and there are not a ton of American tourists there, so it makes for a unique experience. I love it and am trying to go back this May as well as add Bulgaria (which looks amazing as well) It's a great area to travel and still very reasonable.

Thank you for all of your advice. I guess I will need to rethink my plans. I do like the idea of travelling around more. I will probably opt for trains as I am not too sure if I want to rent a car.