My son is getting married in Iasi on August 22. My husband and another son and I will be traveling over for the wedding. We are extremely short on funds, but must make the trip. We'd like to stay for a 6-7 days in Iasi, but also are starting to wonder if we should just spend a bit more $ and have a 3-4 day layover in another city on the way. Because I've never traveled to that part of the world, I'm wondering what airlines/travel agents etc. will get us the best deal from Seattle, as well as which city might be the most interesting to stop at on our way. Because we have to take a train from Bucharest to Iasi, we don't have a problem with taking a train from our 1st city to Iasi and try to avoid Bucharest if possible. I'd love ideas from those of you who've traveled over there. Note: my husband travels to London on business every few years, so we'd like to avoid London and go somewhere he hasn't been. Thanks for your help!
Posted by
Denver, CO, USA
1601 posts
These are difficult questions to provide straight forward answers to.
Here are a couple of suggestions.
1) Start by trying to price out tickets between Seattle and Bucharest. Depending on which airline it is on, you can then find out how much more, if any, it would cost you to have a stopover in that city.
For example, if it is Lufthansa, you will have to transit either Frankfurt or Munich. If Malev, you would transit Budapest, etc. etc.
2) Please do take a good look at a Map of Romania/Europe to see exactly where Iasi is. Your thought of taking a train from the 1st city to Iasi may not be convenient or economical since the distance are going to be quite vast and your travel options not necessarily straight forward.
My suggestion would be to fly into Bucharest and use your time to visit various parts of Romania - say a day in Bucharest, 2 in Brasov (including a visit to Bran castle if it interests you) and Sigisoara or Targu Mures, etc. You can go to your local library and get a Lonely planet guide for "Romania and Moldova" and check out the possibilities. This option would be cheaper than trying to get 5-6 days in Paris or Munich or Budapest.