As part of the last week of our recent European trip that included Regensburg, Innsbruck, and Lucerne, we decided to travel to Romania on our last 5 days. I didn’t see a choice for Romania on the RS forum selection list (which makes me wonder why now) but I personally will not be going back, ever. We did travel to Brasov, Transylvania, and Peles castle, and there is beauty in those areas, however Bucharest is not where it’s at. I’m not sure it looks much different than when they were under communist rule. And yes I know the people that live there are proud and want it to be better, however it’s not there yet, and I suspect will not be for decades. We spent an entire day with a local and he was well aware of their history, present, and had dreams for a better day. I wish I had seen a post like this before my trip and perhaps I would have spent those last days in Brasov and enjoyed their lovely old town and mountains. Brasov is a 3 plus hour drive from Bucharest in obnoxious traffic, and their public transit is not a good option to use for travel, like in so many other European countries, which means options to go north are limited. I have spent the last 7 of 9 September’s in Europe and this stop has left me never wanting to leave the house again. Do your research if you are planning to visit Bucharest, and happy travels.
Posted by
Virginia
1029 posts
Meaning no disrespect, but someone who says a city is probably not much different from Communist times is someone who hasn’t traveled in Eastern Europe when it was Communist, as I have — not Romania, but the USSR, Hungary, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. It’s completely different then and now. I agree that limited time in Romania is best spent in Transylvania, and Rick’s intro to Bucharest in his show about Romania that it is a bit gritty and can be hard to like at first impression is correct, but I found it to be a lively, very walkable central city with some interesting attractions, well worth a visit.
Posted by
OP
42 posts
Appreciate the comment. It’s fair to say we all have our own objectives when traveling, I have seen communist remains in Berlin and Hungary, and yet the affected cities were not defined by them. I didn’t talk about the utter chaos in the city, the poor infrastructure and so on, mostly because I was sharing a travel opinion from visiting one city. If you love history and are intrigued by the communist times, it may be the place for you. My point is that they still have a ways to go. It’s the city, not the country. Braşov was such a wonderful breath of fresh air. And actually so much more of the country that we didn’t see. Thanks again for your insight.
Posted by
184 posts
We were in Bucharest and Romania a few extra days after our Viking Eastern European Countries Cruise last year.
We did use a private guide (from RS guidebook) for Transylvania and loved it. But we also thoroughly enjoyed Bucharest! And our final night, I ended up going out myself (using Uber) to a lively, pedestrian street to sit outside for a terrific last meal and go to a wonderful bookstore.
It is a good example that we can all experience countries and cities, countryside and towns, in different ways.