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Romania Trip Report: Bucharest/Brasov and customized Grand Tour Romania with Teo

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I just spent 3.5 weeks in Romania (sound familiar?) and was surprised by what I loved about it.

Bucharest - I generally love big cities and gave Bucharest 7 nights (my usual is 8.) I'm glad I stuck to my instincts that I would be able to fill the time. I always do. As others have reported, the sights are spread out. The buses work great, especially with the inexpensive 7 day transit pass for unlimited travel (66 lei / $15.36) including bus/metro/trams. But it still takes a while to get around.

Tip: buy the transit pass at kiosks outside most metro stations and near major bus stops.

Once we (actually, TexasTravelMom) discovered the music festivals, it was obvious that there would be plenty to do, day and night! This whole "music festival" theme is really taking hold with me. I loved it in Stockholm, where I attended their KulturFest. And the Bucharest Unforgettable Festival was worth it, if for nothing else than to hear Andrea Bocelli belt out Nessun Dorma. I was disappointed to see that it wasn't on the program. Little did I know it would be his encore. I never thought I would hear it live! I could listen to him sing it over and over and over again.

The Art Museums in Bucharest quickly captured my attention and I followed a Rick Steves recommendation that has served me well in the past to find one new artist that I like. I found 3: Gheorge Tattarescu, Theodore Aman and Stefan Luchian.

Tip: buy the 100 LEI / $23.20 pass to visit all 4 of the national art museums during a 7 day period.

National Village Museum - in addition to visiting the homes, on the weekend there were artisans selling their handicrafts at tables. Painted wooden eggs were 25 LEI ($6) each, much less expensive than souvenir shops and hand painted by each vendor.

Restaurants: we visited a couple of forum favorites, including Caru' Cu Bere, Restaurant Hanu' Lui Manoc and Vatra. And after discovering the delightful NOUA Bar from an article, we visited twice for Romanian classics with a modern flair.

Tip: I requested in my reservation for Caru' Cu Bere that I wanted a table with good viewing of the dancers. And they delivered with a front and center table.

Stayed: Scala Boutique Hotel, where the staff are delightful and breakfast is a terrific European hot and cold buffet.

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6042 posts

Brasov - I thought this was going to be my favorite Romanian town, until I went to Sibiu and Timisoara. Brasov is easy to get to from Bucharest by train.

And that ends the "easy to get to" part of the story. It was obvious that seeing the rest of Romania was going to require some uncomfortably long bus rides, or a vehicle: either a rental or a tour company. I didn't want to drive, and I was tired of my recent run of big (and medium) bus tours.

Grand Tour of Romania - customized our way

A tour with Teo was exactly the answer. It's no wonder that Rick Steves chose Teo to show him around for his Romania episode. Teo used to be a journalist and loves to ask questions to understand the history and culture of his country. Tourism departments in Romania ask for Teo's help. And much like Rick, Teo can just talk to anyone, and get them to talk to him. About anything.

We started with his Grand Tour of Romania and customized to our interests and timeframe.

https://maramurestour.com/maramures-transylvania-bucovina/

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6042 posts

As a tour guide, the great thing about Teo is that he wants to make his tours special for you.

TexasTravelMom said this:
• We basically just mentioned things we were interested in and he made things happen.

From https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/3-1-2-weeks-in-romania

Ceramics in Romania:

Near the beginning of our tour with Teo, I was telling him that I was looking forward to our day in Horezu visiting ceramic "shops." I casually mentioned that we had been seeing ceramics in the souvenir shops marked "Korund" which I thought were lovely. Next thing I know, Teo asked us if we wanted to make a little detour - of course, you always say yes to Teo's detours! Soon we were in Korund visiting the small roadside shops of local artisans, watching one lady paint her pieces freehand while she was chatting with us! Needless to say, I now own several of her pieces. And a few more from next door ;-)

Teo didn't have to research ceramics in Korund. He just knows. Where everything is. And which shops to stop in to see the very best work. That's what it is like touring with Teo.

In Horezu, he patiently took us to one home-based ceramic business after another, speaking to the craftspeople about the challenges of their generational businesses in a modern world. While we admired and bought and admired and bought pieces to bring home with us.

The ceramic visits were our particular interests, which we customized into his tour agenda - one in advance, the other on the fly. Touring with Teo is very flexible!

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6042 posts

Visit Romania Now - while the artisans are still there

It struck me that the artisans of Romania are aging and their children are not (always) picking up the businesses. If you want to see hand weavers at their looms, the last remaining wooden water mill while it still pounds wool into felt, and home ceramic businesses that do everything from collecting the clay to throwing the pieces and hand painting them - go now, before they are gone!

CONCLUSION

I love that I can go back to Bucharest, perhaps for another music festival. And I can envision lots more time spent enjoying the towns of Sibiu, Brasov and Timisoara. The best decision was to see Romania with Teo, to see things I never could have experienced on my own and enjoy them much more on a private tour.

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43 posts

Thanks for writing this up! You and TTM are really giving me the itch to return to Romania. So amazing you saw/heard Andrea Bocelli!

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3189 posts

What were some of your favorite dishes?

Nduja has been on my mind recently as it is starting to appear in local supermarkets here in the East Bay....

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4749 posts

Thanks for the trip report, and for the link to TTM’s report. Besides bookmarking these threads, I can’t wait to hear your live report in zoom in November.
We’ve been talking about visiting Romania for about 5 years, seriously. One of the things that held us back was because getting around, especially to get out of the way places. We were looking into renting a car, but your recommendation of Theo will push this country to the top of our list. Hopefully in 2027, because like most of the posters here on the forum, I already have 2026 booked up completely, lol.

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6042 posts

What were some of your favorite dishes?

Stuffed cabbages at Hanu Lui Manoc, with tables in the courtyard of the old Karavanserai. I've eaten stuffed cabbages and even made them myself. But theirs had a flavor, maybe grilled, that made them special. I wish I knew the secret.

And the meatballs at NOUA Bar had a crunchy coating added for texture that made them a treat. We ordered several small plates to share at NOUA and loved them all. Plus it was in a nicely decorated courtyard between two buildings - what you might have called a ruin bar in Budapest.

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6042 posts

your recommendation of Theo will push this country to the top of our list.

Barbara, bummer that you might not be at the meeting for the Q and A with Teo. But if you're serious about booking with him, he's very responsive via email to work on your itinerary. And he's even scheduled zoom calls with people to lock in their decisions.

I found a bunch of YouTube videos with Teo sharing his expertise with various professional groups. They're all in Romanian, though!

Here's one example:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SdQ9TZqFoZw&t=547s&pp=ygUWdGVvIGl2YW5jaXVjIG1hcmFtdXJlcw%3D%3D#searching

Even if you can't understand a word, you can get a sense of his expertise, which he's sharing with the interviewer.

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1183 posts

Great report, CW. I wish the zoom meeting didn’t conflict with my travel plans. I love the idea of finding a new favorite artist—or three.

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1301 posts

Thanks for sharing your trip report. It sounds like you all put together a great tour. And the bonus Bocelli!

Posted by
1575 posts

Thanks, CW! Enjoyed reading your report! Each of your three reports added something different. Glad you had a great trip!

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30 posts

Bucharest is one of the big surprises of my travel life, it was way better than I expected. I think of it as the Eastern European Naples, a little gritty but fascinating.

A tip on the art museums: the less well known (than the main/biggest "National Museum of Art of Romania") "Art Collections Museum" is well worth a visit. It consists of collections, displayed as such, that were "Donated over nearly a century by both collectors and artists".

Your comment on finding a new (to you) artist resonates with me. We were delighted to "discover" the works of Nicolae Grigorescu in Bucharest. We'd never even heard of him before, which made it an all the more delightful experience.

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697 posts

Thank you for a terrific trip report!

Well done!

Happy travels!