Hello there, traveler!
I hear you come for a short time in Bucharest and don’t know what to do here. No worries, I’ve made a list of things you can do in the Capital. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay and, in case you’re planning on visiting more cities or parts of Romania, there are some older posts I’ve made that are more complete:
Discover Romania: Part I – Introduction,
Discover Romania: Part II – Traditions,
Discover Romania: Part III – Mysteries, Myths and Legends,
Discover Romania: Part IV – Historical and emblematic places (and other important pieces of history),
Discover Romania: Part V – Food and beverages,
Discover Romania: Part VI – Lifestyle, music and party.
Ok. Now lets get to the point. You’ll come here and you’ll need to eat. We have Italian, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, American, Turkish, Libanese etc. restaurants, but it would be a shame not to try our traditional food. So here’s my recommendations: You need to eat “mici cu muștar” (mici with mustard), sarmale and mămăligă (polenta). These are our ‘must-try’ top 3. Regarding mici, there are two places in Bucharest where you can have the best mici.
One is La Cocoșatu (https://www.lacocosatu.ro/). This is an emblematic spot for mici, a piece of history and like you would at a very sought after restaurant, you will have to make reservations before.
The other one is at Terasa Obor (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g294458-d17767577-Reviews-Terasa_Obor-Bucharest.html). Also emblematic spot for mici, but you won’t need to make reservation but you might have to wait in line. But trust me, it’s worth it.
I mentioned mici, sarmale and mămăligă, but that definitely isn’t the whole Romanian menu. Instead of writing down every dish, I recommend you go here https://foodfuntravel.com/traditional-romanian-food-romanian-dishes-delicacies/ and here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_cuisine.
We’ve talked about food, now I think it’s time we quench of thirst with some traditional Romanian beverages. We got lots of beer, obviously, lots of wine, but have you tried țuica or palinca? How about Vișinată? I’d personally recommend you try these from a local sales site, made at home. If not, you can easily find bottled ones.
In regards to beer, everyone knows about Timișoreana, Ursus, Silva and Azuga. We have other low budget, lower quality beers like Ciuc and Ciucaș, but some people like them. Taste is subjective. Nenea Iancu and Zăganu are worth mentioning. However, if you’re into craft beer, you’re lucky, because we have a lot of Romanian craft beer available. Best places for a beer lover? Hop Hooligans Taproom, Ironic Taproom, NoRoom Taproom, Ground Zero Beer Taproom, and obviously Beer o`Clock. In the summer I’d recommend Anagram.
When it comes to wine, Purcari is the first one that comes to mind, then Recaș, Cotnari and Jidvei. But these are just the tip of the iceberg and only the most known by general public. For the aficionado, there’s a wide range of Romanian wines that I couldn’t list here. For that, you’d have to go to a specialized wine bar and my favorite one is by far CIZ Wine Bar & More. It’s in an old house from the 19th century, with an amazing staff and great wines. Other wine bars would be Lovin’Winebar & Bistro, Mosto, Tasting Room by Ethic Wine, Abel’s Wine Bar, UVA Wine Shop & Bar, CORKS Cozy Bar, Vino, WineOut Bar&Bistro and Vié – Gastronomic Wine Bar, all recommended by Restograf (whic his THE most important guide for restaurants, bars, pubs etc). I would recommend you give them a call to make a reservation or even to see if they are still open.
If you’re into cocktails and you want to experience the best of the best in Bucharest, here’s your options: Oficiul 1, it’s a speakeasy type of bar located in an old post office where some of the country’s most talented bartenders are doing their magic. Decadance is bar and restaurant, with great cocktails, classic and modern. Fix Me A Drink is something different, and remember this. It is inspired by Eastern European botanicals and other ingredients specific to the area, so the cocktails will be different from what you’re used to. This is a mixologist’s type of bar. For a bigger list of bars, you can check Restograf’s list here https://restograf.ro/cele-mai-cool-cocktail-baruri-din-bucuresti/.
If you’re into gin, there’s only one place specialized in this, and that is GinOteca. Best premium gins out there, and many of them! Also, friendly staff!
Ok. Now that we talked about food and drinks, got our bellies full, it’s time to make some exercise and go visit places!
There are many places to visit in Bucharest, but I’ll just make a selection, and I’ll start with museums. The first on the list is Muzeul Țăranului Român and second is Muzeul Satului. Why these first? Because they bring the countryside to the city. If you can’t go to the countryside and want to see authentic history, these are your locations in the Capital. Every country and city has an art museum, a literature museum, but no all have specific museums for their countryside, right?
If you’re not really interested in those two, don’t worry, Bucharest has lots of museums with different themes and Visit Bucharest just made a list for you here https://visitbucharest.today/bucharest-museums/. The same for historical buildings https://visitbucharest.today/historical-buildings/.
One place that any foreigner wants to see in Bucharest is the grand Palace of Parliament or People’s House (Casa Poporului) so here’s a link to it https://visitbucharest.today/palace-of-parliament/ but make sure you check the schedule before (very important). Ateneul Român is another place you must visit, so here’s another link to get you there https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294458-d523712-Reviews-Ateneul_Roman-Bucharest.html.
If you just want to go for a walk, you can go to Calea Victoriei with its beautiful architecture, buildings, terraces, hotels, restaurants, bars and pubs and everything. If you want to get some fresh air away from the cars, Bucharest has lots of parks, but I would recommend Parcul Herăstrăul, Parcul Cișmigiu and Parcul Tineretului.
After we walked so much, it’s time to relax, and the best place in Bucharest for that is Therme. It has many pools and slides, saunas, skin and body treatments, restaurants, bars, parks, places for kids and much more. Just visit the website and plan your visit!
Before I close this article, I must mention Old Town (Centrul Vechi). I talked about it briefly at Discover Romania: Part VI – Lifestyle, music and party. Why am I putting it here at the bottom, when all the tourists are going there? Well, because Centrul Vechi might not be for someone above the age of 30. It is a controversial side of the city. On one hand, it has the most pubs and bars in the city all in one place and the night is lit with parties. On the other hand, it has become like Sodom and Gomorrah, with loud music, drunks and sometimes even fights. If you’re into wild parties, this is the place to be. If you’re into calm stuff, avoid it.
Now here’s some tips of things you don’t want to do in Bucharest:
* Rent a car: The traffic in Bucharest is crazy and there’s a huge problem with parking. Public transport and metro is very cheap, but if you don’t want to bother yourself with that, I recommend using Uber or Bolt application for transport.
* Don’t take a regular taxi (the yellow ones). The taxi drivers are known to be corrupt and they will overcharge you if they see you are foreign. Like I said, use Uber or Bolt instead.
* Don’t talk about Dracula. Romanians are fed up with this, and we really don’t care much about Dracula since it’s a foreign story that actually demonizes a hero of Romanians, Vlad Țepeș (who was a great Christian).
* Don’t confuse Bucharest with Budapest. Budapest is in Hungary, and some Romanians and Hungarians don’t really like each other and get offended if you confuse one with the other.
* Don’t give money to beggars or gypsy women who say they are going to reveal your future or destiny. The beggars (not all of them) are actually earning a lot, even more than an employed person and they will rely on your mercy. I know it sounds cruel, but they are not what they appear to be. As for the gypsy women who come to tell you they are going to tell your future or destiny, they are actually going to rip you off. Not only they are frauds by not being able to predict anything, but they will ask you for a sum of money at first, then they will continue to ask for more money afterwards and if you don’t give them they will become aggressive and can become dangerous. I’m not racist, I have many rroma friends, but these women must be avoided.
These are my recommendations. For more, go here:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g294458-Activities-Bucharest.html
