Preface : Romania has a lot to offer from beautiful historical architecture, Transylvania landscape, and food. Speaking about beautiful historical architecture, there is no doubt that we can find it in cities. My cities of choice are Bucharest [București], Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca, Sinaia, Brașov. However, if you have only 3 days, you will probably choose only Bucharest, Sinaia and Brașov, because they aren’t so far from each other, and thus you can do like a day trip.
In my opinion for
Bucharest
Public transportation : ✪ ✪
Getting around on foot : ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪
Daytime safety : ✪ ✪ ✪
Nighttime safety : ✪ ✪ ✪
Transylvania
Public transportation : ✪ [You’d better hire a car in order to get there conveniently]
Getting around on foot : ✪ ✪ ✪
Daytime safety : ✪ ✪ ✪
Nighttime safety : N/A
✪ = poor, ✪ ✪ = fair, ✪ ✪ ✪ = good, ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ = very good
Don’t forget to bring these; a hat or a cap and sun screen lotion for summer time
THE FIRST AND SECOND DAY
Bucharest or București in Romanian language is, as you well know, the capital city of Romania, so you may expect that there are many things to see. In fact, there aren’t! In my opinion, you can easily spend 2 days in order to see the main attractions, because most of them are located in the old city and its perimeter between Piața Romană – Universitate – Piața Unirii. Along this line, you will see the following buildings
Romanian Athenaeum on Victoriei Street
Tip : Behind the Athenaeum, there is a lovely bakery where you can sit and enjoy a sunny day outside. This bakery is called Mara Mura and situated in Strada Benjamin Franklin 5.
A beautiful building, situated in Strada Benjamin Franklin
Revolution Square [Piata Revolutiei]
Antim Monastery
Statuia Ecvestra a Lui Carol I
Tip : Near Statuia Ecvestra a Lui Carol I, there is a good restaurant called Lugo, situated in Strada George Enescu 23. It offers delicious Italian food, and occasionally live music.
University Square [Piaţa Universităţii]
Tip : At Strada Toma Caragiu 3, which is located very close to the University Square, has a trendy coffee shop called Ted’s. There you can find many kinds of coffee, smoothies, and of course brownie.
Coltea Hospital on the right and Colţea Church in the middle
School of Architecture
Beautiful buildings and decoration along Piața Romană to Piața Unirii
Palace of the Parliament [Palatul Parlamentului]
Many churches are situated among residential buildings
Now you can get an idea of what you can see in Bucharest. If you like Renaissance Architecture, you will probably fall in love with this historic city, but don’t expect all of them to be real old buildings, because some of them were destroyed after a series of major earthquakes, which happens every 30-40 years. The last one occured in 1977.
THE THIRD DAY
Sinaia and Brașov are for those who love Dracula, Neo-Renaissance and Transylvania. On the way to Sinaia and Brașov, you will mesmerize by breathtaking landscape of Transylvania and Carpathian Mountains as you can see here;
Near Sinaia, in Prahova County is where you will find the famous Neo-Renaissance castle: Peleș. This gorgeous castle was built between 1873 and 1914 for King Carol I.
And also its amazing interior design, which is mostly Baroque and Gothic Revival influenced, with heavy carved woods and exquisite fabrics. Peleş Castle has a 3.200 sqm. and consists of 170 rooms. However you will be able to see only the grand rooms : Holul de Onoare [The Hall of Honour], Apartamentul Imperial [The Imperial Suite], Sala Mare de Arme [The Grand Armory or The Arsenal], Sala Mică de Arme [The Small Armory], Sala de Teatru [The Playhouse], Sala Florentină [The Florentine Room], Salonul Maur [The Moorish Salon], and Salonul Turcesc [The Turkish Parlor].
Bran
Bran Castle or Castelul Bran or commonly known as “Dracula’s Castle.
Fact :
It’s a Fortress, located near Brașov. The castle was used in defense against the Ottoman Empire, and later became a customs post on the mountain pass between Transylvania and Wallachia.
Fiction :
This castle has become known abroad, because Bram Stoker used it for his Dracula novel. In this case, I can well imagine why, because it would look totally spooky at night!!
This is how you can spend 3 days in Romania.
Tips :
- In my opinion, the best time to visit Romania is Spring or Autumn, because Romania is very hot in Summer and very cold in Winter.
- From the Bucharest airport – Henri Coandă, you can take a bus No. 783 [approximately 0.80 Euro Cent for a one way trip] or take a trustworthy taxi [approximately 10-15 Euro for a one way trip] to the city center.
- Choose a hotel which is close to Piața Romană – Universitate – Piața Unirii.
- If you have 24 hours more, you will probably consider visiting Timișoara.
