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Bucharest, the capital of Romania, known for its intriguing Dracula Castle, although it is much more than that. A vibrant city, full of life and dynamic, with amazing monuments. Touring this city on foot is comfortable, since everything is relatively close. You can also use the subway, which has a very simple line that runs through all points of tourist interest.
Bucharest in Muntenia (Romania)
Bucharest guide
What to do in Bucharest
Palace of Parliament
Palace of Parliament Main building of communism in Romania. It is the largest, most expensive and heavy administrative building in the world according to the Guinness book of records. It has 20 plants in total, 8 of them underground, and all the construction materials used come from Romania. There are guided tours every day. Do not forget to bring your ID or you will not enter!
Unirii Boulevard
Just in front of the Parliament begins Unirii Boulevard (Unity Boulevard), which crosses Piata Unirii. Both were designed by Ceaucescu, trying to imitate the Avenue of the Champs Elysees in Paris. To build the Boulevard, the Parliament and its surroundings, more than 9,000 houses in the old town were demolished. Currently it is very curious to see both the boulevard and Piata Unirii the contrast between communism and capitalism.
Piata Revolutiei
From the Piata Revolutiei (Revolution Square), Bucharest residents could hear Ceaucescu's speeches from the balcony of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. From there he also gave his last speech in December 1989. The Romanian revolution in Timisoara had begun and spread throughout the country. The communist leader was in Iran and ran back to try to suffocate her with his words from this same balcony. The enraged crowd forced him to escape with his wife by helicopter. He was subsequently arrested, tried and shot.
Parks
Bucharest has many parks. The largest of all is the Herastrau Park, where there is a beautiful lake and you can rent a boat for very little money. It is an ideal place to relax and have a picnic. Closer to the center of the city is Cismigiu Park, it also has a lake, and although smaller than the previous one, it is worth approaching to play sports or spend the day.
Little paris
This is how Bucharest was known for its modernist buildings and neoclassical architecture. Unfortunately, many buildings at that time no longer exist, both because of Ceaucescu's systematization plan and because of an earthquake. The places I highlight in this section are the following:
Arcul de Triumf (Arc de Triomphe). This arch commemorates the national heroes of the war of independence and World War I. Actually this arch has been rebuilt three times, the first one was made of wood. The version that can be seen today was inaugurated in 1936. It is very reminiscent of the triumphal arch of Paris, although much smaller.
Lipscani neighborhood
The Lipscani neighborhood is what we could say the old town. Its streets are full of tea shops and it is also the center of the Bucharest night party. The most significant building we can find here is Curtea Veche, the first Royal Court and one of the first buildings in Bucharest. It is currently an archaeological site, where you can also see a bust of Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler, prince of Valaquia, and which inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula.
Romanian Athenaeum and the Bucharest Opera
The Romanian Athenaeum and the Bucharest Opera House are two other buildings that are worth visiting, as they are very representative. The Athenaeum, opened in 1888 today serves as the headquarters of the Romanian Philharmonic and as a place for concerts. The opera was founded later, in 1953.
Macca Vilacrosse Passage
The Macca Vilacrosse Passage connects Lipscani Street with Victoriei Calea. It has a horseshoe shape and is divided into two parts, one called Macca and another Vilacrosse. The names come from a merchant named Macca and a Catalan architect named Vilacrosse who, when marrying the daughters of the owner of the passage (formerly an inn), each party received the name of a surname.
It has a beautiful dome made of colored crystals and is all full of bars and restaurants, in a very quiet environment. Young people from Bucharest often come for a drink while they smoke nargila. I discovered it by chance, and now every time I go to Bucharest I pass through here.
Religious buildings
We can find countless churches (biserica) around the city, of all styles and confessions. In this guide we will highlight two for their importance, although we could include more, such as the biserica Kretzulescu
Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate
The most widespread religion in Romania is the Romanian Orthodox. Each Orthodox country has its main church or patriarchate, which for the Catholic countries is the Vatican. As expected, the patriarchate of the Romanian Orthodox church is located in Bucharest. Its construction ended in 1658. It can be visited every day from 8 am to 6 pm and there is no fee to enter.
Stavropoleos
We continue with another Orthodox church, my favorite. The biserica Stavropoleos. It was built in 1724 and is brâncovenesc style. As curious facts add that it has a library with more than 8,000 books on theology, Byzantine music, history and art, and that the head of the church since 1991 is an hieromonje, a priest who is also a monk. On its website there are both schedules and access to the virtual tour.
Museums
In Bucharest there are more than 30 museums, many of them very interesting. I have not been to all of them, although almost. I recommend the most important and the ones that I liked the most.
Satului Museum: If there is a museum-park, this is the Satului Museum. It consists of an open-air ethnographic museum, with more than 270 (and up) reconstructions of typical houses from all regions of Romania. It is located inside the Herastrau park, so the atmosphere is perfect to spend a morning, provided it does not rain, of course. The admission price of an adult is 10 Lei, and that of a student 2.5 Lei. It is important to bring the international student card (ISIC) on this trip, since almost all sites have discounts.
Natural History Museum: One of the best natural history museums in Europe is Bucharest, and at the same time one of the strangest I've ever seen. In this museum founded in 1834 you can find from dinosaurs to geological sites, through wax replicas of famous people, pop idols, a replica of the oldest Siamese in history, a woman with a pig's face, the smallest twins of the world ... Come on, it's worth seeing even if it's because of its rarity.
George Enescu Museum: George Enescu was the most famous composer in Romania. His life is well worth a movie, and I recommend that you know a little more about this musician. The museum is inside the Cantacuzino Palace, and that's why it's worth the visit.
Climate in Bucharest
In Bucharest, the summers are warm and mostly clear and the winters are very cold, dry, and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 24°F to 86°F and is rarely below 11°F or above 94°F.
The best time of year to visit Bucharest for hot-weather activities is from early July to late August.
