Bucharest
Romania · 70 m
Description
Bucharest (București) was called the little Paris of the east before Ceaușescu demolished a fifth of the historic centre to build the Palace of the Parliament, the heaviest building in the world and the second largest by floor area after the Pentagon. What survived sits in odd juxtaposition around it, belle époque villas next to concrete blocks next to a restored Ottoman inn. The old town of Lipscani was derelict twenty years ago and is now a dense grid of bars, and the Village Museum on the lake north of the centre has moved in more than three hundred original wooden buildings from across the country.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 2 to 5 days (optimal 3 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: May – June or September – October
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Palace of the Parliament
- Lipscani old town and its bar quarter
- Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum
- Romanian Athenaeum concert hall
- Therme Bucuresti thermal complex
- Stavropoleos Monastery church
- Revolution Square and the 1989 memorials
- Carturesti Carusel bookshop
- Herastrau Park and its lake
- Manuc's Inn, the restored Ottoman caravanserai
- Romanian wine bars and the Feteasca tastings
- Arcul de Triumf and the Kiseleff boulevard
- National Museum of Art in the royal palace
- Sarmale, mici and the Romanian grills
- Bellu cemetery and its funerary sculpture
- Communist-era Primaverii Palace of the Ceausescus
- Snagov Monastery and the Vlad Tepes grave claim(Day trip)
- Mogosoaia Palace on its lake(Day trip)
Getting there
- Airports:
- OTP
- Train stations:
- Bucuresti Nord