Hi everyone, I'm going to Bucharest and I'll stay there for two days, Monday and Tuesday next week. I'm not sure I'll have any free time, but if I do what do you recommend to see in Bucharest? I'm not very interested in spending all my free time in museums, I'm more interested in the city. All advices are welcome. How are the prices? What is the price of taxi? What to see? I'm staying in the Hotel Confort Traian. Boris This post has been edited by Boris: 12 Sep 2008, 09:03

Bucharest has a lot of things to offer for a newcomer.
You can check out some facts, history and landmarks in Bucharest here.

Casa Poporului or People House, the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon seems to be a main attraction for foreigners coming to Bucharest. Also you can take a walk down Unirii Avenue. You can take a walk from Unirii to Romana Square; see the old area of Lipscani and checkout Victoriei Square and Avenue. Near Victoriei Square you will be able to find Herastrau Park, the biggest park in Bucharest where boat rides are available.
Coming to Bucharest on Monday and Tuesday and wanting to get around can be quite an adventure for a newcomer as the city tends to be busy, people getting to and from work mainly by car, bus, tram and subway. Expect all these to be busy. The hotel you will be staying in is quite close to the city center but you can still expect heavy traffic.
The prices for taxis are around 2 RON/km, around 0.5 eurocent. But be very careful, there are few taxis that can charge as high as 8 RON/km meaning over 2 euro/km. Avoid this cabs by all means. A safe way to check out the taxi prices is on their side door where they are required by law to show them.
The prices in Bucharest are quite high compared to the rest of the county and even some major cities in Europe. Brand names can be quite costly and a meal at a real restaurant generally cost around 20-25 euro for one person and this in not in the luxury restaurants. Fast food chains are cheaper, one meal can cost as low as 5-7-10 Euro depending on the menu.
By the way will you be arriving by car?

See here, maybe you find somethink nice.

Ooo, alecsz, gived to you a interesting and complete source.
Personal, i find the Bucharest tiring, when i'm going with my Logan .
Like says Al, if you want see about romanian money.

This post has been edited by logan1.5dci: 12 Sep 2008, 10:10

1. ufortunately not many things to see in the town... a quick circuit of the city center take some hours by walking... here is the electronic mapof Bucharest: http://www.salutbucuresti.ro/harta/ ... you should see the Parliament building (the third biggest building in the world, made during the communist regime) http://www.cdep.ro/cic/ , the main boulevards, the Royal Palace square with the Athenaeum building... the northern part of the city eith de "Victory Arch" (like in Paris), the soviet type bulding (like in Moscou) which is now the "House of Press" (publishing and printing companies)... the "Village museum" and the Herastrau Park... you could visit the Parliament house (the rooms of the conference center used for big summits, conferences etc.) and the Cotroceni Palace http://www.muzeulcotroceni.ro/ (which is also the office of the President)... for this you need a reservation (by phone or email)... but I recomend to see this palace inside!!!!... is open only tuesday from 9:30... tariff 12 lei/person... but you should call them by phone 1 day before to arrange a reservation and english guide +40213173107 or vizitare@aim.com

2. regarding the use of the taxi... from the airport use only the official taxi company FLYTAXI (ask first for price and ask for the bill!!!) or the buss... do not accept any other "kind" offers from other taxidrivers... you will pay 10 times the price!... in the town, use only the big taxi companies, not the individual or fake taxi drivers and ask for price and for use of the billing machine/metter!!!... use the phone for calling a taxi... will be obliged to use the metter... if you want, I will give you some taxi company names and phone numbers... but you could ask at the hotel reception to call you a taxi.

3. The main problems here are: a) I am not sure you will find a free town map at the hotel... b ) it not exist a touristic office... only some guidance in the museums shops or hotels... c) be aware with your pokets or things with higher value (including in the hotel room)... your hotel is not located in very safe place, d) be aware with people asking for money or offering different unsolicited services, e) all day, they are big problems on the roads.. too many cars... big lines... you will need more time to go from one place to other if you need to go by car!!!.. ask somebody for time estimates, indicating the starting point and destination point, f) be aware with the money: LEI or RON means the new money... but Lei means also the old money which is biger with 0000 (4 zero)... do not accept old type money!!! (the biggest coin is now 0,50 and the biggest paper money is 500... ussualy 1, 5, 10, 50, 100... and is not realy made by paper... is plastic)

4. the prices are more or less like in European countries... for basic things... for clothes or parfumes or electronics are usually more expensive... 1 euro=3,6 LEI (do not use the cash exchange offices!!!!...use the bank cash-machines/ATM's or bank offices to obtain LEI...they are almost everwhere)... in the restaurant is ok to pay 30-50 LEI for 1-2 dishes and one beer (for example)... a pizza is arround 15-20 LEI... a kebab or simillar is arround 10-15 LEI... taxi is arround 1,6-2 LEI/km BUT(!!!) you will pay also by time 10 time more/hour and usually this could be a big amount if you stay too much blocked in the traffic... for a normal trip... 5 km made in half an hour you will pay arround 15 LEI... almost in all mall's/shops/supermarket's you could pay by bank card... but it is not usual in restaurants (or they could charge you % extra)... tips are between 5-10%, including for taxi.

Boris, you come here with bussiness or for a conference etc.?.. alone or with others?... by plane or by car? ... tell me if you need here some help (transfer from the airport, a short sight-seeing tour by car etc.)

I'll give you my phone number by private massage... don't hesitate to call me for help or advice!

after your short description about our beloved city, I'm not sure that he's coming any more

it is nothing exagerated in my description... and don't forget he is going to stay in the Calea-Calarasilor-Nerva Traian area...

Right said. , cruel reality.

Please,somebody tell to me, when i going to Teatru National (national theatre), where is safety parking lot for my car?

This post has been edited by logan1.5dci: 12 Sep 2008, 10:25

Boris, don't mind them, they've been living in Bucharest for too long!

Then, let's not forget to mention the stray dogs. There are areas where dogs living in packs can be trully dangerous. This is not the case in the central part of the city though.

Some others places of attraction, if you visit the historical Center would be the CEC building situated on Calea Victoriei and vis-a-vis the Restaurant called Caru' cu Bere.

YES!!!!!... be aware of dogs!!!...

Caru cu Bere ("carriage with beer") is one of the oldest and most beautifull restaurants in Bucharest... www.carucubere.ro

for pubs, clubs, restaurants use this guide:
http://www.afterhours.ro/

also, if you want to rent a car, this is one of the ceapest company i know... http://www.eurialleasing.ro/pagini/rent-a-car/

Thanks everybody for the replies. I will have to red them later today, I'm rather busy right now.

Boris

Come on, that's only two steps away from civilization

So, one again thanks everyone for the advices! Special thanks to AL!

I must say you got me a bit scared regarding the location of the hotel, saying that it's not safe,....

But I'm pretty that everything will be OK.

This is a short business trip, I'll be there with four people from my company and some other people.

I have one more question. If I go to the center do I walk from the hotel or do I take a taxi?

I'll get back to you all later, it's till a crazy day.

Boris we are also very interested in what you have to say about our city so please get back to us with some impressions...!

Well it's very hard to say because I had almost no time to see the city. Most of what I saw was from the car.

People were very friendly (waiters, hotel staff,...), the streets and the buildings are very big. Some of the big buildings look OK and some of the look out of place. I'm not a big fan of big apartment buildings like the ones on the avenue leading to the parliament building. The taxi is cheap. Food was OK and the prices in the restaurants are reasonable. The parliament building, for some reason, looks smaller than on the photos.

A short description of my trip:

I arrived on Sunday evening, phoned AL and had a beer with him. The best part of my trip . I planned to maybe meet one other member of the forum but I didn't have the time.

Monday I got up...work... Then we had 2-3 hours that were spent in a shopping mall because outside it was raining and... Later that evening dinner in the Caru bu bere, that was really OK. I liked the place, it's very nice.

Tuesday work until 7 PM and back to the hotel for a dinner. I got up at 4:30 on Wednesday to catch a plane for Zagreb and that was it.

All in all I liked the trip but it was very short and I did not see much. As for Bucharest, well the to me it looks like a city with nice architecture and a lot of contrast.

Like I said I really did not see much. I would like to see more of Romania once, but like a tourist.

if Bucharest made you curious enough to want to come back in the future, is ok... and, yes, you are right, Bucharest is a place of contrasts indeed...

and because we are on daciaclub... some impressions about the traffic in Bucharest?... or about the big number of Logans (in the "Loganland")...

Quite a big number of Logans, I think all the taxis are Logans. I don't think I saw a taxi that was not a Logan.

As for the traffic

The traffic was chaotic and people are parking and stooping everywhere. Quite aggressive driving in Bucharest. The driver who is stubborn enough wins.

In this narrow street in from of Caru cu bere there was two taxi's in one direction and two in the other. Two of the drivers were using there horn and nobody was moving for cca five minutes. At last one of them gave up and started backing up, then he needed cca half a minute to persuade the driver behind him to also back up. Quite a funny situation.

Ok, I understand, you come in Bucuresti with bussiness, and no free time, but the best part of your trip is .....Al and beer. Don't tell me more.

you are offtopic !!!

Better so than lying...