I visited Romania for a long weekend in February 2008. I arrived in Bucharest after a particularly cold spell of snowy weather and travelled by train through the Romanian countryside to the town of Brasov to see the famous castle there.
Romania was not as I expected – particularly Bucharest. After the fall of communism nearly 20 years ago, and joining the EU in 2006, I had expectations that Bucharest would be similar to Prague or some of the Baltic countries – with many newly restored buildings, beautifully kept streets and many bars and clubs. Unfortunately, Bucharest and wider Romania is a long way behind these cities and countries in terms of development. Bucharest has many streets which are not paved and many buildings crumbling away – still not renovated nearly 20 years after adopting a free market economy. It would appear that investment is either not being made or simply not getting to the areas needed.
There are still many cool things to see in Romania. Bucharest has the famous Palace of the Parliament (Chauchescu’s Palace) – the 2nd largest building in the world behind the Pentagon for square ft of floor space. There are many famous and beautiful castles including Brasov, a 3 hour train ride out of Bucharest. If skiing is your passion, Romania has plenty of snow during the winter months in the Carpathian mountains.
Travelling to Romania
The easiest way to get to Romania from the UK is to fly. I flew from London Gatwick to Bucharest with Easyjet. The flights are early leaving am 6am, but reasonable returning – at around 11am. Flight time is fairly lengthy for a European flight at around 3 ½ hours, but Romania is a fair distance from the UK. You can of course Interrail around Europe to reach Romania – check out Seat 61 or