Bucharest Nightlife

2 more images

My friend and I visited Opium Studio one evening during our visit to Bucharest in March 2008.

This quirky little bar is located on Strada Horei, between Bulevardul Ferdinand and Bulevardul Pache Protopopescu, to the east of the city centre. Finding it involved a lot of wandering down dimly lit side streets and passing groups of stray dogs. I really wasn’t sure where we were heading, and the review in the guidebook (complete with the bar’s motto: “an endless dream”) did little to ease my fears that this might be some narcotics-filled den of iniquity. The bar’s external appearance offered no clues as to what lay inside, but we proceeded through an archway and found the large wooden door that led inside.

I’d like to point out in the strongest possible terms, and much to my relief, that this is *not* a drugs den and, despite its name, you cannot purchase opium there!

When we entered, we saw a group of young locals sitting around a large table smoking narghile pipes in a room to our right, and a dimly lit bar area (with décor that could best be described as “eclectic”, and just a little bit morbid) to our left. The music was not at all what I expected – some rather incongruous 1950s/60s love ballads.

We sat at a table in the bar area and ordered a couple of beers. The waitress, perhaps assuming (wrongly!) that as tourists we might not want the cheaper local beer, brought us a couple of bottles of Heineken (9 Lei / 1.80 GBP per 500ml bottle). Once we’d had time to look at the drinks menu, we saw that bottled Silva Brune was available at 7 Lei, Corona at a rather expensive 15 Lei per bottle, as well as a large choice of spirits, wines, vodka shots, cocktails, soft drinks and hot beverages.

The bar is open daily until 4am, and we noticed karaoke nights being advertised on the menu – but thankfully not while we were there!

On leaving, the barman asked us where we were from and asked us to spread the word of this bar to friends and family back home – or, in my case, to random people on an Internet travel site!

A friendly, quirky, and just a little scary bar on the back streets of Bucharest.

2 more images

My friend and I visited Fire Club one night during our visit to Bucharest in March 2008.

This popular bar and nightclub is located on Strada Gabroveni, a small street that runs parallel to Strada Lipscani in the heart of Bucharest. The area offers a few good nightlife venues, with the Offside Pub (see other tip) just a few doors away from the Fire Club.

There is a 10 Lei (2 GBP) cover charge to enter Fire Club, and you will get your hand stamped by one of the bouncers as proof of payment.

When we first arrived, we sat at one of the tables in the ground floor bar area. There was music playing in the background and music videos being shown on large screen TVs. We sat for a while, drinking draught Ursus beer at 4 Lei (0.80 GBP) per 500ml, before deciding to head downstairs to the club area.

Downstairs, there is another bar, a dance floor, and a small seating area with wooden blocks to sit on and small wooden tables. Being a Saturday night, the club was packed out and was particularly popular with students and other young locals. No draught beer is available downstairs, so we drank bottled Ursus beers at 5 Lei (1 GBP) per bottle. We sampled the Ursus Blond (a typical lager) and the Ursus Black (similar to Guinness).

A full drinks menu can be found on the club’s website here: DRINKS.

Expect to pay between 3 and 6 Lei (0.60 – 1.20 GBP) for a local beer, up to 7 Lei for Czech beers and up to 9 Lei for Hoegaarden and Guinness. You will find the usual selection of popular drinks such as Smirnoff Ice (12 Lei / 2.40 GBP) and Red Bull (10 Lei / 2 GBP), as well as a large range of spirits, wines, soft drinks (4 Lei / 0.80 GBP per bottle and hot beverages).

The music consisted largely of rock, pop and indie music from the 80s, 90s and 2000s. It was quite an eclectic mix, from The Proclaimers to The Kaiser Chiefs, as well as music from two of Sheffield’s finest bands; The Arctic Monkeys and Pulp.

No dress code was apparent – I was wearing jeans, a t-shirt and trainers, and most people were casually dressed.

A lively bar and club, with bottled beers and a good selection of music!

2 more images

Warm-up or cool down! Get together and get funky! this thematic party bar will stir up your imagination, will lift up your mood and will be recorded in your memory as an unbelievable fun and relaxing moment! All that at the altar of Absinth, the Green Fairy, the mystical muse of the old times, of Picasso, van Gogh, Hemingway and many other great names!

Dress Code: according to the party theme

The Grand Cafe Galleron got its name from the architect that designed the buildings of the National Bank and of the Romanian Athenaeum. Every room has been designed (and subsequently furnished) in a different style. If you go there with friends, you might like the Library Room. If you go with your business partner or with your lover, you might book the Cigar Room. If you only want to have a (great) mushroom soup, you could try the main room by the entrance. Otherwise, you could very well try the Orangerie with its tall chairs and fine view to the street nearby. The wi-fi room (the central room of the house) provides free internet access to guests. The service is very good and the place served a great breakfast, as well as some fine main dishes (the calamari and the assortment of cheeses are especially recommended). Just as a reminder that you are in Bucharest, toilets are located down the same hall with the kitchen, and all waiters / people going and coming from the toilet go through the non smoking room.

This was Bucharest's first club, which was born and raised under the caring wing of the University of Architecture. It hosts live (usually rock and folk) concerts on a frequent basis, and it gathers a rather young crowd. When there is no live music, it goes from Phoenix (the most famous Romanian rock band) to Led Zep or Everlast, with (many) intrusions of Abba and other dancing queens and tunes. Not bad, but the crowd could be better. And less of a teenage behaviour would be welcome.

La Ruine, another summer paradise, is a wide terrace serving mici and beer (again and again) to a wide range of students and people that come on the Lipscani to do the shoppings. Just watch the ruins of Gabroveni Inn, not to fall over you. I mean it. For, after too much beer, things start to move…and move…ooooohhhh…
Unless you come from Kamchatka or Rejkavik, you have noticed maybe that it is not open in winter.

Dress Code: Just bring your common sense and wear that smile correctly.

4 more images

Bucharest's Opera House offers very good value. For regular operas ticket prices range from 5.25 lei to 52.5 lei. For special performances, featuring international stars, prices range from 7.35 lei to 63 lei. I bought a good seat for Rigoletto, featuring the great Italian baritone Renato Bruson, for just 26.25 lei, incredibly cheap by international standards. Performances usually start at 18:30 on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. It is also one of the main venues for the George Enescu International Festival. The Opera House building, which was opened in 1954 to replace an earlier one damaged by an earthquake, looks as if it has seen better days. The box office is just inside the main entrance.

Inside it has a classic opera house interior, with a giant chandelier and rich cream, orange and maroon decor. It's like a slightly smaller version of the Royal Opera House in London.

You can find this place right in the center of Bucharest, in a beautiful neighbourhood, at, 18A Nicolae Golescu Street, in a walking distance from the Athenaeum Concert Building, the National Theatre of Bucharest.

Placed in an old villa, the traditional Romanian architecture surprises everybody who sets foot in this Grand Cafe. Every room has its own charm and gives the possibility to meet friends or business partners in a WiFi Internet environment, with a high level of privacy.

The bar team probably has the best selection of drinks in town and the kitchen offers elegant, fresh high quality food.