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I read a lot of bad reports on the train station, but it felt completely safe to me. Security waits at every entrance, and will only let you enter if you have a ticket.Even at 3am the station was clean, well lit and free of loiterers.
Don't let the avuncular smile fool you, as it fooled some western leaders. Nicolae Ceacescu was one of eastern Europe's worst dictators. The actual details of his final downfall and summary execution are still vague. The balcony from which he made his last, fatal speech is surprisingly low. You stand in the street, looking upwards a few feet to where the dictator stood to harangue the crowd and where he was astonished when they actually dared to boo him. A few days later - on Christmas Day 1989 - a military court quickly tried, sentenced and shot him. Harsh justice - but it probably gave a salutary lesson to other communist rulers who might have been tempted to linger in power.
As a heads up, I will strongly advise against backpackers heading through Romania and Bulgeria without first doing some research. On a trip up from Greece I passed through Romania, only to have to bribe my way through the entire country, have a machine gun held to my head, didn't eat or drink water in 3 days, was almost robbed twice and the entire time thought I was going to be killed or kidnapped. If traveling on a Eurail pass be sure to buy a seperate ticket for Romania. Dont get left out to dry like I did.
This is not a typical Euro paradise in the common sense. You have to have your wits up, and there are some really cool spots to explore and some interesting people to meet. Dark. they dont like street lamps in this city, side, residential streets are only moonlite at night, so know where you are going. Also they have a huge problem with stray dogs. There are hundred of dogs running around with no home, so ofcourse there is no on picking up the left behind dog business, so keep an eye on the ground.
Watch out! If you cross the Romanian border at Bors (near Oradea) then be carefull with guys driving mercedes, BMW or anyway not too old so called good cars with foreign (not Romanian plates). They stop foreigners, they speak in English or German (act like being non Romanians) and usually they ask you to change bigger banknotes to smaller ones, because they have no change and they don't want to change the whole amount to Romanian curency .... (they make up a nice story as well to cover the reason)!!! Never stop for them ... dont change their money! It's false or they will just steel your's ...Otherwise Romania in average is OK and safe ... (I say this based on my own experience)
Sad to say, but the whole Romanian train system is a chaos and an absolute disgrace. First of all, their whole ticketing system still reminds you of the 19th century as they still do not have a computerised system installed yet. A typical Romanian train ticket consists of two pieces of card-board with one piece of card-board having the destination and a price "hand-written" on it. The other piece of card-board is known as the "supplement and the reservation, also with the seat number hand written as well." Make sure they give you the right ticket or the right supplement.Worst of all, expect the conductors and the ticket salers to be a absolute dump idiot. This is especially true when you buy a return ticket, which is neither two pieces of card-board nor anything written on computer. It is basically two pieces of "receipt" like paper with the destinations hand-written on it. However, the...
Be wary of corrupt officials in Romania. Guides will say they get special discounts but they are really just paying off someone. This is not smart. We went on a train by bribing an operator (crazy pension lady arranged it without saying what was happening) for 1/2 the price but if we had been caught or the official turned on us or the Romanian military stopped the train (they do it sometimes) each one of us would have been subject to a 50USD fine. We left confused and relieved nothing happened. Extending the length of a visa is a nightmare in their bureacratic system, too. It took 2 days to extend by 3 days.
Well, the picture is pretty self-explanatory-- this is the view from Corvin Castle onto a factory built by Ceaucescu in Hunedoara. The close proximity was supposed to null the spendour of the Castle as a symbol of Hungarian supremacy (King of Hungary Ioan of Hunedoara lived there for a time) The factory has been closed for quite some time, but smelting still carries on. The entire city is very polluted from this and other factors. The pollution taints the beauty of the green rolling hills in front of the distant mountains.
Gypsies, gypsies, gypsies..they are all over the city and towns. Avoid interacting with them. They can be your worst nightmare. You can easily spot gypsies in Romania. There is something distinction about them. Once my Romanian friend said to me they are not Romanians, they came 2000 years ago from India.
Be sure what you bought is what was wrapped for you, Watch everyone and everything, especially in cities and large shops. Try to stick to the Mom Pop operations! These have less of the communist mentality etc...
JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel Bucharest
7 Reviews and 147 Opinions The Bucharest Marriott Grand Hotel is primarily a business hotel, located close to the main business...
Bella Muzica Brasov
6 Reviews and 59 Opinions We stayd at this hotel in february 2010. The hotel was perfectly located in the the senter of...
Hotel Binder Bubi Sighisoara
21 Opinions
Reviews and photos of Romania attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Romania sightseeing.
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Q: Buna Ziua all! It's the marshmallow/Christmas-tree/asks-too-many-questions guy! Lol! So, I feel I asked about this once but,...
A: Ooops, I didn't mean "dinner" for 2 but, MEALS for 2. :p
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