Bucharest City Break

In the last 15 years Bucharest has tripled its capacity to accommodate tourists.

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Ștefan Baciu, 28.01.2016, 13:56

Even though Transylvania, Bucovina, Maramures and the Danube Delta are top of the list in terms of tourist destinations in Romania, Bucharest is one destination that is too obvious to overlook. Statistics show that in the last 15 years Romanias capital has tripled its capacity to accommodate tourists, to the amount of 20,000, used in 2014 by 1.5 million tourists. On average, they spent two nights in the city. 60% of the tourists came from abroad. Two nights amount to either a weekend or a city break.

Dan Anghelescu, tourism consultant and secretary general of the Romanian branch of FIJET, the leading association of travel journalists, explained why Bucharest is now a major destination for tourists:

Dan Anghelescu: “First of all, Bucharest has become a city break destination thanks to the 8 low cost airlines that fly into the main airport, at Otopeni. We already have about 90 direct flights, therefore 90 cities are linked directly to Bucharest, each and every day. The competition is fierce and the flow of tourists constant, therefore Bucharest is now on the list of European capitals as a city break destination. On the other hand, there is a lot to do in Bucharest, starting with a visit to the Palace of Parliament, the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon, which most foreign tourists find riveting. You also have many museums at very affordable prices, and then there is the Old Centre of the city, with many clubs, excellent food, and quite affordable. As a tourist, you can spend a great day in Bucharest with 40 Euros.

With a population topping two million, Bucharest is by far the largest city in the country, followed by Constanta, the main port on the Black Sea, with about 400,000 people. Even though Bucharest is a city in the plains, it is not necessarily completely flat. There are a few hills, but their altitude is no more than 100 meters. The river Dambovita crosses the city northwest to southeast. At the same time, on the eastern edge of the city, Colentina River forms a row of lakes. During the summer, temperatures can exceed 30 degrees Celsius, while in winter they can go as low as minus 15. Dan Anghelescu has recently launched a project, BookingBucharest.ro, in order to provide as much help as possible to foreign tourists and to promote Bucharest as a tourist destination:

Dan Anghelescu: “As a native of Bucharest who has worked in tourism for so many years, since I was also a tourist guide, providing tours of the city, I know Bucharest very well. I am proud of being a Bucharester, I am glad to see it develop and grow by the day. I started promoting it, because I noticed it is not as popular as it should, and we Romanians dont promote it properly. My colleague Traian Badulescu and I have started to put together a tourist guide of Bucharest, with the monuments you should see, the sites you should visit, where you can eat, useful information. This includes ways you can reach Bucharest, transit from the airport or the railway station, a map of the underground, a map of public transport, and so forth. Its all the information that a tourist needs. For the time being we have a Romanian and an English version, but we plan to have it in due time in Italian, French and Spanish.

A city break package includes a flight, transit from the airport to the hotel and back, two or three-night accommodation, with optional trips, such as a city tour with a traditional meal or a 4 to 8 hour city tour accompanied by a guide. In summer you can see the city by riding the special double decker tourist bus. For the small amount of around 5 Euro, you can ride the bus the entire day, and you can get on and off any of the buses at any time.

Dan Anghelescu: “The biggest expense is going to be the flight. If you manage to plan ahead of time and purchase a low cost ticket, you can get it as low as 30 Euros, which is as much as you may expect to spend to travel from the airport in Otopeni to the city. Five star accommodation is available, if you wish it to be at that level, and that is the type of accommodation typically used by casino goers. Regular tourists usually go for 3 or 4 star accommodation while on a city break, but you also have lots of young people going for hostels or rented apartments. Which means you can get away with 10 Euros per night for accommodation and 60 Euros for the plane ticket, if you plan ahead. From the airport in Otopeni there is also a bus going downtown, which costs 20 lei, that is less than 5 Euros.

In addition to the more and more diverse hotels, and restaurants with more and more diversified menus, with clubs and casinos, Bucharest also has a rich cultural and artistic life. Concerts abound, with selections for the most discriminating tastes. To name just one important event, the George Enescu international symphonic music festival is hosted by the city every other year.