Work takes me to Bucharest Wednesday to Friday.

Anyone been before? Any sights worth visiting or not worth avoiding?

Any experiences? Advice?

Cheers 🙂

Been out there a couple of times DJing strangely enough. It's a pretty crazy place – some extreme poverty and extreme wealth.

Bucharest itself is really not very nice – if you get time take a train up north to Brasov or somewhere further into Transylvania. Brasov is really nice – old buildings and surrounded by hills/mountains

Are you the Producer Grum?

Will only be in Bucharest sadly, thanks for advise!

WSP?

My wife is from Romania (but actually Hungarian) I've been there about eight time.

Bucharest itself is really not very nice – if you get time take a train up north to Brasov or somewhere further into Transylvania. Brasov is really nice – old buildings and surrounded by hills/mountains

Totally agree 🙂 my wife is from Brasov

The Carpathanians are really nice I actaully took my bike over one summer lots of riding opportunities, although I mostly stuck to fireroads as it was bear season!

I've never had any issues with the locals just be a little bit wary at airports and train stations, if someone offers you a taxi just say no and walk past them.

The local beer isn't bad try Ursus or Silva Black!

Bucharest is an utter shithole. Due to the country being run by an utter headcase for years who thought he's demolish the cpaital to build a huge vanity project to himself which is utterly hideous. He deserved being gunned down just for building that monstrosity

I've stayed in Brasov too. And the countryside around there is just stunning. One of the most dramatic sights I've ever seen is a thunderstorm rolling in over the Carpathian mountains. Amazing.

Or head in the other direction and go to Olimp on the Black Sea Coast. Loounge around on the beach in the company of Russian Gangsters. Its an education staying in that place. Mental!!!

WSP? whats that mean?

So how do you get a taxi from the airport richmtb?

Bucharest is an utter shithole.

Funnily enough I think I used those exact word to describe the place when I visited it for the first time seven years ago. Quite a contrast to Budapest that I'd been to two days before.

If Budapest is the "Paris of the East" Bucharest is more the "Dundee of the East"

It has improved in recent years but its never going to be a pretty city

So how do you get a taxi from the airport richmtb?

Go outside the terminal and get one of the official airport taxi's

Avoid the guys in the arrivals hall who offer you taxi's. In all likely hood they will just overcharge you but I've heard stories if worse happening to people who use unofficial taxi's

I went there on business some years ago. We stayed in Bucharest for a week (fortunately in a rather nice hotel with expenses paid by the company). We had a tour around Ceausescu's Palace which was fairly dull I have to say. Apparently it's one of the largest buildings in the world.

We also went to a restaurant that had opera singers, served wild bear meat (yep grizzly meat – only country in Europe where people are licensed to shoot bear) and was generally nuts.

That's about all I can remember from Romania as the rest of the time we spent in the hotel as we were warned not to walk around on our own.

Further to the previous post. One of the tricks of the trade for the local business mafia was to offer "rooms" with beautiful women included. Get the guests shite faced, then blackmail them to win a business deal.

This is another reason why I didn't venture outdoors.

Not the producer Grum – keep getting mixed up with him – he copied my name 😛

That's about all I can remember from Romania as the rest of the time we spent in the hotel as we were warned not to walk around on our own.

Bucharest isn't that bad imo – but I suppose we were mostly with locals who took us to some of the nicer bars etc. There's a nice bar/cafe attached to an art gallery somewhere but I can't remember the name of it.

Worth remembering that everything is highly corrupt – cost of living is lower than here but wages are a tiny fraction so many people top up their income in various dodgy ways.

One thing in Bucharest's favour though – there are loads of really hot women everywhere, many of them wandering around dressed up in high heels, not much clothing and loads of make up. Good if you like the 'high-class pornstar' look. 🙂

timc – Member
WSP? whats that mean?

I know a good few people who are/have been in Bucharest, and they all work for WSP, an engineering consultancy. Thought I'd ask on the off chance!

If you're on facebook, see if you can find a group called "you know you're in Romania when…" That should give you a good intro!

Mrs Finnegan and I spent a few weeks in Romania years ago. In fact so many years ago she wasn't Mrs F then. Damn that makes me feel old.
Bucharest did indeed look shabby, but we spent our time in Transylvania (Cluj, Dej, Baia Mare amongst others). It's a beautiful country with some fabulous architecture, and everyone we met was wonderfully friendly, but as grum says, back then it was an unusual mixture of extreme poverty and wealth.